Florida Power and Light’s (FPL) new Discovery Solar Energy Center – a 74.5-megawatt solar site spanning 491 acres at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida – is officially up and running. On Friday, June 11, Rockledge High School’s 2021 competition robot, built by the school’s Pink Team, cut the ribbon during a ceremony marking the solar energy center’s official start of operations. Mentored by Kennedy engineers, the Pink Team re-engineered their robot – affectionately named “Pinky” – to carry a large pair of scissors specifically for the ceremony.
Located just across from Kennedy’s Visitor Complex, the solar site will be visible to the Florida spaceport’s many employees and visitors. Consisting of about 250,000 solar panels, the site will produce enough energy to power approximately 15,000 homes per year. The solar energy center is FPL’s 40th overall in the state of Florida and, although it won’t power anything at Kennedy, it will send energy directly to FPL’s electricity grid for distribution to their existing customers. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett