Solar Southwest Florida

Florida House Bill 0277 (2013) has passed both the House and Senate unanimously. This bill makes official the de facto standard used by county property appraisers that excludes renewable energy (i.e. solar energy, wind energy) systems from assessed property values. This exclusion was inadvertently removed from law during a previous congress in 2008. Various attempts have been made to reenact the exemption, with no success until now.

According to the Florida Solar Energy Industries Association, “The bill implements a constitutional ballot initiative approved in the 2008 general election by Florida voters, which prohibits adding the value of certain home improvements specific to the installation and operation of a renewable energy source device and increasing the level of wind resistance protection to the assessed value of residential property. ”

I’ve been hyper-critical about the do-nothing Florida legislature in the past, but this appears to be a long-overdue victory for the Florida solar energy industry. I’ll give credit to them for finally getting it done. While the real impact of the new law will be minimal, at least it provides some peace of mind for those thinking of installing solar energy systems.

The exemption technically covers new solar energy installations completed after January 1, 2013, but based on the last 4-5 years of de facto exclusions, it is unlikely that any property appraisers will have an appetite to assess systems installed prior to this date. The broad definition covers most solar energy property including on-grid and off-grid (battery backup) solar electric systems, solar pool heaters, solar water heaters, solar attic fans, solar tubular skylights, and associated solar energy equipment.

House Bill 0277 is on the Governor’s desk for signature. Governor Scott is expected to sign it.

The Senate bill summary page can be found here: http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/277

The full text of the bill can be read here: http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/0277/BillText/er/PDF

What was once true has become a myth. In years past, it didn’t make much sense to install solar panels (solar electric/photovoltaic modules) from a financial standpoint without generous subsidies, rebates, and incentives. The payback period was too long for most investors (see my article on the folly of the payback metric here). Except for those lucky enough to access a rebate, the numbers just didn’t make sense.

Solar Panel Price Plummet. Source: Solarbuzz

In case you haven’t heard, solar panels have plummeted in price. We’re talking about a >75% drop in wholesale and retail prices in the last three years. Total installed costs have been cut in half. Meanwhile, electricity rates continue to rise. It’s the perfect storm for making solar panel installations feasible without most subsidies.

I say “most subsidies” because there is an incentive that exists today that is still important to make most installations financially attractive. The Federal Investment Tax Credit is essentially a 30% rebate on the total installed cost of a solar energy system. This incentive is in place until the end of 2016, and covers both individual and corporate taxpayers. If you have taxable income, you can access the tax credit! What’s interesting about this tax credit is that it pays for itself in terms of the government’s investment. In fact, a recent study concludes that the government gets a 10% return on its investment from the tax credit.

In Florida there is no state rebate available. Other states have eliminated subsidies or only offer very nominal incentives. Florida utilities have very limited rebate programs that are either inconsequential in the grand scheme of the price of a system or are so limited in funding that your chance of obtaining the rebate is slim-to-none. But that’s OK!

A big area of discussion at Solar Power International 2012 in Orlando this month was the disappearing subsidies, and how the solar industry needs to move away from requiring handouts. Indeed, the solar industry has grown substantially in the past few years despite disappearing subsidies. The plummeting price of the product we offer is an obvious key. As keynote speaker, former President Bill Clinton said, we in the industry need to tell our story. This is the story – solar is now financially attractive without [most] rebates, incentives, and subsidies!

Florida “suffers” from a lack of incentives that are still seen in other states. Those states, like California, New Jersey, Arizona, and New York, have seen a meteoric rise in solar panel installations. Florida has lagged the industry significantly. Admittedly, the local solar industry has done a poor job of getting the word out. It’s time to put forth an effort to tell the public our story and get the solar industry in Florida back on track. Let’s compete for our rightful title, The Sunshine State!

With new building codes in effect in Florida, I’ve been asked quite a lot about variable speed vs. variable flow pumps, especially with solar pool heating systems. The answer turns out to be a bit complex. The simple answer is that a variable speed pump will give you better trouble-free performance while still resulting in significant energy savings. The whole story is more complex.

