Florida Power and Light is giving Fox 4 a sneak peek into its progress on the world's largest solar-powered battery.
FPL installed the first of more than 50,000 specialized batteries that will store solar energy from one of the company's solar sites. Each specialized battery weighs over 200 pounds, and can store the equivalent of about 2,000 iPhone batteries.
The company said this all part of their plan to transition to clean energy, and make the most of power from the sun.
"Without battery storage, we would not be able to put as much solar energy onto the system. Long-term, that is where we're heading at FPL.So, this project benefits customers in two ways. One, it saves customers 50 million dollars over the life of the project. The second way is, it's cutting approximately 1 million tons of carbon that otherwise would've been emitted into the atmosphere, which is good for everyone," Matt Valle, the Vice President of Florida Power & Light Co., said.
FPL said the battery is roughly 75% complete, and should start serving customers later this year.
Fox 4 also went to the other big power company in Southwest Florida, LCEC, to find out what solar options it has. The company said since it doesn't generate power, it doesn't have the kind of programs FPL does. It does have the net-metering program. It can provide renewable energy resources, like solar panels, for your home. If you add a solar panel, and it generates more power than you use, the extra power goes back to the grid, and you get a credit.
