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It has been 8 months since I installed my solar photovoltaic (PV) system, and I couldn’t be happier. Low electric bills and the pride of producing my own energy makes all of the hard work worthwhile. I climbed up to check out the system, making sure that everything is still tight and unaffected by the heavy rain season. Of course, like any installation with excellent workmanship, everything checked out fine. PV Systems are so trouble-free and maintenance-free, but even though I know that, I was still compelled to break out my ladder and head up to the roof to take a look. It got meRead More →

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Solar water heaters are very old and proven technology, with roots in ancient times. Modern solar water heating collectors can capture about 85% of the available solar energy in a given area. That’s far above the ~20% harnessed by commercially available solar electric panels. A question often asked is whether someone should buy a solar water heater or a solar electric system, but the answer is not always obvious. One of the solar water heaters we sell has a rating of 12.5kWh/day. This rating is based on a particular climate and rating category (relative water temperatures). What this rating tells us is that the collector isRead More →

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You may have seen my recent post on how Florida utility companies are trying to spin the argument against Netmetering, the method by which millions of solar energy systems interconnect with the utility grid. The gist of the argument is that people who use less energy shift the cost of the grid’s infrastructure onto others. Of course, they don’t say it that way, but that is, in fact, what they are saying. I installed a solar water heater at my home yesterday. This solar energy product does not produce any electricity. It heats (or preheats) water to reduce the amount of energy used by anRead More →

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Well, the match was great… A big win for the US team. Maybe Ghana should have let power lapse during the match… In case you missed it, I posted on Monday about how Ghanaians have a power shortage, and they “purchased power” from Ivory Coast to make sure TVs stayed on during the World Cup match against the United States. To tie this into solar power, I wanted to point out how Ghana can alleviate some (but not all) of their power woes – by installing solar panels, of course! Ghana’s power comes largely from capacity built up in a reservoir behind a dam. The Lake Volta reservoirRead More →

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One of the subjects that often comes up at the start of a solar electric (photovoltaic) system conversation is whether the utility company will “allow” a solar energy system to be installed. Is Lee County Electric Cooperative (LCEC) solar friendly in Cape Coral, Sanibel, Marco Island, and the other areas they cover? While there are challenges, utility companies are generally bound to Public Service Commission Rules, including Florida’s Met Metering Rule, which give consumers fairly broad power to install customer owned renewable generation equipment. LCEC is no different, and it’s actually quite easy to get a residential or small to medium commercial system installed. In fact,Read More →

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You’ve probably heard of high profile investments in solar by large retailers like Ikea, Kohl’s, Costco, and the world’s largest retailer, Walmart. These investments leverage the long terms assets (real estate) of the companies into income producing machines both inside and out. Coupled with various tax credits, accelerated depreciation, rebates, and other incentives, investments in solar make great financial sense for companies who have maximized interior square footage, but haven’t taken advantage of massive swaths of roof space. Walmart alone has installed over 65 megawatts of solar capacity to date. Susan O’Neal Gear of Upstream Insight has an interesting perspective on big-box solar investments. She hypothesizesRead More →

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Today I am at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) to see eleven teams that came from as far away as Key West compete in the second annual High School Solar Go-Kart Challenge. All carts feature a completely electric drivetrain and will compete in speed and endurance races. Powered by three photovoltaic panels and batteries, solar go-karts highlight both the simplicity and complexities of electric powered vehicles, and mirror the interest in street-legal neighborhood electric vehicles and fully electric cars like the Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf, and Tesla Model S. Today is mostly sunny, which obviously helps in terms of endurance and speed. The event is co-hosted withRead More →

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If you are an FPL Netmetering customer with a solar electric system, you may have received an email recently describing changes to the program. All of these changes apply only to new Netmetering customers, and no action is needed for existing customers. The only significant change that applies to non-government entities is that a manual disconnect switch is no longer needed for new Tier 2 and Tier 3 interconnected systems (systems with a gross power rating exceeding 10kW). Specifically, the email addressed these following changes: Eliminating the requirement for a manual visual load break disconnect switch on U.L. 1741 listed inverter based renewable energy systems.Read More →

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Unlike the southern tip, the northern end of North Captiva, FL, not accessible by land vehicles, actually has utility electric power available. Just like any mainland homeowner, this one wanted to offset increasing utility bills with solar energy. Working on an island is obviously a challenge, but our amazing crew pulled off this 4.6kW SunPower solar photovoltaic system in two days. This system is comprised of fourteen SunPower 327W modules, among the most efficient modules commercially available. Paired with a SunPower branded SMA SB-5000US inverter, this system is expected to cover the majority of this homeowner’s electrical consumption. The system was installed to meet theRead More →

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Net Metering, the concept and laws that allow solar electricity producers to connect to the grid and sell back energy, is under attack in the United States. Florida has been spared from the recent trend of utility companies working publicly to repeal or amend Net Metering laws. Utility companies in other states have taken various public and well-funded measures to repeal Net Metering laws or to make Net Metering less attractive to solar energy customers. For example, Arizona utilities recently succeeded in adding a fixed charged for solar producers based on photovoltaic system size. While it was opposed by the solar industry and the finalRead More →

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I just received my FPL Solar Rebate check for the solar photovoltaic system I installed at my home. Needless to say, I’m a happy man today. FPL has a highly competitive rebate program that grants funds to about 300 lucky residential customers per year. The maximum rebate amount is currently $20,000 for a 10 kilowatt rated solar energy system, covering about half of the typical cost. The Federal government kicks in another 30%. The bad news is, the rebate funds are exhausted for 2014. The good news – plummeting PV prices have made photovoltaic systems reasonable investments without utility rebates!

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Did you notice your latest bill from FPL hit you a bit harder in the pocketbook? Effective January 2, 2014, FPL raised rates for residential customers by about 5%, caused mostly by increased fuel charges. This change, approved by the Public Service Commission, also increased the non-fuel base electricity charge slightly. The fixed customer charge remained the same. Bills with the higher charges are arriving in mailboxes now. Want to fight back? Fuel and non-fuel consumption is reduced by conserving energy or by producing your own energy with solar energy or other renewable energy sources. The best part about solar energy is that you shaveRead 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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It has been extremely exhausting, but I finally completed installing a 10kW photovoltaic (solar electric) system at my home in Fort Myers, FL today. The final interconnection was done by my electrician and we fired up the system. To my delight, even with dense cloud cover, my meter started spinning backward! I see this happen many times each year, but now I know the feeling of producing my own energy. I now understand why customers are so antsy and anxious about their installation schedules. It’s EXCITING to be your own power plant! I now understand why people want it, and more importantly, why they wantRead More →

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I’ve been relatively quiet about the 10 kilowatt solar electric (photovoltaic) system that I am installing at my home in Fort Myers, FL. Normally I would be writing incessantly about something like this, but honestly I didn’t think it would go the way it did. I decided that I would learn what the hard working men of Fafco Solar endure every day on rooftops while installing solar energy systems. In particular, I wanted to experience the roadblocks that come with installing a solar photovoltaic system, the most complex product Fafco Solar offers. Photovoltaic systems require the most planning, integration, skill, and physical labor of anyRead More →