Have you heard the best solar energy news in our region!
The Babcock Ranch is a planned community about 15 miles northwest of Fort Meyers, Florida in Charlotte County. The Babcock Ranch is claimant to being “America’s first solar-powered town”, situated on a 870-acre solar farm, where they state, “renewable energy is a part of everyday life at Babcock Ranch”.
Recently, Hurricane Ian devastated this part of Florida. However, the Babcock Ranch’s massive solar energy system remained unscathed. Their 700,000 solar panels and energy storage batteries supplied 150 megawatts of clean energy for approximately 2,000 homes. They were also able to aid the surrounding communities to take shelter, supply power and have running water.
What can South Carolina learn from Developer Sid Kitson’s solar powered community, Babcock Ranch?
That we need to pay attention to how we build and develop land, primarily our utilization of solar. We need ground mounts in our rural counties and rooftop arrays in our coastal communities, we can help to protect ourselves from life threatening storms. Our primary focus should be installing solar in our communities and integrating solar power and battery backup storage, like Generac, for all new and proposed developments in the future.