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Florida’s once-lucrative solar rebates are done. No more. Finito. Due to a cumbersome budget deficit, the state legislature allowed the $4-per-watt rebate for solar power systems to expire on June 30th. It’s sad. Everybody regrets it. Nobody wished for it. But can we not roll with the changes? Can’t the Sunshine State just move along to greener (if not so sunny) pastures?

Well, no, says the IRS. And NO! says a group of Floridians who installed solar systems while the rebate was still alive but are still waiting for their check.

The situation in Florida is rather odd. On the one hand, we have the auditor, the IRS, which in a recent letter slammed the state for misspending Recovery Act dollars on the ailing solar rebate program — to the tune of $8.3 million. On the other are a group of homeowners who were approved for state rebates, paid for their solar systems up-front, and have yet to receive a dime.

According to the NBC2 News in Port Charlotte, the state still owes $40 million in rebate checks to solar homeowners, but has no apparent state financing to pay it. Meanwhile, Florida still has $112 million in federal stimulus funding, but according to the IRS, cannot use it.

To clarify, the IRS is alleging that Florida used the $8 million-plus stimulus dollars to pay for rebates that were approved before the Recovery Act was even passed. The state of Florida says the feds should not be surprised, as they gave the state permission to use the money in that way upon delivery. The IRS says that stimulus funds are intended to create new or save existing green jobs, and paying homeowners rebates for projects that are complete and thus hold no new job prospects in no way conforms to those intentions.

And while Big and Little Brother squabble, $40 million worth of solar systems and their owners are caught in the middle, many roiling in solar-disenfranchisement. You would hope that the solar homeowners in question, who themselves may have gone up to $30,000 or more into debt to finance their systems, will eventually be paid what their state promised. The question is when? Monthly energy savings are great, and I imagine most are happily enjoying significantly lower utility bills, but a decent return on investment for home solar power is still largely dependent upon rebates and incentives.

While it may not help the rebate-hungry homeowners, perhaps Florida could use some of that $112 million in stimulus funds, which it must spend by April 2012, to launch a new rebate program that would create new jobs and advance solar power in one of America’s sunniest states. It certainly would not purport to be as lucrative as its predecessor, but anything is better than nothing (solar costs are dropping anyhow), and Florida solar installers are already contemplating moves to more solar-friendly, less IRS-ire-inducing states like Georgia and South Carolina.

Source: NBC-2.com
Photo Credit: Florida.uk

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In just over a week, the state of Florida’s solar rebate program is going to die. June 30th will be the day of execution, barring some eleventh-hour miracle. Small solar businesses are already feeling the pressure, with projects rapidly falling to the wayside and contractors looking north to states like Georgia and South Carolina that maintain a better political environment for solar power.

Mourning the death of Florida solar rebates

Florida’s Solar Energy System Incentives program was enacted in 2006. It offers a generous $4 per watt rebate for home solar power, up to $20,000 for photovoltaic (PV) systems. That means a 5,000-watt (5 kW) system, costing approximately $40,000, would receive a healthy dose of subsidies between its state rebate and the federal tax credit. The latter credits 30 percent of initial costs — roughly $12,000 in this example — and the state rebate would pay the maximum $20,000, meaning that 80 percent of a 5-kW solar system would be subsidized.

That has made for easy sales by Florida solar contractors, evidenced by the fact that funding for the rebate program doesn’t last long, even with the help of Recovery Act money. But the expiration of Florida’s solar rebates will have a very damaging effect on business. Even the smallest systems eligible for the rebate – 2 kW – garnered an $8,000 state rebate at an overall cost of $15,000.

Admittedly, these rebates are disproportionately high. This is because the program was developed in 2006 and PV prices dropped considerably since then. Solar business owners in Florida understand that, but are disappointed by the total erasure of state solar rebates, preferring, according to one contractor, a slash of the credit to $2-per-watt to keep with the drop in PV prices. Unfortunately its a tight budget year for all states, including Florida, and a prospective rebate-renewal bill died in committee at the state legislature.

