Solar FDOT ponds

[Charles Hunter]

FDOT has signed an agreement with D3Energy, a floating solar contractor, to potentially build floating photo-voltaic panels on FDOT stormwater ponds.

"In Florida, the bottleneck on new solar is rarely capital or technology — it's available land. This lease solves that at the state level," said Stetson Tchividjian, Managing Director of D3Energy. "It took years of work with FDOT to get here. With our first project now in the water and operating, we're ready to roll this out to partners across the state."

Unlike most solar projects that take a site-by-site approach, the FDOT master lease consolidates statewide site access under a single agreement. The structure replaces piecemeal procurement with one master framework for FDOT coordination, eliminating the fragmentation that has slowed clean energy deployment in the state.

D3Energy estimates the FDOT pond inventory can support more than 1 GW of floating solar PV capacity statewide — enough to power over 200,000 Florida homes, while saving roughly 5,000 acres of Florida land from being converted to ground-mount solar. The arrangement also generates recurring lease revenue for the State of Florida, turning passive infrastructure into a new revenue stream at no cost to taxpayers.

I wonder if there's a minimum size pond for one of these installations? A lot of the FDOT's ponds are not very big. Will this agreement affect the design of future ponds, to better accommodate lease-paying solar panels? Will the panels affect the operation of stormwater ponds? The panels would reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the water, affecting evaporation, and potentially algae growth. Will this statewide agreement supersede local ordinances regarding placement of solar installations?

[jaxlongtimer]

Expect well connected Nextera (parent of Florida Power & Light and failed JEA suitor) to get the edge on these leases with their tight connections to politicos in Tallahassee.

As to feasibility, more and more, people are looking to use the land/water under solar panels for productive uses including agriculture and even cattle grazing given the volume of land that solar farms require.  So, I do think it is worthwhile to pursue projects like this. 

The other big opportunity is building on rooftops.  I would think the main obstacle is building to resist strong winds.  Absorbing the sun's rays would reduce A/C costs in Florida and those with similar climates.  It is unfortunate that Trump thinks coal and oil are somehow better today than solar and wind, forgoing a major opportunity to speed up use of these technologies.  Interestingly, China appears to have moved into a leading role in promoting solar.  Given today's oil status, they are looking very smart.