Tesla's solar farm restores reliable power to Puerto Rico children's hospital

midian182

midian182

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Earlier this month, Elon Musk and the governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rossello, began talks centered on rebuilding the island’s power grid using Tesla solar and battery technology. The devastation caused by Hurricane Maria has left 75 percent of the country’s connected residents without power. Now, Tesla has used its tech to restore reliable electricity at a children’s hospital.

San Juan’s Hospital del Niño serves over 3000 children across the country and is home to around 35 children with serious medical conditions who require constant care. Since Maria hit, it’s been powered by generators and forced to ration diesel fuel.

Thanks to Tesla’s solar power array built in the parking lot next to the hospital, all its electricity needs are now being met. Elon Musk wrote that this “is the first of many solar+battery Tesla projects going live in Puerto Rico.”

"I've never seen a team arrive so fast and work so fast. They built this in a week," Rafael Pagán, the hospital's chairman of the board, told Telemundo.

Puerto Rico assures citizens that 95 percent of them will have power by December 31, but many believe this to be a wildly optimistic promise. With estimates for restoring the power grid said to be as high as $5 billion, it’s thought the country could run out of money very soon. The state-owned PREPA—the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority—filed for bankruptcy in July, before the hurricane arrived.

Efforts to bring power back to Puerto Rico have been engulfed in controversy recently. PREPA just signed a $300 million contract with two-year-old Montana firm Whitefish Energy, which only had two full-time employees when Maria hit. The company is based in Whitefish, Montana, the same small town that U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is from. Zinke knows the owner, Andy Techmanski, and his son worked a summer job at one of Techmanski’s construction sites. The CEO maintains he got the contract because he was in the right place at the right time.

“In an interview on Oct. 10, Mr. Techmanski said he got the job because he was the first to show up on the island—on Sept. 26, six days after the storm hit—and because he didn’t ask for any payment in advance," writes the New York Times.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/71593-tesla-solar-farm-restores-reliable-power-puerto-rico.html

 
This is cool, I think... I can't help but wonder what the catch will be down the road. I'm willing to bet there will be a few unwelcome surprises.

Also what about the structural strength of these above ground installations? I'd be worried something or a hurricane could damage some of these battery modules, causing them to catch fire and explode, especially if it affects multiple battery modules in an area.

Lastly I still question the "greenness" of this tech, I don't think it is mature enough yet for its production to be more efficient than old ICE and petroleum production techniques. Perhaps I am wrong, and I hope I am... but dang that is a lot of batteries and that requires a lot of materials to be extracted from the Earth.
 
IAMTHESTIG said:
This is cool, I think... I can't help but wonder what the catch will be down the road. I'm willing to bet there will be a few unwelcome surprises.

Also what about the structural strength of these above ground installations? I'd be worried something or a hurricane could damage some of these battery modules, causing them to catch fire and explode, especially if it affects multiple battery modules in an area.

Lastly I still question the "greenness" of this tech, I don't think it is mature enough yet for its production to be more efficient than old ICE and petroleum production techniques. Perhaps I am wrong, and I hope I am... but dang that is a lot of batteries and that requires a lot of materials to be extracted from the Earth.
Click to expand...
If Musk has a brain, his engineers considered and designed in requirements for "natural" events like hurricanes.

Yes, this takes materials out of the earth, however, it does not spew them into the atmosphere like petroleum based products do. The lifetimes on solar cells, to the best of my understanding, are on the order of 20-years or greater. In addition, batteries can be recycled, but that depends on humans taking the required action to recycle them. Carbon is significantly harder to remove from the environment. This brings to mind a supposedly valid report by a shill a number of years ago that a Hummer was greener over its lifetime than a Prius - a report that was soundly debunked.

In addition, if this PV array and the batteries allow the hospital to be completely off-grid, this removes the pollution that would be generated if the hospital relied on carbon-sourced energy. Also, it could further set up the hospital to be self-sufficient in the event of future storms.

If you do some research, you just might find that this tech, while perhaps too expensive for some, is significantly greener than one might think.
 
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I'll agree that battery tech has gotten a lot better, and there are a lot of benefits to using these technologies over ICE and petroleum but there is always room for improvement. We continue to improve old tech as well though so it often costs considerably more to go "green". Doubtful PR would be doing this if they had to buy the tech. It is noble of Musk but like I said earlier I still can't help but wonder if there are some strings attached that will be revealed at a later time.
 
You would think I am the only one in the world that has commented on this... just kinding.
But seriously, poor countries and corruption walk together A LOT, so every effort to bring Puerto Rico power back should be well observed... I live in Brasil, I know how this goes. A power plant that would cost X ends up costing 3X.
 
IAMTHESTIG said:
I'll agree that battery tech has gotten a lot better, and there are a lot of benefits to using these technologies over ICE and petroleum but there is always room for improvement. We continue to improve old tech as well though so it often costs considerably more to go "green". Doubtful PR would be doing this if they had to buy the tech. It is noble of Musk but like I said earlier I still can't help but wonder if there are some strings attached that will be revealed at a later time.
Click to expand...
Could be. Personally, I am no fan of Musk.

As things improve in other areas of tech, though, there is continual research in solar that is being conducted.There are even transparent PV cells being developed. https://phys.org/news/2017-10-transparent-solar-technology-future.html https://phys.org/news/2017-10-passive-solar-windows-cold-weather.html As with any research including research into conventional technologies, they may never make it to market as there are all kinds of forces out there that are more than happy to stand in the way.

Take, for example, a invention that was patented by the US Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It is called "Gas Filled Panels". Basically, it is a bag with aluminum foil in it that forms pockets. It can be rolled up and easily transported to any job site. Once on site, it is filled with a heavy noble gas like argon or krypton. When it is filled like that, it gives an R value of 18 or so per inch of thickness. IIRC, the maximum is 21 per inch. Compare that R value with the best of foams - 7. In a 2x4 stud cavity, that means that an R value of something on the order of 54 or better could easily be achieved. This would qualify as a "superinsulated" structure, and if used in homes, something like that could be heated with body heat and cooking and little else.

But, some wanker bought the patent for application to building structures, and for some reason unknown to me, sat on it. Why the US allows entities to buy publicly funded research patents and then sit on them is also an unknown. This article does not tell you about the fact that the patent was sat on for quite a while - I discovered that while researching it. https://energy.gov/articles/berkeley-labs-gas-filled-insulation-rivals-fiber-buildings-sector But at least someone out there is doing something with this finally.

Personally, though, I favor research into energy sources that significantly reduce or eliminate pollution of any kind. Humanity can do better than to rely on dirty technologies. And screw those who are looking to make megabucks off of dirty technologies. Personally, I am not like Mitch McConnel in his statement "I don't believe in global warming because God said he would not smite the Earth again." I pose to McConnel, did God ever say that he would prevent humanity from smiting the Earth?

My apologies for ranting, but this is something I feel very strongly about. Humanity can do better, and, IMO, there is no question that humanity can do better.
 
wiyosaya said:
If Musk has a brain.........his engineers considered and designed in requirements
Click to expand...
well that's the big assumption right there..
The engineers I have more faith in, but maybe they were over-ruled by the boss for cost concerns
 
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