Category Archives: Solar

Model Solar Ordinance Public Workshop, Tifton, GA 2018-03-12

A few years ago, a doctor in Valdosta applied for a variance for solar panels over his parking lot. The Zoning Board of Approvals (ZBOA) tabled it, because Valdosta’s Land Development Regulations (LDR) did not permit that. I think he then made the panels connected to his building, which put them a different and already-permitted category.

What if Valdosta and other local governments updated their codes to enable parking lot and other solar power?

When:

4-6PM Monday, March 12, 2018

Where: National Environmentally Sound Production Agriculture Library (NESPAL)
2356 Rainwater Road, Tifton, GA 31793

Event: eventbrite

What: “The Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory University, and University of Georgia have come together to develop a model solar zoning ordinance to provide county and city officials and other decision-makers in Georgia access to best practices and a common baseline from which to work. We will produce a comprehensive document that addresses multiple scales and types of solar energy systems that counties and cities can adopt and adapt to their needs.”

Georgia 2017-01, Maps

More about the event: Continue reading

Solar Valdosta Schools 2018-02-13

Yesterday the Valdosta Board of Education voted for the sun.

No byline, WCTV, 14 Feb 2018, Valdosta City Schools votes to lease land to solar company,

The school system will begin leasing some of its extra property to the solar energy company Radiance Solar.

Solar Site Map by Radiance Solar, Maps

Radiance Solar will reportedly pay Continue reading

FPL parent NextEra Energy admits solar and wind far better investments than pipelines 2018-01-26

Even Sabal Trail partner NextEra Energy’s earnings call has far more about record solar and wind deployment and earnings (“added $0.67 per share”) than about pipeline declining earnings (“added $0.10 per share”) and misinformation, claiming Sabal Trail is operational and on schedule when it isn’t.

Which is better, NextEra, $0.67 or $0.10 per share? Oh, wait, effectively you answered that: “As the world’s current leader in wind, solar, and storage development….”.

Solar, NextEra Energy
Solar, NextEra Energy

One sentence is NextEra’s only mention of Sabal Trail; nothing about the Sierra Club lawsuit against FERC that less than a week later saw the DC Circuit Court reject all requests for rehearing, meaning as early as next week the court may mandate shutting down Sabal Trail. NextEra company FPL is the sole remaining customer listed in Sabal Trail’s custoner index. Maybe it’s time to bail out and get on with solar power in the Sunshine State.

NextEra Energy, via Motley Fool, 26 January 2018, NEE earnings call for the period ending December 31, 2017,

CEO and Chairman James L. Robo:

Fourth, we’re advancing our renewable product offerings as we prepare for the next phase of renewable development. As a result, our prospects for new renewables growth has never been stronger. As Continue reading

The shift has come: GE, Siemens massive job losses as fossil fuels crash and the sun rises

The carbon bubble is bursting, as jobs fly from some of the biggest companies in the world, because solar and wind power are taking over right now. It’s too late to bet on the wrong nuclear horse or the wrong pipelnie snake. Get out of fossil fuels now: the sun is rising.

Tiffany Hsu and Clifford Krauss, New York Times, 7 December 2017, G.E. Cuts Jobs as It Navigates a Shifting Energy Market,

General Electric, whose new leadership is moving to eliminate bloat and grapple with the fallout from earlier, ill-timed decisions, is taking drastic steps to keep pace with seismic shifts in the global energy industry.

GE ranks first in 2017 downsizing after 12,000 more jobs: Brandon Kochkodin, Bloomberg, 7 December 2017
Brandon Kochkodin, Bloomberg, 7 December 2017, GE Ranks First in 2017 Downsizing After 12,000 More Job Cuts.

The company said on Thursday that it would cut 12,000 jobs in its power division, reducing the size of the unit’s work force by 18 percent as part of a push to compete with international rivals in a saturated natural gas market, adjust to “softening” in the oil and gas sectors and stay abreast of the growing demand for renewable energy.

Solar and wind energy technology is increasingly being deployed Continue reading

Development Authority sells land for solar arrays

Next to ERCO Worldwide, one of the few tenants in VLCIA’s “eight industrial parks”, SolAmerica is buying land for a solar farm that will take up most of the rest of the Perimeter East Business Park.

Site Layout, East of Valdosta
Site Layout submitted by SolAmerica to VLCIA in 14 November 2017 meeting.

Jason A. Smith, VDT, 15 November 2017, Solar arrays planned for land,

The Valdosta-Lowndes County Development Authority voted Tuesday to approve the sale of 27.42 acres for $137,100 to be used for solar arrays.

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Solar panels at Langboard, Brooks County, GA

What needs no testing or cooling water, no eminent domain, no fuel, and emits only clean electricity? Solar panels, like those built by SolAmerica Energy behind the Langboard plant in Brooks County, Georgia.

Google map,
Behind Langboard OSB, on Langboard Lane, off US 84 just west of the Withlacoochee River in Lowndes County, Georgia.

Drone Video of Langdale Solar Tracker in Brooks County, Georgia

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Valdosta Solar Power on Val Tech Road

On the closed landfill across from Valdosta State Prison on Val Tech Road, what looks like maybe a megawatt of solar panels by the City of Valdosta.

Lots of solar panels
Pictures by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, 1 September 2017

Parcel-0081A-001

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Solar panels at Valdosta Airport 2017-08-16

Prominently visible as you approach the terminal from Valdosta to catch a flight:

Solar panels behind passenger terminal sign
Pictures by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange 2017-08-17

VRA’s web page curiously includes no mention I can find of these solar panels, which I would think would be great advertising for the airport. Continue reading