At first glance, the features of a Variable Flow pump like the Pentair Intelliflo VF seem perfectly suited for a solar pool heating system. The pump would operate at a constant flow rate that is optimal for solar pool heating, adjusting the pump speed as necessary to meet changing pressures from water features or dirty filters. An automatic controller could further optimize performance by adjusting flow rates depending on the heating source and features being used. Unfortunately, there are two problems with this approach:

1. Variable Flow pumps are designed to shut off when there is a significant flow rate change. In some cases the enabling or disabling of a solar pool heating system will result in a fault that shuts the pump off.
2. Variable Flow pumps on the market do no meet the Safety Vacuum Release System (SVRS) requirements for the Virginia Graeme Baker Act and incorporated in the Florida Building Code 2010 that went into effect March 15, 2012.

The best solution is to install a variable speed pump like the Pentair Intelliflo VS. This pump varies in speed, which loosely translates into varying flow rates. Because in any given configuration a pool circulation system has a relatively stable pressure, we can set up a variable speed pump to act essentially like a variable flow pump. We “dial in” speeds for pool heating, features, and cleaners with a flow meter at the time of installation. Optimal flow rates are selected to optimize the performance of heaters and pool features with energy savings. Flow rates decrease when filters become clogged, but this is easily remedied by proper maintenance practices.

However, we need to again consider the Virginia Graeme Baker Act and SVRS systems. If your pool does not meet certain guidelines for safety, a SVRS system is now required when replacing a pool pump or pump motor. Fortunately, variable speed pumps come in SVRS models like the Pentair Intelliflo VS+SVRS. The downside is that nuisance tripping of the SVRS system can still occur with the solar pool heating system, particularly at low flow rates. In our experience, the corrective measure is to run the speed at slightly higher speeds than otherwise required to not trigger the SVRS. Unfortunately, you will not be able to take full advantage of the energy savings of the variable speed pump, but the savings will still be spectacular. The best capability is the ability to run the pump at optimal speeds based on heating source and pool features with an automatic controller. We can successfully integrate a variable speed pump, SVRS, and solar pool heating this way.

To recap, the ideal energy saving pool pump for solar pool heating systems is a variable speed pump without SVRS if your pool plumbing allows it, or a VS+SVRS pump if you must upgrade due to new codes. A Variable Flow pump may work, particularly at higher flow rates, but it is not advised with solar pool heating systems. If you don’t know whether a SVRS is required on your pool, your friendly Fafco Solar representative can tell you!

A couple of years ago we had a thriving Florida state incentive program that paid $4 per watt to buyers of solar electric systems in the form of a rebate. At the time, that covered between 40% and 50% of the cost to install solar electric for your home or business. Two things happened with the rebate program: the incentive was shut down due to lack of funding/desire by legislators to spend taxpayer money, and the existing rebate applicants were hung out to dry, many collecting only 52 cents on the dollar. That was the end of state rebates for Florida property owners.

So why should you buy solar electric now in Florida without a state rebate?

Fast forward two years to the beginning of 2012. The bottom dropped out of the Photovoltaic panel market, with wholesale prices dropping by over 75%. This resulted in almost a $4 per watt decrease in wholesale price for a big part of the cost to install solar electric. Other fixed and variable costs remained the same or decreased slightly. Today, solar electric systems are sold for almost $4 less at the retail level.

In short, if you were lucky enough to get the state rebate, you would have paid about the same two years ago with a state rebate as you will pay today without a state rebate. If you had purchased two years ago and not received all of your rebate money like thousands of Floridians, you would be better off buying today to the tune of $2 per watt. That’s about $10,000 on a typical household system!

The point is that now there is no risk of failed rebate programs and legislative nonsense. Prices today are lower at regular retail rates, and you are no worse off than someone who purchased a couple of years ago with a promise of a fat rebate from the State of Florida that never came through.

So the next time someone asks me, “what incentives are available,” I can respond that they are no longer necessary to make solar energy economically viable!

I have just been informed that the next round of FPL funding for solar rebates will start on October 25. The first time around, reservations were exhausted in under 15 minutes.

It is urgent that you contact your solar dealer NOW if you want to take advantage. This is the opportunity of a lifetime!