By:
On:
In: Opinion
With: 2 Comments

Earlier this month FPL took down the Port Everglades power plant to make way for a new natural gas powered plant. In conjunction with the demolition they embarked on an aggressive advertising campaign to tout their energy independence. I’m confused… From what are we becoming independent?! FPL has spent countless dollars on paid Facebook advertising and billboards throughout Florida to pat themselves on the back for becoming independent. (side note: this advertising money comes from you, the ratepayer.) They would make you believe that we are becoming less reliant on foreign oil with this fantastic new plant. One FPL Facebook ‘friend’ quipped that the newRead More →

By:
On:
In: Education, Opinion
With: 1 Comment

Florida Power & Light loses about 8% of the energy it produces in transmitting it to your home. Right out of the gate, that’s a great argument for producing energy at or near the point of use. Locating solar energy systems at homes and business is often called distributed solar energy. That is, the production of solar power is scattered around the utility grid in a distributed manner. This is the opposite of utility-scale solar energy that is produced in huge solar fields typically long distances from the places where the energy is needed. Obviously there is a significant cost to moving energy around “theRead More →

By:
On:
In: Education
With: 0 Comments

A friend just sent me a picture of solar panels mounted vertically along a wall at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Can solar panels on a wall really work? Solar panels perform better with direct sunlight. Here in Southwest Florida, the sun reaches a maximum angle above horizontal of 86°on June 21 . On December 21, the shortest day of the year, the sun only reaches an angle of 40° above the horizon. On average, the maximum daily angle, also known as azimuth, is about 63°. In Philly, the Sun’s average maximum daily angle above the horizon is only 50°. In both locations, energy productionRead More →

By:
On:
In: Education, Opinion
With: 2 Comments

I was introducing myself to someone at a birthday party this weekend, and the subject of the viability of solar energy in Florida came up. The person I met was clearly an accomplished and intelligent person, and definitely interested in environmental conservation and renewable energy. I was surprised when she hypothesized that solar energy hasn’t taken off in Florida because of “all of the clouds.” Despite Florida being called the Sunshine State, there is still this misconception that solar panels do not perform well where clouds exist. It’s true that our summer days are punctuated by billowing clouds and violent thunderstorms, but several factors allowRead More →

By:
On:
In: Education
With: 0 Comments

It’s a common scene. A potential client is agonizing over the choice of what solar panel manufacturer to choose. We’ve made a recommendation based on all of the factors that we deem important, but the client still wants our opinion on this module or that module. Respectfully, realizing that the client is simply doing their due diligence, we answer question after question. After all, this is a major purchase – these panels will be on their roof for 40 years! I have my opinion on what factors are important in choosing a solar photovoltaic module, and they may be a bit surprising to some. CommonRead More →

By:
On:
In: Education, Events, News
With: 0 Comments

  Learn how to use Sketchup 3D CAD Software! Sketchup is a 3D computer aided drafting (CAD) program that anyone can learn and use. Whether you are an architect that wants to start creating rich 3D presentation and construction drawings, a woodworking enthusiast needing to plan and visualize projects, a video game or animation artist, or just want to have fun creating in 3D, Sketchup has something for you! This will be a full day interactive event, starting with demonstrations in the morning on how Sketchup 2013 Free can be used for a variety of industries and hobbies. If you choose to stay for the afternoon session, youRead More →

By:
On:
In: Education, Events
With: 0 Comments

Summer’s here, and that means it’s time for my annual trek to the Naples Botanical Garden Summer Camp. Fafco Solar installed 164 solar panels at the Garden’s education facility a couple of years ago, and I’ve volunteered each year to speak to the summer camp classes. Each year I get some chuckles out of the kids’ questions. Here are a few from today: Why doesn’t everyone have solar panels? How do you get your hair to be spiked up like that? How many solar panels does a robot take? (My answer: “Five”) This time around I brought a couple of 40W solar panels, a smallRead More →