Dashboard Illuminates Wing Solar’s Energy Production
Curious about how the weather can affect the amount of energy produced by a solar facility? Wondering what happens when the sun is not shining?
Now you can find answers to those questions, track trends and learn about weather impacts for the Wing Solar facility through South Alabama Electric Cooperative’s website. A link to the solar dashboard is available at southaec.com. Simply scroll to the bottom of the homepage to the custom link for Wing Solar or click on Energy Savings in the navigation bar at the top of the homepage, and then click on Wing Solar.
Located on a 986-acre site in Covington County, Wing Solar is a collaboration between PowerSouth Energy Cooperative and Origis Energy. PowerSouth, headquartered in Andalusia, provides wholesale power to 16 electric cooperatives, including SAEC, and 4 municipal electric systems in Alabama and Northwest Florida. Power-South relies on a mix of sources for power generation — natural gas, hydroelectricity, nuclear, coal, and solar.
The 80-megawatt Wing Solar facility began operation in 2023 to supply PowerSouth’s members with renewable, solar-generated energy and the potential to power 13,000 homes annually. Cloud cover, time of day, and even temperature can impact the facility’s actual output, however.
The Wing Solar dashboard lets members see the megawatts produced at various times. For example, a visitor to the website can look at the current date’s solar generation or select another day with the dashboard calendar. A line chart shows how energy generation peaks throughout the chosen day. Bar graphs show members the solar energy generation levels by week and month.
The dashboard also provides the current temperature and the percentage of cloud cover with a gauge showing the current megawatt production at the facility, which harnesses energy from more than 230,000 solar panels. The solar dashboard also shows the facility’s total generation in megawatt hours for the current day, month and year to date.