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FPL’s Third North Escambia Solar Farm Is Under Construction In Molino
June 25, 2023
Florida Power & Light’s third solar farm in North Escambia is under construction in Molino.
The Sparkleberry Solar Energy Center is coming to 553 acres at the south end of Pilgrim Trail off Highway 97. According to FPL, over 200,000 solar panels will generate nearly 75 megawatts — enough energy to power 15,000 homes.
The Molino Sparkleberry solar farm is roughly the same size as two others in North Escambia.
The 300,000 solar panels at the Cotton Creek Solar Energy Center on Bogia Road near McDavid have been in operation since early 2022, producing up to about 75 megawatts.
The First City Solar Energy Center, the second FPL solar site to be built in North Escambia, off Holland, Cox and Roach roads in McDavid went online February 2, 2023, also with an output of 75 megawatts.
“This is an exciting time for our customers in Northwest Florida. Solar energy centers provide our customers with low-cost, reliable electricity,” said FPL Northwest Vice President and General Manager J.T. Young. “We’re investing in this innovative technology on behalf of our customers to reduce fuel costs and further Florida’s energy independence by harnessing Florida’s abundant sunshine.”
Pictured: The entrance to the Sparkleberry Solar Energy Center as seen Saturday afternoon. NorthEscambia.com photos and graphic, click to enlarge.
Comments
35 Responses to “FPL’s Third North Escambia Solar Farm Is Under Construction In Molino”
REGARDING:
“There is no way within the next c100 years we can go total electric. Look how long it has taken us to get electricity, telephone to rural areas and some areas still don’t have either one. Those of us that live in many areas don’t have rural water or high speed internet. I think you get my drift.”
Not ready, no. Too much drifting.
There are very few places that do not have electricity. Those that do not have electricity, it is usually because the people there did not want electricity. The same applies to high-speed internet. It is possible to get high-speed internet by satellite. It is expensive. But it is possible.
Most things are easier to do now than they were when they first came out. And sources of electricity could be many. We could use nuclear for electricity or water or wind or solar or would or oil until it ran out or natural gas until it ran out or possibly even satellite power transmission.
For some reason the future is hard to predict. Some people expect more progress than they see. Other see less progress than they expected. To be honest nobody expected an internet of any sort back in the sixties. Many thought fusion power would be up and running all over the world by now. A lot of us have we expected to be blasted to bits so we’d be out of the running.
We have had presidents who understood that there have been pandemics in the past and will be pandemics in the future. We recently had a President Who maintained that nobody had ever seen of or heard of dependent before. But then he lied about a lot of things other things too. We never know who’s going to be leading us and if they’ll be simple-minded, honest or dishonest, or bright.
The planet will probably still be here. Some parts may be easier to live in than others as they already are but where they are in the future maybe somewhere else. There’s a fair chance some currently dry places will be underwater. I understand Greenland’s getting a lot greener.
David for better crystal balls
Wildfires create carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions (ghg) that contribute to climate change. In CA the EPA signed off on a 642-acre power plant in a disadvantaged community that was determined to be a “potential trigger for wildfire” without having the means to extinguish the wildfire it will potentially trigger. I just read a news report about another solar field being destroyed by baseball sized hail in Wyoming. Rapidly decarbonizing our country is akin to that old adage, ‘haste makes waste.’
@C’mon, man
You’re absolutely right. I ignored the carbon cost associated with the manufacture, transport, installation, and maintenance of solar panels. Just like I ignored the carbon cost associated with mining and transporting coal, and the construction and maintenance of coal power plants.
Let’s stick to comparing apples to apples instead of chasing red herrings.
This might sound quirky but here goes…..
