Duke Energy has been developing “Solar Centers” in their service areas over the past few years. One of these solar centers is being planned for around the Robinson Nuclear Plant in Darlington County. Here are a few specifics about this plant:
- Create approximately 200 new construction jobs
- Provide 76 MW of clean, renewable energy
- Increase tax revenue for Chesterfield and Darlington counties
- Generate economic benefits to local businesses during construction
- Help improve overall reliability of the electric grid
- Safe, quiet generation
- No air emissions or waste production
- Minimal water needs
- Low visual impact
- No impact on local traffic
- Pollinator-friendly plants
This sounds good, but one must look closer to the details.
The project will create 200 construction jobs, not permanent ones. It will not use local labor but instead bring in workers with experience in construction. It will not increase tax revenue but instead request a fee in place of a tax deal, which is nothing more than corporate welfare. These solar fields are not quiet but emit an irritating hum known to be a problem for those exposed.
The misinformation continues when they say reliable energy for the electric grid, low visual impact, and no real economic benefits for local businesses since it will have permanent jobs. Where I come from, this dog doesn’t hunt. But they are not telling you the real story about these arrays.
In previous articles, I have discussed the hazards of these solar arrays, including fires, water runoff, hail damage, liability, and other reasons why it is a mistake for any county to approve these installations. I will show you something Duke does not want you to know.
In the introduction to this article, I discussed other centers that Duke has developed. You should also know about the Lake Placid Solar Power Plant in Sylvan Shores, Florida.
Here are the specifications for the Lake Placid Solar Center:
- The Santa Fe Solar Power Plant will be built on approximately 600 acres in Columbia County, Fla. The 74.9-MW plant will consist of approximately 235,000 tracking solar panels, which will produce enough carbon-free energy to power more than 23,000 average homes at peak production.
Please note the electrical output of this plant. As you can see, it is 74.9 MW. Note that the capacity of the Robinson plant is 76 MW. This means that they are both the same size. Now Duke has made many promises on how clean these plants are, and how they will never bring any hazard to those who live around them. Well, that is not the truth. Here is a video that I think you and everyone in Darlington and Chesterfield County should view:
This is what a tornado did when it passed through the Santa Fe Solar Center. It cut a swath of destruction that is better seen by viewing the video below.
The amount of damage is enormous. The panels have not just been destroyed but pulverized. One must imagine that they have been ripped apart, the glass reduced to dust, and the heavy metal components spread across many square miles of Florida. People had to be exposed and most likely breathed in glass particles/dust, cadmium, lead, and selenium compounds! And if not exposed by inhalation, they would be subjected to properties that these materials have contaminated! These materials have been known to cause cancer or Silicosis from breathing or skin exposure to these materials. To add to the problem, all of that material will be carried off as runoff water and wide up in both surface bodies of water like Lake Robinson and Black Creek, to name just two. Over time, it will also migrate to the water table in these counties, which we all know is relatively close to the surface in our counties.
Of course, Duke Energy will tell us that tornadoes are rare in Darlington and Chesterfield County. Well, I don’t think so and they can be just as destructive as the one that destroyed the Santa Fe Solar Center. Five years ago an EF-2 tornado destroyed a High School in Kershaw County, which as we all know borders on Chesterfield County and is right next to Darlington County. This is what that tornado did to that school:
You can click on the picture to learn more about that catastrophe, but I think you understand that the damage there is similar to the damage you have seen at the Santa Fe Solar Center.
I don’t know about you, but I believe all of the “benefits” that Duke Energy says will come from the Robinson Solar Center are not worth the risks that the citizens of our counties will have to assume. It is not worth zero employment gain. It is not worth looking at a bunch of butt ugly solar panels. It is not worth the disruption of animal migration routes. It is not worth the noise pollution that it will produce. But it is not worth the health risks that our citizens will have to assume in the very real chance that it is destroyed by violent weather. I, for one, would never want to subject myself, my wife, our children, or our grandchildren to such a risk, and I don’t believe you should either.