Solar Southwest Florida

FPL has announced that the remaining 2012 solar rebate funding will be released on May 3, 2012 for solar photovoltaic (electric) and solar water heating systems.

If you want any chance of getting in on the best solar rebate in Florida history, you need to act NOW. Call your favorite solar contractor (hopefully Fafco Solar) and they will walk you through the application process. Because the rebates are highly competitive and the amount available will be very limited, it is likely that the funding will run out in the first 10 minutes. The online application process requires advance planning and detailed information about the system you intend to install.

FPL Solar Rebates can cover over 30% of the cost of a solar electric installation up to $20,000 for residential and $50,000 for commercial systems. Paired with a 30% Federal Tax Credit and the lowest component costs in history, the total installed cost of a solar energy system has never been lower.

Utility electric rates in Southwest Florida vary quite a bit depending on how much electricity you consume. I created a spreadsheet to calculate what your utility electric rate would be with different utilities depending on the amount of energy consumed.

What you will find is that the effective rate for LCEC is higher for typical residential customers because of the higher fixed customer charge. Another interesting fact is that LCEC netmetered customers with solar electric generation pay more that regular LCEC customers until they consume at least 1,342 kilowatt hours (net). Again, this is because of a higher customer charge.

The rates are current as of April 16, 2012 and include all charges, fees, and taxes.

Note: The Franchise Fee will vary by municipality. I have used 3% to provide a reasonable approximation and comparison. For example, the Lee County fee is 3% and the Cape Coral fee is 3.173%.

SWFL Utility Rate Comparison

Southwest Florida Utility Electric Rate Spreadsheet (Requires Excel 2007 or greater)

SunPower is just getting ready to ship the first E20 series panels to dealers in about a week. There is a lot of hype around the most efficient and best performing solar module in the industry for residential and commercial applications. The new E20 Series modules are currently rated at 327W and boast a 20.1% efficiency, an improvement from the 19& efficient E19 series.

My first 3D computer model just came out with the new SunPower modules. They look great!

SunPower E20 327W Photovoltaic Module 3D Drawing

It’s pretty obvious that longer days and the sun higher in the sky would make solar energy production better. Did you know that March typically shows the best improvement over the previous month in Southwest Florida?

Here is an example of an energy production report from a solar photovoltaic (electric) system in Fort Myers:

March solar electric performance is typically 30% higher than February output in Southwest Florida.

If you are looking at your solar output comparison for the last two months, you might be surprised at how much better March was. This is normal, and you will continue to see increases as we approach summer, especially for solar panels with low tilt angles.

If you have questions about your solar energy system’s performance, contact Fafco Solar or me directly!

It’s a common question. “How many solar panels do I need to power my ### square foot house?”

The answer is not so simple. In fact, I can’t even give you a rule of thumb. Some industries can tell people a reasonable range for sizing equipment, and often building codes dictate sizing of appliances. For example, an A/C company might tell you that on average you need one ton of air conditioning for every 600 square feet of living area for a Southwest Florida home. A plumber might tell you that you need a minimum 50 gallon water heater for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home. There is no such approximation with solar energy.

The energy used by a home, and more specifically a homeowner, can vary tremendously (note: homes don’t use energy – people do). My 3,000 square foot home uses about 2,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity each month. I’ve been at a customer’s 2,500 square foot home that uses 3,500 kWh of energy! That would be a range of 0.67 – 1.4 kWh per square foot per month – hardly a useful range to use as a rule of thumb.

Energy use is complicated. People have very different habits, standards of living, and luxuries.

I was at a customer’s home where they had two refrigerators in the garage. That is the worst place to put a refrigerator in Florida (because of the ambient temperature). But two?! They were wondering why their electric bill was so high despite the installation of solar products. I think I have an idea…

Pool homes consume more energy generally. Old air conditioners and poor insulation cause poor efficiency for cooling. Some people run incandescent lights in their yard 12 hours a day. And many times, habits are the cause.

Even the utility company averages have little value. LCEC and FPL report about 1,100 kWh per residential account. However, that includes small condos, separately metered buildings, manufactured homes, and seasonal residents. It’s not a good metric to use – just about every customer we visit consumes more than the “average.”

What we need to know is how much energy you use. Fortunately, that’s easy to find out. Both utilities in Southwest Florida have online account history that shows you energy use by month. Fafco Solar’s solar advisers can help you figure out how much energy you are using and how many solar panels you need to power your house!

The Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA) reported that Florida dropped from #8 in 2010 to #17 in 2011 for the amount of solar electricity capacity installed. In addition, total installations decreased by 60% from 35 megawatts to 14 megawatts.