The Bible is GODS instructions to man. In this day and age, Man seems that he is smarter than GOD and man has the ability to save the world. NEWS FLASH…… GOD is still in control. HE created this earth and will maintain it and preserve it until it fits his timetable. For man to interfere with his table for this earth is wrong. GOD had Adam count name & and number the animals Man seems to be destroying the animals and plants by destroying habitat. HIS plan included the climate , the removal of carbon element’s, the preservation of trees, plants and animals to keep this world till HE comes back to rebuild it. That doesn’t give us the right to interfere with his plan. There is no way within the next c100 years we can go total electric. Look how long it has taken us to get electricity, telephone to rural areas and some areas still don’t have either one. Those of us that live in many areas don’t have rural water or high speed internet. I think you get my drift.
Bob, your response to PEP is not mathematically sound.
“Trees aren’t magic. They don’t make carbon dioxide disappear. They strip it from the air and store it, until the tree decomposes…
As long as this solar farm stays operational for more than 2 years, it will have completely made up for the carbon investment, and any additional power produced would be ‘carbon free’.”
You completely ignored the substantial carbon cost that went into the manufacture, transportation, installation, and maintenance of the solar farm and it’s components. Solar farms aren’t magic either. They don’t appear out of nothing. I’m not saying they don’t work out to a net positive eventually, but your analysis was critically lacking. It might be fun to talk down to people you disdain, but being snarky doesn’t correlate to being correct.
@PEP
That didn’t sound right, so I did a bit of digging to find out where you got your information. The study you are citing actually says 4.5-40.7 tons of carbon per *hectare*, not per tree.
The area cleared was about 1/5 of a hectare, so we’re looking at something closer to 0.9-5.1 tons of carbon.
REGARDING:
“That was 4.6 to 40.7 tons per year per tree, depending on the type of, and age of the tree. Who counted the trees that were cut down for this experiment?”
It should be obvious this is wrong. We have trees around our home which are over ten years old which do not weigh 46 tons, say nothing to 407 tons. In fact even though there is much variety in agreed on weights, one claims:
“The average weight for pine is 5,232 pounds and hardwood 5,758 pounds.”
Just to be clear, that’s less than three tons. Something which weighs less than three tons can not possibly remove four tons or more of carbon dioxide from the air, say nothing to 40 tons especially not per year. Per acre? Maybe. Per tree? Ain’t no way.
That said, carry on with your learned arguments.
David for Conservation of Matter (since it’s the law)
Clarification: That was 4.6 to 40.7 tons per year per tree, depending on the type of, and age of the tree. Who counted the trees that were cut down for this experiment?
The reality is that we keep using electricity so we have to produce it. Solar is a smart way to do just that. Those of you complaining about living in a quiet rural area really only have one option, buy more land. You have NO right to tell your neighbor what to use their land for or whom they can sell it to. You have benefitted from their not developing it for years, but now it has been sold, or leased, and has a new purpose.
It is smart, and necessary, for FPL to invest in alternative fuel sources for the future. You have to learn to roll with change, like a blacksmith in 1920.
So what now we just have to deal with all of these solar farms? Sure would be cool if we can take action now this is ridiculous. Never got notified about these solar eye sores
@Jim Stanton
On average, solar panels produce approximately 400-450 MWhs per acre per year. That’s the same as burning nearly 250 tons of coal.
You’re right. Solar panels require the sun to work, so that number will obviously be bigger during the summer and smaller during the winter.
@Bob, could you please tell us how much electricity these giant solar farms produce between sunset and sunrise. Especially during the winter when we only have about 10 hours of sunlight, and sometimes go for days with heavy overcast during the winter. After all you’re the one that said, they are one of the most efficient ways to produce power. Working about 30% of the time in the winter and about 60% in the summer just doesn’t seem all that efficient to me. I do agree with the ones that said solar and wind are the most unreliable forms of generating electricity.
@Give me a break
“How much carbon can a forest absorb” is difficult to answer because there are lots of different kinds of forests.
A brand new pine forest is going to absorb carbon at a much higher rate than a forest full of mature hawthorns, and a thin scrub forest is going to absorb significantly less carbon than a dense forest.
Unless the question gets more specific, 4.5-40.7 is a good, rough ballpark answer.
@PEP
Trees aren’t magic. They don’t make carbon dioxide disappear. They strip it from the air and store it, until the tree decomposes.
