By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
It’s no surprise that North Carolina is the No. 2 solar state in the country. Aggressive utility-scale installation, combined with a friendly public utilities commission, have vaulted the state to the top of the list. What I’m saying is that North Carolina has earned its place among the solar elite.
Which is why those of us who have watched that growth were nervous as Hurricane Florence bore down on North Carolina. Between the wind and rain, the resiliency of the state’s solar inventory would be sorely tested – and we all hoped it would come through with flying colors.
Well, wonder no more – Hurricane Florence threw everything at North Carolina that it could, and the solar in the state survived with nearly no interruptions.
Inside Climate News has the details:
Duke and Strata Solar, two of North Carolina’s largest owners and operators of solar farms, said they found almost no damage in initial inspections. Both companies temporarily shut down some systems in anticipation of flooding, but there were few reports of damage to solar panels.
“I know sometimes we think, ‘Oh it’s the wind, it’s the panels flying around.’ But we haven’t found that to be the case,” said Randy Wheeless, a spokesman for Duke, the largest electric utility in the state. “Our bigger worry usually is flooding.”
Duke only shut down three of its 35 solar farms, and the one that took damage only had 12 modules – less than 1% of the total number of modules at the site. And Cypress Creek took to Twitter to brag about its solar farms, which made it through Hurricane Florence in “solid shape.”
Here’s the bottom line: One of the selling points for solar has always been its resiliency during natural disasters. In the past, because of the small amount of utility-scale solar installed, it was a claim that was more true in theory than had been proven in practice.
Now, however, we have proof that solar can survive a hurricane the strength of Hurricane Florence and survive well. That should only solidify solar’s position as a leading electrical generation source in the future.
More:
Solar Energy Largely Unscathed by Hurricane Florence’s Wind and Rain