150 mph winds.
Two-story waves barreling across normally dry land.
That's what residents on Florida's coast got hit with when Hurricane Ian made landfall around Fort Meyer's.
So, it's no wonder that over 2.6 million residents wound up with no power.
But in one 100% solar-powered community just 12 miles from Ft. Meyers called "Babcock Ranch," the lights stayed on.
Babcock Ranch's 700,000-panel solar system didn't just survive a direct hit from the worst hurricane in decades. It suffered so little damage that, unlike many of their neighbors, all of the ranch's 2,000 residents maintained full power throughout the storm and its aftermath.
Solar panels are built to last
As we noted in a previous post, solar panels are generally designed to withstand punishing weather. So, as long as you're working with a reputable and experienced installer, your solar rooftop system ought to hold against your region's worst weather.
In 2015, scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) took a close look at the durability of over 50,000 solar systems installed between 2009 and 2013.
NREL found that, in any given year, only 0.1% of solar systems develop any damaged or otherwise underperforming panels.
Any way you slice it, that's an extraordinary record of durability.
Special precautions.
But Babcock Ranch proves that, when properly constructed, even large-scale industrial solar installations can weather the worst mother nature has to offer while those relying on utility companies for electricity sit in the dark waiting for the power to come back on.
Babcock Ranch was built with both solar power and hurricane-level winds and flooding in mind.
To avoid downed power lines, Babcock Ranch's 700,000-panel 75-Megawatt solar system distributes electricity to its 2,000 residents through underground wires. Streets were also designed to be floodways and populated with native plant species to help control flooding.
"We may be the only people in Southwest Florida who are that fortunate"
As Babcock Ranch resident Nancy Chorpenning told CNN in the wake of Ian, “The hurricane came right over us [but] we have water, electricity, internet — and we may be the only people in Southwest Florida who are that fortunate.”
“We have proof of the case now because [the hurricane] came right over us,” Nancy Chorpenning, a 68-year-old Babcock Ranch resident, told CNN. “We have water, electricity, internet — and we may be the only people in Southwest Florida who are that fortunate.”
"It’s a great case study to show that it can be done right," added Lisa Hall, a spokesperson for the founder of Babcock Ranch. “Throughout all this, there’s just so many people saying, ‘it worked, that this was the vision, this is the reason we moved here,’” she told CNN.