Cutting down this forest released approximately 2,500 tons of CO2 that was previously being stored in the trees.
Producing 75 MW for one year using coal would produce roughly 1050 tons of CO2.
As long as this solar farm stays operational for more than 2 years, it will have completely made up for the carbon investment, and any additional power produced would be “carbon free”.
Or, to put it another way: solar farms tend to last 25-30 years. During that period, this solar farm will save more than twelve times as much carbon as the forest did, AND we can go back and plant a new forest after it is decommissioned to pull ANOTHER 2500 tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere.
In terms of reducing carbon emissions, solar farms are an absolute win.
If some study estimates a range of 4.5-40.7 tons for a defined variable, it’s not a very good study.
what ever happened to building a solar panel in space and beaming the energy down thru microwave; you do know they have a small nuclear and hydrogen generator for homes, but why would they sell these when they can make a monthly check from the people, the best thing you could do with solar, create steam to turn a turbine to generate electricity, a few panels, some water, a recycling drum, and a generator and some pipe, the solar heat the water to steam, pressure forces the steam across fins which turn the generator, then returns to water in the drum and repeat…we are no where near fossil free, it has been put on a burner so those who invest in it get rich…Nicola Tesla Free electricity beamed wireless into you home, who stopped this is the same trying to force solar and wind on you now, the panels and battery minerals are stripped mined..climate change is a lie. Dinos lived for millions of years, took a meteorite to kill them off, don’t you think their big farts and piles of poop let off some heavy methane, but yet they want you to think cows farts are killing the environment.
What i would be worried about is Pole swap it about time and we are over due, Basically it is a shift in the magnetic fields north and south poles, this is an extinction event if not prepared. On top of screwing all electric controlled devices and equipment, earthquake, tilde waves, the magnetic field around earth weakens and we become subject to radiation from the sun and solar flares, interesting the bible states and “they hid under the mountains” …they will always have a foot on your neck…..and a hand in your pocket… we went to war over taxation without representation, now we have it, we are taxed until dead and then taxed for death….your freedom is denied you, for your understanding is a lie
How much CO2 were the trees absorbing out of the atmosphere, before they were cut down to make way for this green energy? Some studies estimate between 4.5 to 40.7 tons per year.
Yes Anne.
Electric vehicles are FAR better for the environment than ICEs. Solar farms are significantly safer, cheaper, and better for the environment than, say, the coal/natural gas plants that they are replacing.
No one is going to “Save the World” by buying an electric vehicle. But making fun of people who are genuinely trying to take steps to make the world a cleaner, healthier, safer place is a bad look.
“What meeting? When? I live on the road was not noticed. Why didn’t North Escambia run a notice or story?”
Local media was not notified of the meeting or invited.
“Local residents near these sites were given a chance to voice their opinions at a meeting that was held at Molino school.”
What meeting? When? I live on the road was not noticed. Why didn’t North Escambia run a notice or story?
Local residents near these sites were given a chance to voice their opinions at a meeting that was held at Molino school.It didn’t make much difference.@eddie,no gophers were relocated to our knowledge.@b Williams, panels will not be installed on your roof @d p, terrible erosion problems are continually being addressed at all sites @huie green,no, panels do not make noise but the inverters that convert d c to a c are extremely noisy even at night when no electricity is being made
Gotta have those solar panel “farms” so other folks can plug in their Super Green Electric Vehicles and save the world.
Adv on TV the other night for a mini car that is total electric and “Gets Uo to 114 Miles on a Charge”.
114 Miles..?? Lawdy Mercy that’s not even a trip to Tallahassee or Montgomery.
The “Green Agenda” is a half truth. I went Solar on the “promise” of lower energy cost. Surprise! The TOTAL cost = cost for system PLUS FPL (after solar) is at times a savings of about $20 +\- mthly. Now I’m told if I want to really see a savings I have to do it through ‘their’ conservation recommendations. I COULD HAVE DONE THAT BEFORE I WENT SOLAR AND “CUT THE BILL IN HALF”!!! With out the extra cost of the system and the loss of yard space.
