Just 20 miles from Fort Myers, the Babcock Ranch community was built with climate change, and the potential natural disasters it would bring, in mind. It has become in the first solar-powered town in America.
Hurricane Ian was a near category five storm when it made landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast, bringing with it record-breaking storm surges and sustained winds of more than 100 mph. Due to the disasters caused by the hurricane, more than 2.6 million Florida customers were without power.
Despite the widespread destruction, Babcock Ranch maintained power throughout the storm, CNN reports. It’s common during extreme weather events to lose power, but Babcock Ranch has an entirely different energy model than the centralized natural gas-fired power model that serves much of the Sunshine State. For this community runs 100% on solar power.
“We now have proof of the case because [the hurricane] blew right over us,” Nancy Chorpenning, a 68-year-old Babcock Ranch resident, told CNN. “We have water, electricity, internet – and we may be the only people in Southwest Florida who are so fortunate.”
As utilities scramble to restore power across Florida, Babcock residents say September’s storms proved that America’s energy infrastructure is ill-equipped to cope with increasingly severe extreme weather events. Now, because of the fragile power grid, Ian has left millions of people in Florida in the dark. Its residents say Babcock Ranch is proof that an eco-conscious and solar-powered town can withstand the wrath of a near-Category 5 storm.
Messages written by kids outside the field house and Babcock Ranch community center, which doubles as a hurricane shelter.
Carlos Osorio for NPR
But how is power generated at Babcock Ranch?
The community is powered by a 75 MW solar installation, which equates to approximately 700,000 panels operated by Florida Power & Light, that supply clean energy to the entire community as well as neighboring communities. It can power 30,000 homes. However, Babcock Ranch has only about 5,000 residents, since its first residents moved into the village in 2018. The surplus is fed back into the grid and used to supply neighboring communities. It is also connected by a small distribution system of cables buried underground to avoid blackouts due to downed wires.
Many residents have also installed their own rooftop solar panels and batteries to increase resilience and extend back-up power, as well as to reduce the likelihood of power outages. Electric vehicles are also driven by many of its residents, and sustainability and climate resilience are central to Babcock Ranch’s identity.
Babcock’s neighborhood school was designated by the state as an official shelter area. These designated shelters are usually equipped with a mandatory gas generator, but this was not the case at Babcock. Instead, the solar panel kept the shelter continuously powered during the storm.
We at brightEra Energy stand in solidarity with the families affected by Hurricane Ian.
Our thoughts and prayers are with our fellow Floridians in the southwest of our State. We at brightEra Energy are here for you and are offering everyone in need every discount there is available for Roofing, Energy storage and Smart Solar. We wish you all God’s Speed!
The American Red Cross is accepting donations for victims of Hurricane Ian, bringing critical supplies and support to survivors. To help people affected by Hurricane Ian, visit redcross.org, call 1-800-RED CROSS, or text the word IAN to 90999 to make a $10 donation.
Source: PV Magazine USA, NPR, CNN