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posted by cmn32480 on Saturday October 24 2015, @03:06PM   Printer-friendly
from the what-sunny-state-will-be-next dept.

The Center for American Progress reports

Solar power could soon be flourishing [in] the Sunshine State. [On October 22,] the Florida Supreme Court approved [PDF] an initiative for the 2016 ballot that would allow Floridians to vote to reduce the state's restrictions on rooftop solar power.

Although solar is growing exponentially nationwide, it has not thrived in Florida. Florida is one of a handful of states that prohibit residents from purchasing electricity from a source other than an electric utility. This has locked out third-party solar rooftop companies, such as SolarCity and SunRun, which install rooftop solar panels on a customer's property at no cost and sell solar-generated power to that customer at a reduced electric rate.

As ThinkProgress previously reported, a coalition of solar advocates called Floridians for Solar Choice has been leading the effort to change this policy by pursuing a ballot initiative to permit third-party financing for rooftop solar by private companies. To get the initiative on the ballot, Florida required the coalition to first collect 68,314 voter signatures and then have the initiative language approved by the state Supreme Court.

On [October 22], the ballot initiative cleared this major hurdle when the Florida Supreme Court approved the "Solar Choice Amendment" for the November 2016 ballot. Advocates now have to collect the requisite 683,149 signatures to ensure the initiative goes on the ballot. It will then have to pass with 60 percent of the vote in 2016.

[...] In 2008, the Florida [Public Service Commission--the state body responsible for regulating electricity--]released a report saying that rooftop solar alone had the potential to generate nearly 100 times [the current 530 MW derived from renewables in Florida]. [PDF]

Meanwhile, "public servant" Pam Bondi, Florida's Attorney General, continues to fight on multiple fronts to block renewables.


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  • (Score: 3, Informative) by frojack on Saturday October 24 2015, @07:02PM

    by frojack (1554) on Saturday October 24 2015, @07:02PM (#254060) Journal

    Other reasons:

    4) maintenance is fully covered by the vendor, even storm damage
    5) You don't have to know anything about electricity, batteries, charging, solar cells, or climbing on roofs
    6) negotiating leverage with the power grid for inter-ties
    7) potential to gang roof tops in housing subdivisions to achieve economies of scale

    NOTE: Florida does not ban solar panels. There are thousands of installations of homeowner installed solar. (Although even a cursory look with google maps satellite view reveals a gazillion additional roofs that could support solar but don't).

    This story is about a particular prohibition of a business model of large-corporate solar companies installing and owning panels on people's roofs, and selling power back to the homeowner. This business model does provide an alternate funding method, but in the end, it is a profit making venture.

    While its a bit odd to see gewg_ rushing to the defense of large corporations, there are no unmanageable flaws in this model. But there are pitfalls.

    The state is not completely in the wrong to want to regulate this business model, (although banning it outright seems a little heavy handed). There are plenty of avenues for abuse in this business model, such as abandonment, refusing to maintain, jacking up the price after install, unsafe systems, violation of electrical codes, un-clean title to the property complicating sales, etc.

    And, as you mention, there should be a buy-out option at the home-owner's discretion at any time on a reasonable sliding scale.

    These things should be regulated, and somebody or some agency should be watching these companies. Ad hoc regulation by title laws, electrical code, construction code, business licensing, consumer watchdog, and electrical grid agencies is full of opportunity for loop holes, finger pointing, fraud, and abuse.
     

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  • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 25 2015, @01:08AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 25 2015, @01:08AM (#254169)

    its a bit odd to see gewg_ rushing to the defense of large corporations

    Hey, I don't want to be -completely- predictable.
    That would be boring.

    ...and I do hate waste, so all that unused sunlight bugs me.
    ...and there's Mother Earth to think about WRT substituting for fossil fuels.
    Not the ideal, but movement in a better direction.

    -- gewg_