Solar power farm coming to Disney

PhotoDave219

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
GoofGoof said:
You could get one of those tiny houses. They actually have a reality show now.
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I can't really predict what will happen with battery technology or solar panel prices in the future. Common sense tells me the price will come down like all technology. Eventually it will be feasible and economic. Maybe in your lifetime.

A small portion of homes in the US actually qualify for rooftop solar. You need enough clear roof space and your house has to face the right direction. One alternative that is becoming more popular is community solar projects. You buy a 20 acre piece of land somewhere and install something equivalent in size to this WDW solar farm and then get a few thousand people to buy in. They split the output. It's designed for people who want solar but live in a condo or a smaller house that can't get rooftop solar or maybe just don't want it on their roof.
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Hey hey hey, they'll even give child mol(I should stop that RIGHT there) reality shows......
 
A

Admiral01

Premium Member
GeneralKnowledge said:
I don't think the fact that fusion and fission can be confused will hold it back too much. In reality, modern fission (of which we have very little installed capacity) is the best short term option for reducing our dependence on hydrocarbons. Let's build some new nuclear fission plants and run them for 50 years then hopefully by the time we need to replace them we will have fusion figured out.

I agree with you that hydro is wonderful. Unfortunately as I understand it from Bill Nye and Ellen, most of the good sites are already taken.
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I agree with you. I just had this conversation at work today. Build some Gen 3+ and Gen 4 Fission plants, and then when they run the course of their lives 50 to 60 years from now, not only will their waste be TONS less than the current Gen 2 Fission reactors we've grown accustomed to, we may have other options like Fusion, Gen 5/6 Fission, better Solar Photo, more efficient wind, and better energy storage.

Unlike coal and natural gas, fission plants are more easily tuned and adjusted for power output. Run a coal plant at 50% efficiency and you may actually pollute more than running that plant at 100%.

This is really interesting stuff.
 
GeneralKnowledge

GeneralKnowledge

Well-Known Member
Master Yoda said:
I think you are missing the point.

While making a dedicated off site solar farm will cost less than trying to incorporate it into a parking lot, it is without question the better way to do it if they are serious about actually generating power and not just doing it for appearances.

This is not TDO being cheap, this is them doing something that actually works.
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I understand what you mean and agree with you. I don't think I was being particularly clear. I was trying to say that not opting for a parking canopy system is evidence that Disney is doing this more for the money savings rather than the green clout. My jab at TDO was basically to say "of course they're doing this for the money".

Also, I hope you're not trying to say that installing a solar parking canopy doesn't actually work. I've engineered and constructed one myself and they are a perfectly viable means of mounting a solar system albeit a tad more expensive.
 
GeneralKnowledge

GeneralKnowledge

Well-Known Member
Master Yoda said:
An "eyesore" you can only see from an aircraft or satellite is not really an eyesore in most peoples book. There are also several large sections of land in the area this will be going that are already nearly as clear as a pasture. Odds are that this farm will be built on one of them.

The parking lot idea would generate a fraction of the power per square foot a dedicated farm would all while using even more material and increasing maintenance costs.

Those breakthroughs are not going to come without large scale projects like this.
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I don't mean to argue with you over the viability of a parking lot based system, but saying that they can only produce a fraction of the power per square foot is a bit of an exaggeration. You are correct that it is a fraction, but it is around 80%. Not too too much less.

Even in a land based solar field you have to space the rows of panels so that they don't shade one another. In a parking canopy that spacing is designed to coordinate with the rows between spaces, which is similar to the row spacing required in a land based system.
 
Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
GeneralKnowledge said:
I understand what you mean and agree with you. I don't think I was being particularly clear. I was trying to say that not opting for a parking canopy system is evidence that Disney is doing this more for the money savings rather than the green clout. My jab at TDO was basically to say "of course they're doing this for the money".

Also, I hope you're not trying to say that installing a solar parking canopy doesn't actually work. I've engineered and constructed one myself and they are a perfectly viable means of mounting a solar system albeit a tad more expensive.
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No, they work just fine and are a great option when you don't have gobs and gobs of empty land available like a certain mouse does.;)
 
Monorail_Red_77

Monorail_Red_77

Well-Known Member
GoofGoof said:
It's possible right now. Just not a very good deal economically. You could combine solar, batteries and a whole house backup generator (a commercial grade one that runs on nat gas not the one that runs on gasoline that you keep in your garage) and unplug from the grid completely. The net cost of all of that will be higher right now than staying on the grid.
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I have always thought about a system that utilizes solar panels and batteries, maybe even a few small wind turbines. It would be a combination of RV type electrical appliances and light bulbs as well. Basically all light bulbs in the house would be 12volt and all electrical appliances would also be low voltage where possible. Water Heating would be solar as well. The only catches would be the central AC/Heat, stove/oven and clothes dryer.

Seems like it would be possible, just not sure if it would be practical.
 
Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
Monorail_Red_77 said:
I have always thought about a system that utilizes solar panels and batteries, maybe even a few small wind turbines. It would be a combination of RV type electrical appliances and light bulbs as well. Basically all light bulbs in the house would be 12volt and all electrical appliances would also be low voltage where possible. Water Heating would be solar as well. The only catches would be the central AC/Heat, stove/oven and clothes dryer.

Seems like it would be possible, just not sure if it would be practical.
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Practical is the big problem.

You are still going to need to use standard 120v/220v AC, lights, wiring, etc as most building codes do not allow you to use anything else. That is no big deal as you just use an inverter to go from DC to AC. You can also use CFL and LED bulbs in combination with energy efficient appliances and good insulation to keep your usages as low as possible.

The biggest Achilles heel of the equation has been the battery system, but it looks like the real like Tony Stark, Elon Musk, might have begun to crack that egg. http://www.teslamotors.com/powerwall
 
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matt9112

matt9112

Well-Known Member
PhotoDave219 said:
No this is something entirely different.

In this case, Duke energy will be building a solar plant inside the RCID. Disney will turn around and then purchase the electricity generated at that plant from Duke.

It means That Duke is responsible for all the maintenance sends all the associated costs with a plant.

I'd like to see another one of these beat built in the animal kingdom area
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How much of disney will this power?
 
Monorail_Red_77

Monorail_Red_77

Well-Known Member
I can see this as a test for school kids really soon.

Which Mickey Head is the most green in this Google Earth image.
A. The Mickey Head Forrest
B. The Mickey Head Solar Farm
C. Neither A nor B
D. Who is Mickey.
 
jme

jme

Well-Known Member
For those interested, because I was, a 5 MW solar array should produce 8.5 million kWh (kilowatt hours) per year, from what I've researched.
 
GeneralKnowledge

GeneralKnowledge

Well-Known Member
ChrisM said:
While I'm a big fan of Elon, he's no Tony Stark.

Not really much of an engineer and more than a little socially awkward. Sharp as a tack and a hell of a businessman, though.
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Yea he spoke at my college graduation back in '08. It was a pathetic speech. This was all pre-Tesla and SpaceX but after he made his PayPal fortune. Since then I've been amazed at his rise to fame as a "visionary" when his speech consisted of "sooooo I made a bunch of money with PayPal so now I'm rich." He literally started the speech by saying "I didn't really prepare a speech today." Afterward my thought was "well maybe you should have"
 
Progress.City

Progress.City

Well-Known Member
marni1971 said:
They were actually replaced in the past decade.
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They need to replace them again. Look how efficiency has gone up since:
image.jpg
 

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