Solar incentive programs still available:

• There is a ratepayer-funded $24.5 million pool of cash that utilities use to fund energy conservation initiatives.
• The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant allows municipalities to apply for grants to fund solar and other energy efficiency initiatives.
• Florida law also allows local-level PACE financing programs that fund clean energy projects through individual property tax hikes.
• JEA (formerly Jacksonville Electric Authority) offers small rebates for energy efficient new homes and up to $800 for solar hot water systems.

But none of that will make up for the loss of state rebates, which at this point will likely bring Florida’s solar industry to a screeching halt. In some states, utilities pick up the slack, but those states typically have renewable portfolio standards requiring utilities to obtain a certain percentage of renewable power. In Florida, only JEA has such a program. So, until some RPS or new rebate legislation is passed, solar power, along with the jobs and clean energy that comes with it, is on hold in the Sunshine State.

Source: Florida Times-Union (via iStockAnalyst)
Photo Credit: Wallpapers for You & Top News

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Boise, Idaho mayor Dave Bieter announced during his State of the City Address on Wednesday that a 10-megawatt, $45 million solar power plant would be built on city-owned property near the Boise Airport. The project will create 20 construction jobs and retain 20 manufacturing jobs, according to KTVB.

One more solar power plant west of the Rockies may not seem like big news to those of us who follow the solar industry, but it’s huge for Idaho, which has been slow to jump on the solar energy bandwagon, opting more for nuclear and some wind power. As yet, Idaho has no renewable portfolio standard requiring utilities to embrace renewable power.

According to the Idaho Statesman, the state just lost a bid to house a new clean energy manufacturing plant because the state chosen, Colorado, was considered “green” and Idaho was not. This new solar electric plant is an attempt to change that reputation, for Boise and the state of Idaho.

The city of Boise is in negotiations with Sunergy World to build the photovoltaic (PV) power plant. The company also wants to put solar panels on awnings above parking lots at the nearby airport. Solar power produced by the plant will be sold locally through a power purchase agreement.

Sunergy World is based in Boise and provides services for commercial and municipal renewable energy systems, including solar, wind and biomass projects.

Photo Credit: Emirates

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Message to wind developers: another state stands poised to open its doors for business. For years AWEA has been working to bring wind farm development and construction — along with the accompanying jobs — to Ohio through a variety of state policy campaigns and initiatives. Finally, after many years of hard work, Ohio state policy appears to be at a tipping point that may bring more wind farm construction to the Buckeye State beginning as early as this year.

Sacramento State University, in conjunction with the IEEE Sacramento Valley Section and the SMA Solar Academy, recently held an educational seminar for engineering students and business professionals on the university campus.

America’s FIRST Solar City

There are moments when history is made. When necessity, inspiration, creativity and determination come together to change the world as we know it. When individual and collective willpower embrace. Women suffragettes finally won the right to vote in 1920. Ghandi fought nonviolently for freedom, and won it, in India. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus in 1955. In 2007, Berkeley, California became an instant leader in the renewable energy movement with the approval of a revolutionary clean energy financing program.

FIRST

Berkeley has a long history as a cradle of social activism, and while its game-changing solar play is relatively new, its effect is already being felt around California, the United States and the world. The story of Berkeley’s Financing Initiative for Renewable and Solar Technology (FIRST) begins in the mayor’s office. There, a staffer named Cisco DeVries had an idea. You might say an LED light bulb went on in his head. The city had already laid a foundation on which neighborhoods could come together to vote self-imposed taxes to pay for utility and telephone wires to be run underground. DeVries took that idea and ran with it, only with clean energy in mind.

Before long, a pilot program was in the works. This program allowed homeowners to avoid the high up-front costs of home solar power by borrowing cash from the city of Berkeley, and repaying it with interest through a voluntary property tax increase over 20 years. In this way, homeowners avoided immediate costs while the city gained revenue to pay for the financing and program administration. Moreover, the loan is tied to the property, not the individual, so the home can be sold without worrying about losing the value of the system before payback in energy savings is reached.

