Camera Phones Plaza

A very good thing in this chaotic world we all live in is that, irrespective all the conflicts and disasters that are enough “stubborn” in their attempt to make life a living nightmare, many people become aware of the problems the humanity is facing nowadays and try to do something about it. They try to improve things, if it’s possible, and to start them all over again, where there’s nothing to do about it.

We’ve witnessed in the past couple of year the apparition of so many solar powered gadgets, from cell phones to vehicles, and the trend seems to be very powerful, as people also started to think about the world’s first solar-powered city. It’s like the solar energy history doesn’t want to come to an end and goes to the next level, even if we like it or not.



There are plans for such a city to be built from scratch, in the Sunshine State. You don’t know which state I’m talking about? Well, it’s Florida, this being the nickname given by the population. The project is known under the name of Babcock Ranch, which is expected to be a community large of about 17,000 acres. The city, placed somewhere near Fort Myers, for the connoisseurs, will be the result of the collaboration between Florida Power & Light and Kitson & Partners, a development firm.



An impressive aspect is that the entire community will be based on a solar-powered generator of 75 megawatt, that is said to cost $300 million. In addition, smart grid technology will allow people to have total control over their power consumption.



Now, here is what we find on the Babcock Ranch website: “Electric vehicles, able to plug in for recharge at convenient community-wide recharging stations, will glide along avenues beneath the glow of solar-powered street lamps. Ingenious, revolutionary Smart Grid technologies will monitor and manage energy use while Smart Home technology will allow residents to operate their homes at maximum efficiency, thereby reducing costs”.



It sounds futuristic, of course, but we sure hope that everything goes according to the plans. And if it does, then the construction of the solar facility is said to begin sometimes at the end of the year, while the construction of the city center is expected to begin in 2010. A very important aspect is that buildings, both homes and businesses, will have a Florida Green Building Council standards certification.

There will be approximately 19,500 homes and retail and light industrial space of 6 million square feet. Not to mention the impressive surface of greenways and open space of more than 8,000 acres.

Maybe it’s hard to believe that the Babcock Ranch will ever come true, but what should please us is that the solar energy history goes on.

(Source: Dvice)