SOLAR POWER PLANTS FOR FLA

FPL's big solar power project taking shape near Indiantown
Cara Fitzpatrick, October 18, 2009 (Palm Beach Post)

"…With the first mirrors set to arrive…[ Florida Power & Light Co.’s concentrating solar power plant in western Martin County, begun a year ago] is starting to take shape…

"In the most basic terms, the [concentrating solar power] process works like this: The sun's light strikes a mirror and is beamed into a pipe, which "catches" the energy and moves it, via molten liquid, into a power plant [which] boils water into steam. The steam is used for power…[It] is far more complex on the ground."

Natural gas-Concentrating solar hybrid power plant (click to enlarge)

"In Martin County, where the largest and most expensive of…FPL Group's three [$700 million] solar projects is being built, 192,000 [tempered glass] mirrors [that focus sunlight without causing glare] will be attached to 6,800 aluminum frames on 7,100 steel pylons [to withstand 150 mph winds] on 500 acres alongside the Martin Power Plant…About 1 million gallons of recyclable fluid, heated to 700 degrees Fahrenheit, will move the sun's energy to the plant…The $476 million project is expected to open at the end of 2010…

"About 1,000 workers will be used in its construction, while only about a dozen will be required for its operation…Of about 700 workers at the plant now, 60 percent are from Florida…[The other 2 projects will use photovoltaic technology, which converts sunlight directly into electricity. One will come online this week and the other next spring]…"

Photovoltaic (PV) solar power (click to enlarge)

"Once it goes online, the Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center will work much like a hybrid car, switching between two sources of power, using sunlight when available and the existing gas-fired plant when clouds or darkness make such use ineffective.

"…The plant will generate an estimated 155,000 megawatt hours of electricity each year and power about 11,000 homes…[It’s smaller than] conventional power plants, but decreases fossil fuel usage with no waste or additional cooling water…It also will be the largest solar-power plant outside of California…[S]olar energy is unlikely to replace more traditional [energies soon, but]…FPL believes these projects have the potential not only to change the way Florida produces energy, but to give the state the lead in "green" technology…"