- Joined
- Apr 29, 2004
Drove past this site yesterday (8/30) and just about all the needed land clearance seems to be done. They've also started to install the stanchions (posts) on which the solar collectors will be mounted.
Disney is building more solar farms on property. They already have two.Great to hear it is coming a long. I wish there was more solar on building roofs and what not at Disney, lots of open space that could be used and still keep out of site so not to spoil the theme (or visible at Epcot where it would be good in some place for the theme). Same with electric charging, especially at Epcot parking where it would be more in line with the theme.
Disney is building more solar farms on property. They already have two.
Right, I am thinking less farms and more decentralized utilizing rooftop space.
Makes sense to get your ducks in a row before putting in the Millennium Falcon with its Class 0.5 hyperdrive.it looks like there is some push to get this project on line..
True. I can't imagine how much energy a modern combined cycle gas turbine installation would provide on this site.Wow, that is a lot of acreage for so little energy output.
Wow, that is a lot of acreage for so little energy output. I wish they would only build solar installations where they make sense. They are probably doing more overall damage to the environment in order to just to get some good PR.
True. I can't imagine how much energy a modern combined cycle gas turbine installation would provide on this site.
Thanks. I guess I don't understand what the retention ponds have to do with the land use. There's apparently plenty of non-retention pond space. Obviously the panels aren't erected on the ponds.On this site you would not be able to install a gasser due to the many retention ponds that the panels are being installed around.
From the 2017 annual report, the peak demand for Reedy Creek Energy Services was 190.8MW. More important, however, was the annual energy consumed which was 1,159,605 mwhrs. That same report says the solar farm will generate about 120,000 mwhrs per year, or about 10% of the RCES annual energy requirement. The 120,000 seems high to me, as it represents a capacity factor of over 27%. (120,000 /8760 / 50). In any event even at that capacity factor, you would need about 10 solar farms to generate the entire annual energy requirement of RCES. The problem, however, is the solar farm(s) would not generate the power at the same time as it is needed, for example, they would generate 0 at night but there is still some load to be served. You still need to be connected to the grid to take your excess and provide power when the solar farm(s) are not generating. Or a stack of batteries that might stretch all the way to the airport.
mac_tlc
Then again, its highest generation time is when the system would have the highest draw time for things like A/C, which uses far more power than the evening lights. PR or not, this is a positive step for Disney (lowers the ongoing fuel cost and use related to energy generation), and it leaves them with only a maintenance cost for 10-20% of the electrical use. That's a pretty impressive saving OVER TIME. This is one of the few times that I have thought Disney was thinking 5,10 or 20 years down the road. The best part of this is what someone else referenced, if the technology improves to more efficient cells, the infrastructure is already there to support just switching out the panels.
According to several news reports, this facility is now on line. Its interesting to drive by at various times of the day an see the panels facing the sun for the best efficiency.