March 10, 2012|By Kevin Spear, Orlando Sentinel
The mirror-covered behemoth that constitutes Florida's largest, and one of the nation's most ambitious, ventures into solar energy has been producing a small fraction of the power promised by its owner.
An Orlando Sentinel review of production data on file with state regulators reveals that, during its first year of operation, the Florida Power & Light Co. solar plant in Martin County has not come close to producing enough electricity to meet the demand of 11,000 homes — the output that FPL continues to claim for its one-of-a-kind facility.
Instead, it generated enough power last year for only 2,056 homes, according to the Sentinel's analysis of monthly reports filed by FPL with the Florida Public Service Commission.
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BTW - This thing covers 500 acres.
I think we're actually getting over the hump on some of that," Martinez said. "We're cautiously optimistic. We think it's going to be great technology."
.....The Martin system, built to last 50 years, cost $398 million, or $75 million less than budgeted, according to the utility.
What? They spent $400M and are cautiously optimistic that this is GOING TO BE a great technology?
What the hell did the environmental disaster that this solar plant caused cost to clean up? What did it cost to be shut down for 3 months while the disaster was addressed?