This 100% Solar Community Didn't Lose Power Throughout A Powerful Hurricane
A community that is completely powered by solar energy seems to have endured the powerful Hurricane Ian without losing any power. At the same, the community also witnessed only minimal damage.
The Babcock Ranch is situated 19 kilometres away Fort Myers in Florida, USA and calls itself "America's first solar-powered town." Its solar array is made of 700,000 individual panels that generate electricity for 2,000 homes in the neighbourhood.
How Babcock Ranch escaped damage from the storm
The community was designed keeping storms in mind. Owing to this, the streets in this neighbourhood get flooded so that the houses don't. In addition, native landscaping also helps control storm water. To avoid damage to power and internet lines, they're buried underground.
As CTV News reported, "climate resiliency was built into the fabric of the town with stronger storms in mind." When Hurricane Ian hit Florida this last week, about 2.6 million people in the state lost power. But not at Babcock Ranch.
Also read:?Events Like Solar Eclipse Can Promote Feelings Crucial To Collective Life: Study
While the storm seems to have uprooted trees and tore shingles from the roofs, no major damage has been reported. Its inhabitants told CTV News that Babcock Ranch is proof that an eco-conscious and solar-powered town can withstand the damage of even a near-Category 5 hurricane.
The first residents of this town moved in in 2018, and construction began in 2015. Since then, the solar array has doubled in size and thousands of people have moved to Babcock.
Now, Babcock Ranch is being used as a refuge for Ian's hardest hit in the region. The Babcock Neighbourhood School is currently being used as an official shelter, even without a mandated generator.
Also read:?Researchers Find A New Process To Extract Silver From Solar Panels, Reduce Mining Burden
The lesson to be learned here is that humans cannot continue to live the way they did earlier - and that climate change's disastrous effects now need to be addressed while building homes, or any other structures. At the same time, it's a reminder of how gravely people of Earth may have downplayed climate changes.
What do you think about this neighbourhood-of-its-kind in the US? Let us know in the comments below.?For?more in the world of?technology?and?science, keep reading?Indiatimes.com.
References
This 100% solar community endured Hurricane Ian with no loss of power and minimal damage. (2022, October 2). CTVNews. Retrieved October 3, 2022, from https://www.ctvnews.ca/climate-and-environment/this-100-solar-community-endured-hurricane-ian-with-no-loss-of-power-and-minimal-damage-1.6092491