Why the big decrease? It’s my contention that the FPL rebate program is stifling the market. That’s right – a rebate intended to encourage solar energy installation had the opposite effect!

The interesting thing is that solar prices have never been lower, even without a rebate involved. The perception about solar needing rebates to be successful is an outdated notion. Getting this message out is on the shoulders of the solar industry, but our reliance on rebates over the years has misplaced our focus.

Let’s hope that we can make a better showing in 2012!

For those of you who don’t know, the largest utility in Southwest Florida, FPL, is giving away money – lots of money! If you ever had an interest in solar panels, NOW is the time to act. There is money available for solar electric systems and solar water heating systems, and combined with record low prices on solar panels, this is an amazing opportunity. The program is a huge success, but I want to talk about how FPL can improve the Solar Rebate Program, especially the rebate for solar electric panels.

FPL is offering $2 per watt of installed system rating with a residential limit of $20,000 (for a 10 kilowatt system). Smaller systems qualify for the same $2 per watt rebate amount. Most homeowners install around 5kW and receive a $10,000 rebate. How can this be improved? REDUCE the rebate amount!

What?! Huh?! No – don’t say that!!! You’re in the solar business!

Stay with me here as I explain. The first round of rebate funding ran out in under 15 minutes. That’s how much demand there was. That’s how unbelievable this deal is. That’s great, but there are some serious downsides to the program as it stands:

• Only 310 lucky people received a rebate reservation in the first round of funding.
• The first-come first-served system isn’t really fair – it benefits mainly people who can type their application fast on the FPL website. With this level of demand, a lottery would be a more fair distribution of funds. (Note: a lottery could have negative consequences for solar dealers who would not be able to predict future business.)
• Solar contractors must race to get all of their sold systems installed in a 90 day window to have the rebate paid, then there is almost no work for the next 9 months. Who is going to buy solar without a rebate if they know one is right around the corner. This makes it very difficult for qualified solar installers to stay in business and employee people year-round.

If the rebate program can “sell out” in under 15 minutes to 310 customers, how long would it take to sell out at $1 per watt? 50 cents? 25 cents? How many more people would install systems?

If FPL’s goal is truly to get more installed solar capacity in Florida, they would get the best bang for their buck by reducing the rebate amount to maximize the amount of solar electricity installed! Under the current scenario, FPL actually reduces the amount of solar energy installed in Florida, and essentially controls the market. They can predict quite well how much solar will be installed in a given year, and maybe that is their intention. The math is quite simple – if they devote half of the $15.5M annual program budget to photovoltaics, somewhere around 3.75 megawatts per year would be installed and interconnected to the utility.

Imagine the impact if the rebate amount were reduced. I’m willing to bet that if the rebate amount were cut to 50 cents per watt, 1/4 of the current amount, that four times the number of systems would be installed, especially if the installation window were increased to 9-12 months. This would help bring much more solar power to the utility’s system, and would keep solar dealers humming along installing systems year-round, employing more people and creating a greener future for everyone in Florida.

What is FPL’s motivation? What constraints exist from the Public Service Commission approved program? I don’t know all of the answers, but I’d sure like to hear from FPL about my proposal!

A Bonita Springs, FL home with BIPV

Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) describes solar panels that are integrated with a roof. The solar panels replace roofing tiles, and create a seamless appearance with the roof, other than the color, which is typically dark blue or black.

The benefit of BIPV is the appearance. That’s generally where the benefits end. The downsides are numerous:

• In most cases, it’s more expensive to integrate BIPV, even though the solar panels replace roof tiles.
• The energy produced is about one-fourth what is attainable using traditional solar modules (crystalline-silicon) in the given area.
• The return on investment is typically far lower.
• The 2010 Florida Building Code that goes into effect 3/15/12 places increased requirements on BIPV products, which may significantly increase the cost of a BIPV installation.
• BIPV installation requires special training that your average solar installer may not possess.

If your primary consideration is aesthetics and you prefer the look of BIPV, you might be a candidate for this technology. Hopefully the technology will advance to the point that it is economically competitive. For now, I do not recommend or sell the product, and I am not aware of any major local solar installer that does.

My colleagues will tell you that I am rarely wrong, and my wife will tell you that I rarely admit to being wrong. Well, here it goes. I was wrong!

A while back I wrote that all that matters for making a solar electric purchase decision is dollars per watt. I recently attended a Sunpower sales meeting. Fafco Solar is becoming a Sunpower authorized dealer through Abacus Energy Partners. I was very surprised and excited about what I learned. Sunpower offers some unique technologies that make the total output of its solar modules greater over their lifetime then competitive technologies. Sun power modules result in lower degradation over time and produce more kilowatt hours then competitive modules.

