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Tesla makes quick work of Puerto Rico hospital solar power relief project

53 points by curtis 9y ago

maxerickson 9y ago
How many kilowatts and kilowatt-hours? Like here's an island hospital with 3.2 megawatts of generators: http://www.generac.com/resources-and-tools/engineer-resources/power-connect-newsletter/march-2016/a-healthcare-install-in-action http://www.generac.com/resources-and-tools/engineer-resource...
- dangrossman 9y ago
  > The system, which includes 200 kWh of solar energy generation & 500 kWh of storage, will supply power to the Children's Hospital in Guaynabo https://twitter.com/DavidBegnaud/status/922868816387833856 https://twitter.com/DavidBegnaud/status/922868816387833856
  - elihu 9y ago
    I'm guessing he means "200 kW of solar energy generation". (That didn't seem like the sort of mistake someone from Tesla would make, so I looked closer at his profile and it says "CBS news correspondent".)
  - plexicle 9y ago
    Don't mean to be pedantic (I know it was the tweet and not you), but it's 200kW of power and 500kWh of storage.
evanlivingston 9y ago
I'm surprised there hasn't been more discussion of disaster capitalism around this.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- WaxProlix 9y ago
  A phenomenon also known as 'shock doctrine', after the book by Naomi Klein. From wikipedia[1] "In the book, Klein argues that neoliberal free market policies (as advocated by the economist Milton Friedman) have risen to prominence in some developed countries because of a deliberate strategy of "shock therapy". This centers on the exploitation of national crises to push through controversial policies while citizens are too emotionally and physically distracted by disasters or upheavals to mount an effective resistance." There's nothing particularly controversial AFAIK about the technique, seeing as there are generally plans to revisit TPP etc on Thanksgiving, hold votes when constituents can't attend (this happens in almost any institution and isn't confined to eg. US Congress), etc, and gain profit where profit is available. Parent comment could have been more informative, but there's nothing wrong with wondering aloud why this isn't being discussed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shock_Doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shock_Doctrine
  - evanlivingston 9y ago
    Yah, it's hard to be critical of necessary and life saving infrastructure being put in quickly when it's needed. But I do wonder how the economics will play out down the road.
altcognito 9y ago
Can these panels be protected from Hurricanes?
- erikpukinskis 9y ago
  Google says: “Most places in Florida require solar installations to withstand winds of 160 mph minimum“
  - toomuchtodo 9y ago
    The panel installs for this specific installation will not survive hurricane force winds based on the temporary ground mount used, but you are correct that ground mounted solar panels can withstand hurricane force winds when designed to do so.
sua_3000 9y ago
dup: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15544370 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15544370
- detaro 9y ago
  If there are no previous submissions with comments or votes a few reposts are allowed (see https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html). Please only link to other submissions if they are relevant like that. Pointing to an empty page is just noise.
sp332 9y ago
To make quick work of something means that you finished it quickly. This article just says that they started quickly.
- WaxProlix 9y ago
  The article is a fluff piece - there's very little actual information in it.
  - nwhatt 9y ago
    I think the only source is a tweet from Tesla.
icanhackit 9y ago
Does Tesla outsource installation to third parties and just have their engineers on site to monitor for quality and testing? Just wondering, between this and the installation in Adelaide (Australia), how they can manage multiple medium to large scale installations simultaneously?
- greglindahl 9y ago
  The Australian install is 200 times bigger than this one (100 MWh vs 500 kWh) Here's the announcement of the Aussie firm that's helping the Australian install: https://indaily.com.au/news/2017/08/14/adelaide-based-firm-help-build-teslas-giant-battery/ https://indaily.com.au/news/2017/08/14/adelaide-based-firm-h...
  - icanhackit 9y ago
    Thanks, great to see they're subcontracting a local firm...but in hindsight it's probably the only practical solution. Renewable projects like these can get past the pro-coal industry rhetoric of "they took our jobs" with "they gave us jobs".

53 points by curtis 9y ago

How many kilowatts and kilowatt-hours? Like here's an island hospital with 3.2 megawatts of generators: http://www.generac.com/resources-and-tools/engineer-resources/power-connect-newsletter/march-2016/a-healthcare-install-in-action http://www.generac.com/resources-and-tools/engineer-resource...

dangrossman 9y ago
> The system, which includes 200 kWh of solar energy generation & 500 kWh of storage, will supply power to the Children's Hospital in Guaynabo https://twitter.com/DavidBegnaud/status/922868816387833856 https://twitter.com/DavidBegnaud/status/922868816387833856
- elihu 9y ago
  I'm guessing he means "200 kW of solar energy generation". (That didn't seem like the sort of mistake someone from Tesla would make, so I looked closer at his profile and it says "CBS news correspondent".)
- plexicle 9y ago
  Don't mean to be pedantic (I know it was the tweet and not you), but it's 200kW of power and 500kWh of storage.

evanlivingston 9y ago

I'm surprised there hasn't been more discussion of disaster capitalism around this.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
WaxProlix 9y ago
A phenomenon also known as 'shock doctrine', after the book by Naomi Klein. From wikipedia[1] "In the book, Klein argues that neoliberal free market policies (as advocated by the economist Milton Friedman) have risen to prominence in some developed countries because of a deliberate strategy of "shock therapy". This centers on the exploitation of national crises to push through controversial policies while citizens are too emotionally and physically distracted by disasters or upheavals to mount an effective resistance." There's nothing particularly controversial AFAIK about the technique, seeing as there are generally plans to revisit TPP etc on Thanksgiving, hold votes when constituents can't attend (this happens in almost any institution and isn't confined to eg. US Congress), etc, and gain profit where profit is available. Parent comment could have been more informative, but there's nothing wrong with wondering aloud why this isn't being discussed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shock_Doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shock_Doctrine
- evanlivingston 9y ago
  Yah, it's hard to be critical of necessary and life saving infrastructure being put in quickly when it's needed. But I do wonder how the economics will play out down the road.

altcognito 9y ago

Can these panels be protected from Hurricanes?

erikpukinskis 9y ago
Google says: “Most places in Florida require solar installations to withstand winds of 160 mph minimum“
- toomuchtodo 9y ago
  The panel installs for this specific installation will not survive hurricane force winds based on the temporary ground mount used, but you are correct that ground mounted solar panels can withstand hurricane force winds when designed to do so.

sua_3000 9y ago

dup: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15544370 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15544370

detaro 9y ago
If there are no previous submissions with comments or votes a few reposts are allowed (see https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html). Please only link to other submissions if they are relevant like that. Pointing to an empty page is just noise.

sp332 9y ago

To make quick work of something means that you finished it quickly. This article just says that they started quickly.

WaxProlix 9y ago
The article is a fluff piece - there's very little actual information in it.
- nwhatt 9y ago
  I think the only source is a tweet from Tesla.

icanhackit 9y ago

Does Tesla outsource installation to third parties and just have their engineers on site to monitor for quality and testing? Just wondering, between this and the installation in Adelaide (Australia), how they can manage multiple medium to large scale installations simultaneously?

greglindahl 9y ago
The Australian install is 200 times bigger than this one (100 MWh vs 500 kWh) Here's the announcement of the Aussie firm that's helping the Australian install: https://indaily.com.au/news/2017/08/14/adelaide-based-firm-help-build-teslas-giant-battery/ https://indaily.com.au/news/2017/08/14/adelaide-based-firm-h...
- icanhackit 9y ago
  Thanks, great to see they're subcontracting a local firm...but in hindsight it's probably the only practical solution. Renewable projects like these can get past the pro-coal industry rhetoric of "they took our jobs" with "they gave us jobs".