LAKELAND, Fla. — The City of Lakeland is getting ready to welcome its first solar microgrid community.
The new 77-home subdivision, called Myrtlebrook, will be a self-sufficient neighborhood that is completely off the grid.
Lakeland’s City Commission voted Monday to move the project forward.
“It’s a great day in Lakeland to say yes to this project,” said Commissioner Stephanie Madden.
The subdivision is in partnership with Lakeland Electric, BlockEnergy, and Highland Homes.
“A microgrid community consists of a community that basically makes its own energy and uses its own energy. All the energy that’s used by the community is made in the community with the solar panels," said Michael Dammer, Lakeland Electric Manager of Emerging Technology.
The solar microgrid community will be located in northwest Lakeland on Myrtle Road near Dr. N.E. Roberts Elementary School.
The homes will all be solar-powered, with each home having its own solar panels and batteries, but they are all interconnected. There will also be a central energy storage area for the entire neighborhood.
Developers of the Myrtlebrook subdivision say it will help keep the homes from losing power during major storms.
"Because the generation happens right in the neighborhood, we are less susceptible to grid outages, which means our customers are less likely to see a blackout due to storms or squirrels or any sort of outside car versus pole type of situation," Dammer said.
The $4.235 million project will be funded by Lakeland Electric, which will benefit from the excess power generated by the homes.
The agreement calls for BlockEnergy to maintain the system for the first three years. After that, Lakeland Electric employees will maintain and repair. BlockEnergy will train Lakeland Electric workers to be ready to work on the equipment by 2028.
According to Lakeland city documents, the project will be a pilot project to use the new technology and test out a new business model for residential growth in the Lakeland Electric service territory.
“Lakeland is growing dramatically with new residential communities popping up everywhere. That load growth has to be met somehow, and Lakeland is looking at more responsible ways of doing that rather than build another power plant and transmission line,” said Rob Bennett, CEO of BlockEnergy.
The Myrtlebrook development is expected to break ground in 2024, with housing construction set to begin in 2025. The project should be fully completed sometime in late 2025 or early 2026.
You can read more about the project specifics here.