Although sun power modules cost more than lower-priced competitors the increase in total lifetime energy output makes up for the increase in power/energy.

What really matters is dollars per kilowatt-hour not dollars per watt.

My previous article was somewhat accurate, in that dollars per watt is all that matters in a class of module where deficiencies are generally the same and manufacturing methods are similar. In the case of similar solar module manufacturing technologies, dollars per watt is in fact a good indicator of what you should purchase because generally speaking all module manufacturers use a similar process, similar materials, and have similar energy densities per unit of area.

I was pleasantly surprised that the premium for the Sunpower brand is only around 20% in today’s retail solar market. Between the extra energy produced over the lifetime of a Sunpower panel and the peace of mind gained by having a superior product, I can now recommend this brand despite the higher dollar per watt price of the PV module.

Take a look at these videos from Sunpower that demonstrate the Sunpower Advantage. Once you see the quality and technology that goes into this manufacturer’s products you will understand the rationale for the premium price.

NOTE: See UPDATE at the bottom of this post.

Southwest Florida is starting to see all Lamar Advertising’s Billboards getting solar panel upgrades. My frustration level with this project is quite high already, first because I believe it was ill-conceived greenwashing, but also because it was poorly implemented. Here is a picture of a billboard in Fort Myers (which thankfully does not host Fafco Solar’s advertisement). Can you spot anything wrong?

Lamar Advertising Solar Billboard in Fort Myers on US41

Lamar used cookie-cutter prefabricated steel racks on their billboards. It would have been far more efficient to install all of these 12 solar panels on a single rack system, purpose-built for the billboard. But that is not the main problem here.

This system was installed by an electrician, whose name I will not mention. Electricians are authorized by Florida Statute to install solar electric systems. That does not make them experts, and here is a prime example. Still looking for the reason that this was done wrong?

A rack mounted solar array at optimal tilt and orientation has all solar panels facing the same direction.

There is only one ideal tilt angle and compass orientation for grid-connected solar photovoltaic systems in Southwest Florida. This tilt angle and orientation will harness the maximum amount of solar energy over the course of a year. Unless there are other cost, aesthetic, or technical reasons for an alternate orientation, solar panels should always be installed in manner that maximizes solar output. All six of the solar arrays are installed with different tilt angles and different compass directions. Although they are generally pointing south, and at a reasonable tilt angle, there is no physical constraint that would cause someone to design the system this way. Plus, it looks terrible.

The optimum tilt and orientation for solar modules can be found using publicly available resources that use a long history of local weather and solar radiation. It’s no secret where to find this information. The National Renewable Energy Labs is the preeminent source used in the U.S. to help solar installers maximize performance under given circumstances.

I would love to give Lamar and the installer the benefit of the doubt, thinking that this would be a test system to see what orientation works out best. After all, each of the six arrays features it’s own microinverter (the now obsolete Enphase D380). It would be easy to monitor each array to determine which produces the most energy over time. However, I can’t imagine this was the intention. I believe it is just a sloppy installation, bordering on complete incompetence.

The lesson: hire a solar professional, preferably someone local.

UPDATE February 29, 2012:

I have been having a lively discussion with Lamar’s Director of Sustainability and Product Research both in the comments below and by email. I am happy to report that the solar panels were askew in the picture above at the time of an upgrade to a digital billboard. It certainly makes sense that more solar capacity is present on this billboard than others, as the electrical draw will by significantly greater. I’m not sure how “sustainable” it is to use an electronic billboard, but it does look great and at least it is powered in part by solar energy.

It’s clear to me now that Lamar does take this project very seriously. After all, just having a Director of Sustainability shows significant commitment. We have a legitimate and passionate disagreement about how the money was spent on this project, and that’s fine with me. My position is borne out of financial reason. His position is that I am being short-sighted.

To be clear, I acknowledge that Lamar is vigorously and sincerely trying to encourage people to use solar energy, and that they are dedicated to a prominent sustainability program. I also appreciate the Director of Sustainability’s passion in defending the program.