To say that Berkeley FIRST hasn’t changed the face and mood of the clean energy movement would be a gross miscalculation. A slew of other cities, including nearby Oakland, have adopted their own version of the program and the federal government is working on Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs directly spun from FIRST and designed to guide cities across the country through the process of adopting a Berkeley-esque financing scheme.

Applications for Berkeley’s pilot program were “sold out” in just nine minutes — easily as fast as any Led Zeppelin or Pearl Jam concert. Following the successes of, and lessons learned from, the Berkeley FIRST pilot, city officials are now working with the state and Alameda County to expand the program statewide (California FIRST), and expand it to include energy efficiency improvements much like the federal PACE programs.

Berkeley residents interested in solar power should make a point to stop by the interactive solar map the city set up. It contains a map of all 626 solar systems (including solar thermal) and 2.9 megawatts of solar power installed within city limits so far. You can also enter an address to find out the solar potential of your home, cost of a solar system on that home and energy savings you can expect as a result. Plug these numbers into Berkeley’s online calculator to learn how to finance the system, how much cash you’ll save and how long it will take for the system to pay for itself through those savings.

Climate Action Plan

Berkeley’s dynamic move toward energy independence is not limited to just one solar pilot program, however epic that program might be. Residents of Berkeley have never been keen on complacency, and the environmental ambitions of the city are arguably unrivaled among other large cities.

In November 2006, a whopping 81 percent of Berkeley voters said yes to a goal of reducing citywide greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050.  In June 2009 Council adopted a Climate Action Plan, adopting the 2050 goal and an 2020 interim goal of a 33% reduction. Those goals will be achieved not only through solar and renewable energy, but also waste reduction, building initiatives and transportation, among other specific steps. Not to mention the collective will of residents to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Anyone who wants to know exactly how Berkeley plans to meet those goals or what’s already been done will be happy with the incredible amount of disclosure and community outreach being exercised by city departments and the citizenry. You can find just about everything you’ll want to know, especially if you live in Berkeley, through an interactive website that guides visitors through the city’s seven-tiered plan to make Berkeley as green as green can be… and then greener some more.

Resources: Berkeley FIRST, Berkeley Climate Action Plan, Berkeley Solar Map, PACE, & Berkeley Climate Action Community Forum

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Last week, Big Solar exercised some of its growing clout by killing an anti-solar bill in the Arizona legislature. Here’s what happened:  state Republican senator Debbie Lasko introduced a bill that would have gutted Arizona’s renewable portfolio standard as we know it. Thankfully, a threat by Chinese solar giant Suntech Power Holdings to withdraw plans to put its first U.S. manufacturing plant in Arizona rallied enough pressure to remove the bill from the floor. It was of great relief to solar proponents in the state, but unfortunately, Lasko’s H.B. 2701 was not the only threat to Arizona’s fledgling solar industry.

Republican Representative Carl Seel has introduced a bill that makes Lesko’s look tame in comparison. His legislation would remove the right of the Arizona Corporate Commission – the state board that regulates utilities – to mandate renewable energy standards at all. Arizona passed their RES in 2006, requiring power providers to get 15 percent of their energy from renewable resources by 2025, including a certain percentage from solar photovoltaics.

The Goldwater Institute, a very conservative thinktank named after infamous conservative Barry Goldwater, tried to sue the state, claiming that it was unconstitutional to force any such mandates or regulations on private utilities (unless, it seems, those regulations or incentives promote nuclear, coal or natural gas power plants). Goldwater Institute lost that lawsuit, but has responded by facilitating Representative Seel’s H.B. 2381 that would render the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision moot.

Furthermore, Arizona’s republican governor, who reportedly helped kill Lesko’s bill after industry pressure mounted, also killed a regional cap-and-trade program that Arizona pioneered to put a price on carbon-emitting energy sources.

The recent wave of attacks on solar power in Arizona is troubling for a state that has some of the best solar potential in the world. There are states where one could argue that solar power is not the best renewable option, like the windy Dakotas or the geothermal-laden Northwest, but Arizona is practically made of sunshine. Why any group or lawmaker would want to kill solar power in that state is beyond this writer.