Is FPL installing “STORAGE” with this system? If not based on what my SYSTEM has provided the savings will be questionable at best. WHY?! When I question why my “BILL” is so high I’m always reminded that “Solar depends on how much SUNSHINE we get”!
So, all you “GREEN PROPAGANDIST” say this is great but I don’t see how cutting and leveling 500 acres of forest is very “GREEN”. Not to even mention the real possibility of what a Cat. 5 or our constant flow of tornadoes will have on the “SAVINGS”. I sure FPL has a plan for that expense, the customer.
Still major problems at the other sites. Extreme erosion issues, noise etc…they completely destroyed the land the way they cleared it. And yes the county approved it before they did it.
I live on Roach rd, and can say from experiece the construction traffic is horrible. The panels themselves are eyesores and everytime it rains you can hear the eletricity humming. Worst thing to ever happen to this community!!
REGARDING:
“most of us that live on Pilgrim Trail are here for the peace and quiet”
Rejoice. Solar panels make little noise. Construction might be a mite noisy but that is temporary.
AND:
“cutting the trees, increases the wind speed & flooding of hurricanes”
So they need to install wind turbines too? Interesting thought, it might work.
Not sure about how the hills will flood other than from sea level rise but switching to non-greenhouse gas production should actually reduce that risk.
AND:
“If they are so necessary, why not have them installed on every new build?”
Not a matter of necessary, but a source of fossil fuel free power production. Nuclear would probably be better. Regardless, they might make for good roofing in the future. Everything can be recycled just not always currently economically.
The land being used for the project could have been bought by others and used for other purposes. Those wanting the government to force people to use the land for whatever the government says often fail to realize they are pushing Communist dogma. Others realize it and like it. (They have never lived under Communism or extreme Socialism. Those who have tend to dislike it.)
David for a better world
is fish and wildlife going to monitor wildlife and save all the ghopers that live thers
FPL, did your company ever stop to think that most of us that live on Pilgrim Trail are here for the peace and quiet, as well as the love of nature. Your company is taking away all those things and not replacing what we will loose. A lot of us can not afford to have your panels installed on our roofs…..so what good are they to us? What happens if one does have the panels installed and down the road one needs a new roof? Just thought I would ask. If they are so necessary, why not have them installed on every new build?
Killing trees to be green. Good job FPL
As long as we continue using electricity, we’re going to need a way to generate it. Solar farms are one of the safest, most efficient methods of generating electricity.
If you don’t want new solar farms? Turn off your air conditioning, stop charging your phone, and unplug your fridge. Otherwise, as our power consumption increases, so will our need for new power generation.
also cutting the trees, increases the wind speed & flooding of hurricanes. I find the solar farms ugly & unable to eat like a vegetable farm displacing animals & wildlife. And they need to be made of a recycle material for down the road, when they lose their usefulness. I agree if we must have the solar, require that they are on buildings
People are grabbing the “free” government $ while they can. IT WILL run out. Future generations will be left with bearing the cost. It wasn’t too long ago a natural gas pipeline was constructed to make the generation of electricity less of an impact on the environment. Suddenly, we’re all supposed to believe this new fad will be the panacea.
Nothing wrong with utilizing all available fuel sources, but I won’t hold my breath that the air will get any cleaner than it already is. Nor do I anticipate my electric bill will go down; it hasn’t over the past 23 years, despite every claim that it will.
What SES said.
Ditto to everything SES said, and I’ll add … how about high speed internet too?
Hopefully FPL will fill the pot holes and repair the street when they’re done.
In my neighborhood! We can have this but not have the ability to bring one grocery store, another choice of gas station or one other restaurant being to many regulations. There has got to be a better way than cutting down trees that help give us clean air to breath so we can have another Solar Farm. Just put solar panels on all the tops of building, have a solar roof over all parking garages. Please, keep trees on road front to conceal these ugly eye sores. Better yet, make a park for everyone to use old and young. And no, the one down in old Molino is not much of a so called park.