Solar (PV) rooftop panels and FL policy

[villagetinker]

I hope the link works, here is a 35 page report on the 10 worst stated for residential solar PV, and guess what Florida is #2. This provides a lot of background as to why you do not see a lot of solar panels here.

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_sustainability/energy/pdfs/ThrowingShade.pdf

[Bjeanj]

Heaviest reading I have done since I retired! Here are my take-aways from reading this.

If I understood correctly, there *may* be a ballot question in November that would legalize third-party sales. Third-party ownership or leasing would make solar power more affordable to those wishing to install solar panels. I don't have enough of a background to understand why utilities and the state attorney general would oppose this initiative.

In addition, Florida does not have a *mandatory* renewable portfolio standard, meaning Florida does not require utilities to generate any electricity from renewable energy sources (eg., solar power) as other states are required to do so. This, in effect, makes it unlikely to motivate utilities to make these changes voluntarily.

These two issues appear to be the two main barriers to effectively decreasing Florida's reliance on current power sources and increasing its use of renewable energy.

Accurate summary?

[biker1]

One of the issues I see, and I am hoping you can comment on this, is that roof top systems, via net-metering, have the potential of driving the monthly electric bill to zero. This strikes me as very unstable and unfair. Roof top solar users are still 100% dependent on the grid, even if their net usage is zero, because they will require power from the grid at night, when it is cloudy, and perhaps even when AC units kick on. So, they will still use grid-based power but not contribute to the costs associated with power plants and distribution networks. In other words, even if there are solar panels on every roof you still need power plants and distribution networks.

Also, solar panels produce a majority of their power during a specific time of the day, which doesn't necessarily correspond to peak usage times. Power plants must be built to meet peak demands. This can create an unstable economic condition where the installation of more solar panels drives down the net-metering reimbursement as solar panel energy supply surges during the middle of the day and is in excess of what is actually needed.

The real issue, as I see it, is not the adoption of solar panels but the lack of a reasonably priced way to store solar generated electricity so it can be used when peak demands don't correspond to peak solar production times, and/or at night.

I hope the link works, here is a 35 page report on the 10 worst stated for residential solar PV, and guess what Florida is #2. This provides a lot of background as to why you do not see a lot of solar panels here.

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_sustainability/energy/pdfs/ThrowingShade.pdf

[villagetinker]

I spent 40 years in the electric utility field, and around 30 in the area of parallel generation. In Pennsylvania, the utilities are DEREGULATED, this means the energy customer selects their electric (power) supplier, they are still connected to their electric power distributor (the typical power company). In a deregulated state the typical electric bill has several items: A bill for the power used, a bill for the power delivered, a bill for the Transmission system, a bill for the distribution system, various taxes, etc. In this arrangement the PV customer only offsets the power delivered (the actual kwh used at the house), most of the other charges are either fixed, or are based on a combination of power delivered and power generated (there are 2 meters, or one bidirectional meter). This arrangement tends to insulate non PV customers from supporting PV customers. Depending on the states RPS requirements, there may be a premium paid for the solar power. Since ALL customers are free to shop for their power supplier, no customers are directly impacted from a "solar subsidy program".

This is a very condensed discussion of a very complicated system. Since Florida is a 'regulated' state, that above solutions will not work. It appears in the present form of the Florida law that any subsidy would have to be born by the other rate payers.

I hope this provides some background on a very complicated subject.

[Villager Joyce]

Thank you VT for always bringing us interesting and helpful information.