But H.B. 2701 had 51 co-sponsors, and green-leaning governor Janet Napolitano is gone. While Suntech Power Holdings and the industry managed to kill Debbie Lesko’s anti-solar bill, a huge victory among recent attacks, and may very well succeed in killing Carl Seel’s anti-RPS bill, the fact that such contention exists in Arizona may scare off potential solar industry additions to the state. Several states are working to attract green tech industries and the market is highly competitive.

However the fate of Arizona’s solar industry is decided, it will likely be decided soon, as Suntech’s potential industry followers are unlikely to wait around for long while California, Oregon, Michigan, Colorado and other states wait with open arms and less uncertainty.

Photo Credit: Interesting Energy Facts & CleanMPG

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Members and supporters of Arizona’s fledgling solar industry are breathing a sigh of relief after a bill was withdrawn that would have revised the state’s renewable portfolio standard. Just last year, Arizona passed landmark legislation creating tax credits for solar manufacturers and in no time, international solar giant Suntech Power Holdings decided to build a plant in Goodyear, which the Chinese company threatened to abandon if H.B. 2701 was left in place.

State Rep. Debbie Lesko of Glendale authored, then withdrew H.B. 2701. The bill would have amended Arizona’s RPS to allow nuclear and hydroelectric power to count as renewable resources and enabled utilities to ignore its requirements if it meant higher costs for customers. Currently, and apparently in the foreseeable future, Arizona’s RPS requires utilities to get 15 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2025. Given the Grand Canyon state’s incredible solar resources, it stands to reason that much of that power would come from solar panels.

However, if Lesko’s bill, which passed committee by a 5-2 vote, had somehow made it through the state legislature, it would have effectively killed solar power in Arizona. For instance, Arizona Public Service, the state’s largest utility, already gets 27 percent of its energy from nuclear power and would already meet RPS goals without adding a watt of solar energy.

Dismal prospects such as that lit a fire under Arizona’s solar movement when the bill made it into legislative play. Suntech, SolarCity and many other solar companies and proponents cried foul, putting enough pressure on Rep. Lesko to force her to withdraw her own bill. The ensuing wave of criticism sent Arizona legislators in general on the defensive.

House Speaker Kirk Adams and Governor Jan Brewer reportedly played a part in crushing the bill. Both have since issued statements reaffirming Arizona’s dedication to solar power. Many in the state are concerned that the mere existence of H.B. 2701 may damage the state’s solar industry, which is still trying to gain a foothold, by shaking the confidence of potential investors and manufacturers.

Suntech’s planned solar manufacturing plant will employ 70 people, in addition to temporary construction jobs. SolarCity, the fast-growing solar leasing and installation company, plans to double its workforce of 50 in the next year now that the bill has been pulled.

Sources: AZCentral and AZ Daily Sun

Photo Credit: SolarCity

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The state of Pennsylvania will invest more than $5 million in 13 new solar projects in an expansive effort to maintain its strong growth in solar power. Pennsylvania already has some of the best solar incentives in the nation, quickly propelling the state into a leadership position in the national solar movement. The $5 million to fund the projects comes by way of Recovery Act funding from the Obama administration.

“We have made remarkable progress in making Pennsylvania a leader in renewable energy in a very short period of time,” said Governor Edward G. Rendell in a press release. “We’ve invested nearly $1 billion in projects that put more than 8,300 people to work. And now…we’re able to achieve even more growth.” Rendell went on to add that by December of 2010, Pennsylvania will rank in the top five states for solar power capacity.

The 13 projects announced earlier this week will produce enough solar energy to power some 500 homes. They’ll also increase Pennsylvania’s solar capacity to just shy of 60 megawatts, enough to power 7,200 homes.

“Pennsylvania’s commitment to creating a vibrant solar industry will reduce the consumption of costly, traditional fuels, with clean, efficient sunlight that doesn’t cost a penny,” said Rendell. “That provides savings to businesses and municipalities, and ensures that the commonwealth remains a leader in the development and deployment of green technologies.”

Via PR Newswire

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In his first State of the Union address, US President Barack Obama has highlighted the key role of renewables in the economic development of the country.