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My closest friends know I’m a huge Happy Gilmore fan. Back in the day I watched it at least a few times a week. I had ringtones and computer alerts with soundbites from the movie. In the scene where Mr. Larson (played by Richard Kiel) threatens Shooter McGavin, he’s wearing a distasteful pro-gun shirt that reads “Guns Don’t Kill People… I Kill People.” Maybe that’s where I got my favorite solar energy related catch-phrase: “Homes Don’t Use Energy… People Use Energy.” If you think about it for a minute, it’s pretty obvious. While most people would consider electricity a necessity, technically speaking, energy use isRead More →

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Let me start by saying that the solar energy debate has nothing to do with solar pool heating or solar water heating, which are traditionally the bread and butter of solar energy products in Florida. This debate is about solar electricity (photovoltaic panels). There has been a rash of articles recently describing a brewing battle between utility companies and the solar energy industry in Florida. Things reached a boiling point when the Public Service Commission refused to hear PUBLIC comment on issues that affect the solar industry. (read that again – it’s true – and it’s shocking). On one side we have the investor owned utilityRead More →

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Integrity Florida, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research institute and government watchdog whose mission is to promote integrity in government and expose public corruption, has just released a scathing report on how utility companies influence the Florida legislature and utility regulators. While it’s not shocking to discover that big business uses big money to influence lawmakers, it does paint a picture of an incestuous club of cronyism that results in harm to the Florida energy consumer. Full disclosure: my company is currently embroiled in a battle with FPL over interpretation of the “Net Metering Rule,” 25-6.065, F.A.C., Interconnection and Net Metering of Customer-Owned Renewable Generation. I have requested informal assistanceRead More →

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My wife will tell you that I was screaming at the TV last night while watching an episode of CSI. I’m one of those guys that points out every little factual mistake in TV dramas. The crack team of CSI agents were trying to determine which home in a neighborhood was using inordinate amounts of energy to identify a drug grow house. They had obtained the “energy” usage of a neighborhood of homes, and identified a home that consumed 5,300 “kilowatts” in one month – a sizable amount of energy supposedly. The problem is, a kilowatt is a measure of power, not energy. It’s beenRead More →

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Fafco Solar just completed a 38.25kW Solar Photovoltaic System for FMI Hansa Medical Products in Naples FL. The rooftop solar array is comprised of 153 solar modules from Canadian Solar rated at 250W each. The microinverter-based system uses 153 Enphase M215 microinverters mounted beneath each solar module. FMI Hansa representatives contacted me less than a month ago after realizing that the original company contracted to install the solar panels was not meeting its obligations. The owner had a strict November 20 deadline for a ribbon cutting ceremony at their beautiful new facility at 3511 Plover Ave, Naples, FL. Based on what I observed, the contractorRead More →

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I received a question from a potential customer today about power production guarantees for Photovoltaic (PV) Systems. I realized that I hadn’t covered that issue on my blog, so I thought I would copy the question and response here (revised for clarity). Question: Is there a guarantee on the percentage  power output of the proposed photovoltaic system? Answer: The Canadian Solar CS6P-250P modules themselves have a power production warranty that states basically that they will put out a minimum of 97% of rated power at test conditions during the first year and degrade no more than 0.7% per year thereafter through a total of 25 years. ThisRead More →

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Men may be from Mars, and Women may be from Venus, but both share an interest in Solar Energy. What’s interesting is the products each gender tends to buy. At risk of sounding stereotypical and seriously impacting my home life, I decided to write this post anyway. I have fairly hard data behind my opinion, so I figure I can get away with it. I have found that men are the primary buyers of Solar Electric (Photovoltaic) Systems in Southwest Florida. On the other hand, women and men equally or collectively tend to drive the decision to buy solar pool heating systems. The last 10Read More →

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Today, December 21, is the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. Today’s hours of sunlight in Southwest Florida will be approximately 10h 28m, three hours and twenty minutes shorter than the longest day. The sun also reaches is lowest height above the horizon, not even 45 degrees at it’s apex. Compare that to almost 90 degrees overhead on June 21. Based on that, it should be no surprise that December has the lowest monthly solar radiation on average. Solar photovoltaic systems will produce the least energy, and solar pool/water heating systems will generate the least heat. The good news – it allRead More →

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Many economists think that a financial Armageddon is on the horizon in the United States and Europe. While don’t necessarily agree that a meltdown would result in an end-days scenario, doomsday prepper-style, there is certainly an argument to be made for inevitable inflation if out of control deficit spending by governments continues. How can solar energy help? Individual and business decisions whether to invest in solar energy are often predicated on the belief that utility electricity rates will increase steadily in the future. Arbitrary average energy inflation rates, based loosely on historical records of varying lengths, are often used in financial models. Averages range fromRead More →