TOPIC 'Solar Energy' on Oct 28, 2009 (CET)
Florida goes online with the largest US solar energy plant
The President of the United States, Barack Obama gave Florida a visit to present the countries largest solar power plant. Obama himself is a strong supporter of renewable energies and the hopes are high that this new solar power plant will become a target for new power plants to achieve more.
Officials led the President through the power plant that consists of over 90,000 solar panels which are to power areound 3,000 homes in and around Arcadia without producing carbon dioxide. The President was proud to present the nations largest solar power plant with the word, "For the very first time, a large-scale solar power plant, the largest of its kind in the entire nation, will deliver electricity produced by the sun to the citizens of the Sunshine State. And I think it's about time."
Although Florida is often referred to as the „sunshine state“, when it comes to renewable energies and the usage of solar energy, the „sunshine state“ hasn´t really followed it´s name. Florida had been far behind when it comes to the amount of Megawatts produced in each state, but now the solar energy plant is finished and clean energy will be used by using sunshine for energy.
To backup the solar power plant in Arcadia Florida is awaiting the finishing of two other solar power plants which will produce three times more than the plant in Arcadia at the moment. Although many people say that the price for these power plants is too high at the moment because of the financial crisis and other problems within the nation, Jim Fenton the director of the Florida Solar Energy Center at the University of Central Florida says, „The cost of solar has been dropping on average about 30 percent a year, where the cost of traditional energies has been going up exponentially because the price of fossil fuels is going up,"
While fossil fuels seem to be running out, nations around the globe are looking toward renewable energies to be the substitute. Although the new power plants will not be able to power the whole state, the development of solar energy technology can let us hope for a future where humans will only use clean renewable energy sources to power their homes.
Jason Grace
on behalf of the
BascoTec Internet Limited
Technologie Park 13
33100 Paderborn
Germany
