This video is a Google Earth flyover of the transmission line that is “at risk,” for catastrophic failure in Santa Barbara County. Southern California Edison has determined that a line or tower failure would severely disrupt the availability of energy in Southern Santa Barbara County. Severe storms could prevent the repair and reconnection for weeks or longer, according to Edison’s analysis.
The flyover then continues to Downtown Santa Barbara where the potential for commercial rooftop photovoltaic installation, assuming 25% coverage, is at least 87 megawatts of installed solar.
Next the flyover focuses on a three-block area on State Street between Carrillo and Ortega. This typical downtown area has enormous rooftop solar potential with two municipal parking garage roof that could easily host solar panels. This area alone could host at least 4.5 megawatts of installed solar.
Finally the flyover ends at Santa Barbara’s Charles E. Meyer desalination plant, across the street from the city’s waste-water treatment plant. This plant requires ~1.5 megawatts of power for its initial operation at ~1/3 capacity. Solar panels on the large rooftops in yellow could provide 1.5 megawatts of power. The rooftops in orange could provide an additional 1.5 megawatts, which could be used to charge the flow battery, outlined in green. The purple outline is space enough for a fuel cell power plant that could provide sufficient base load power for the plant’s operation as well.
For more information visit:
SBR3 – Santa Barbara Resilient, Reliable, Renewable