There’s no perfect way to spend money to encourage people to “go solar.” Case in point is FPL’s $15.5M per year funding of its solar rebate program. Of this money, $5.6M was allocated to residential solar electric projects in the first round of financing for 2011, resulting in 2.8 megawatts of solar electric capacity (estimated based on the $2/w rebate amount). That’s a much better bang-for-the-buck than Lamar got with it’s spending to encourage solar energy. By the way – the funds for the rebate were exhausted in about 15 minutes after the rebate windows was opened. But, there have been negative consequences of the program. Primarily, the funding strategy limits the number of  ”lucky winners” in a very short window and discourages adoption of solar energy by those that cannot access a rebate because of the perception that solar energy needs rebates to be viable.

I have to ask – how much solar capacity has been installed in Florida as a result of the $2.5M of Federal grant money and $10.0M investment made by Lamar? Unfortunately, unlike the FPL rebate program, Lamar’s advertising campaign does not have people banging down the doors of solar dealers in Florida. I should probably be saying “thank you” for the free advertising, but I still contend that it’s solar done wrong.

One of our solar installers, Cory, took these great pictures of a Solar PV (Electric) System that Fafco Solar is installing in Fort Myers. on a new home in Town & River. This is a super looking system using Canadian Solar CS6P-235P solar modules at 235W each, Enphase microinverters, Unirac mounting system, and non-penetrating S-5! clamps on a standing seam metal roof.

This customer will enjoy the best product installed by the best company installing solar energy products in Fort Myers. Call Fafco Solar for your solar energy needs today!

My New FPL Smart Meter

FPL is in full swing installing Smart Meters around Southwest Florida.I had mine installed last week, but the communications network is a work in progress, so there’s no benefit to me yet. Despite all of the complaints and fears about Smart Meters, I believe the benefits will be great, allowing a granular look at your energy consumption down to your hourly usage, all available from FPL’s website. It’s not as good as some of the energy monitors on the market that can give you a per-second look at your consumption, or even monitor individual appliances or circuits, but it will provide significant insight into your electricity usage.

Some claim that the meters are bad for our health, are inaccurate, or disorient bees. Seriously!

I’m not going to make a call whether some of the claims out there are accurate, but I can tell you one thing for certain – understanding your energy consumption by learning when you use energy is key to reducing your utility bills. As my father-in-law says, “just like a business, you can’t manage energy without an accounting system.”

Unfortunately, those with solar electric systems that are under a netmetering agreement will not get the new smart meters. It is unclear whether the meters are bi-directional, or whether FPL or the manufacturer just hasn’t tested the accuracy measuring energy fed back to the grid. I’m trying to get clarification on that matter from FPL and will let you know if I hear back from their netmetering department.

Here’s a video from FPL about the new Smart Meters:

What does the Acronym PV stand for?

PV = Photovoltaic

a.k.a Solar Electric Panel, Solar Photovoltaic Panel

PV is the term used in the solar industry to shorten the tongue-twisting word Photovoltaic, which describes a method of generating electrical power by converting solar radiation into direct current electricity using semiconductors that exhibit the photovoltaic effect (Photovoltaics, 2012). The photovoltaic effect is how electricity (voltage and current) is generated from light. The term is often used in the context of PV Panels, PV Modules, or PV Systems.

PV Panels

References

“Photovoltaics.” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 12 Jan 2012. Web. 22 Jan 2012.

I had a little fun creating this video from an older post about how you need different solar panels for different tasks. One solar panel can’t do it all – at least, not as effectively as panels designed for a specific purpose. Let me know what you think of this animated video.

No Flash Player? View Here: http://www.youtube.com/v/GAA3BYpdPww

I’m toying with the idea of creating some how-to videos using XtraNormal… just for fun.

Fafco Solar has installed lots of Canadian Solar photovoltaic modules, and now the company is improving its already great warranty. New solar panel buyers will get a 10 year workmanship warranty (up from 6) and a 25 year linear power guarantee.

Many module manufacturers offer a 10 year 80% power output guarantee and 25 year 90% guarantee. Canadian Solar was on par with this standard, but the linear warranty guarantees that you will now have at least 97% of rated output after one year, with only 0.7% degradation each year after that. This is a great upgrade that more and more companies are offering as the reliability of photovoltaic modules is proven in the field.

Canadian Solar takes the warranty one step further and has purchased insurance from an AM Best rated insurer to guarantee that the warranty will remain in place even if the company does not.

Since Canadian Solar is currently right in the sweet spot for “dollars-per-watt” efficiency, this new warranty makes the brand a great buy at this time.

UPDATE: Paul Coughlin from groSolar sent me this Comparison of top module manufacturer warranties. It highlights Canadian Solar’s pioneering insurance coverage.

http://www.solarsouthwestflorida.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/PV-Module-Warranty-and-Warranty-Insurance-Comparisons-White-Paper-Sept.-2011.pdf