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from the sunshine-state-finally-living-up-to-its-name dept.
Solar Industry Magazine reports
Following a long local--and national--campaign, Florida voters overwhelmingly approved a pro-solar ballot measure during the state's primary election on [August 30].
Passed with 73% of the vote, Amendment 4 implements a change to the state constitution and clears the way for the legislature to implement new tax laws that advocates say will end prohibitive tax liabilities and help boost Florida's fledgling distributed solar market.
According to Vote Solar, a big proponent of the measure, Amendment 4 was placed on the ballot after garnering unanimous support from state policymakers in March. Specifically, the amendment authorizes the state legislature to abate ad valorem taxation and exempt tangible personal property tax on solar or renewable energy source devices installed on commercial and industrial property. This reflects an extension of the existing ad valorem abatement for solar and renewable energy devices on residential property. Once implemented by the legislature, the tax incentives of the amendment will begin in 2018 and extend for 20 years.
[...] The ballot summary says, "This amendment establishes a right under Florida's constitution for consumers to own or lease solar equipment installed on their property to generate electricity for their own use. State and local governments shall retain their abilities to protect consumer rights and public health, safety and welfare, and to ensure that consumers who do not choose to install solar are not required to subsidize the costs of backup power and electric grid access to those who do."
The Florida Supreme court narrowly approved the amendment's language in a 3-4 vote, and in her dissenting opinion[PDF][1], Justice Barbara Pariente deemed the ballot measure a "wolf in sheep's clothing".
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(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 01 2016, @11:51PM
This is simply not how markets work! I must have missed a memo, is Florida the new California?
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday September 02 2016, @12:58AM
I read that as meaning "no net metering, and special fees for grid tie".
I'd like to put solar on my highly-exposed roof, and I would do it even if I only got spot price for my production (spot plus a few percent for the losses not incurred in local production still makes sense to me).
But I'm really afraid of the crazy-random arbitrary grid tie fees, for which I've seen numbers approaching my current electric bill (which is pretty dang low).
(Score: 1) by RandomFactor on Friday September 02 2016, @02:02AM
I took the GP as indicating that, as a rule, any special tax exemption is always subsidized by those not in the exempted group.
But I might have been jumping to my own personal pet peeve :-p
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 02 2016, @02:40AM
Don't count on spot price for long. California has so much solar that sometimes the marginal price of a solar watt approaches zero. It is the main reason they are building up their grid connections to other states - so they can export the surplus solar power.
(Score: 2) by Whoever on Friday September 02 2016, @04:58AM
If you only get spot prices for electricity, it is unlikely that a solar system will be economically viable. You need to get something near to retail price for your surplus electricity in order to have a reasonable payback.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday September 02 2016, @04:17PM
I get payback in house value and peace of mind when I won't have to worry about future price hikes. The lady also would like to be able to run heat/AC without getting the "you don't need that much" look.
I will also get the satisfaction of using those 330+ days of perfect sunny weather to produce power locally rather than import or frack it, then carry it tens of miles on ugly poles. Whether I charge an electric car, or see that power used by the neighbor's A/C, it still feels better than seeing all that potential just heat my attic.
Breaking even is the cherry on the cake.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Friday September 02 2016, @05:27PM
Peace of mind should require a system that doesn't depend on the net for, say, timing signals. You can do that easily if you go DC, but then it's hard to find appliances. So you need a bit more than a system that generates enough power. You need storage and various control mechanisms. Basically, you need a system that can run free of the net. It usually isn't worth the bother.
OTOH, avoiding the "you don't need that much" look can often be defused with just a token solar setup.
FWIW, my setup is sized slightly below the "breaking even" size, and I don't have local storage. Every once in awhile I start thinking about how desirable it would be to have a full setup...but so far it hasn't seemed worth the cost. If the grid really dies the city will eventually (probably weeks, but depends on time of year) go up in a firestorm, so survivalism would be a false reason. What I get out of it is much lower electric bills.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday September 02 2016, @05:44PM
> I start thinking about how desirable it would be to have a full setup...but so far it hasn't seemed worth the cost.
Given that most of the cost in my area is for the labor and permits, not for the panels and connections, there isn't much savings to be had by not going for the max size...
I believe that new houses built south of St Louis should have mandatory panels (someone building a house in Australia told me he was essentially forced to put in solar). Yes, that makes the house more expensive, but with scale savings, and considering it's new houses (pricier by default), it wouldn't be a killer. Of course, the local utilities will make sure no such rule exists in the US, because my grandchildren's yacht is more important than long-term US prosperity.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Friday September 02 2016, @05:58PM
Well, I bought the original setup about 20 years ago, when the costs were different. Going to a full stand-alone system would probably mean starting from scratch. I know the current inverters wouldn't handle the full load.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.