- Florida is one of the top potentials for solar power in the United States.
- Authorities in the state have recently allowed for solar power leases, which means the market is now open.
- Utilities in the state will need to adjust first, however, in order to accommodate solar energy.
Florida is not called the Sunshine State for no reason, the area is one of the warmest in the United States, plenty of beaches and it might as well be part of the Caribbean give its proximity. The state has certainly earned its moniker, and a lot of its residents are enjoying the warm weather and the sun too.
such, Florida actually ranks in as third in terms of solar power potential in the United States, meaning it could have been home to the leading solar power industries in the country. However, the state’s utilities may only be starting to realize this now, you could say that Florida is a late bloomer, or rather a late riser when it comes to solar energy.
More sun for the Sunshine State
Recently, there have been plans initiated by the Public Service Commission (PSC) of Florida to make use of the state’s potential for using solar energy. The state now allows residents, owners and renters alike, to get a lease on residential solar setups. This mandate begins with a company called Sunrun, Inc, which lets it offer residential solar leases to the people of Florida.
In line with this vote, the PSC of Florida has then determined that Sunrun’s 20-year solar equipment lease is not a retail sale of electricity. Of course, this only came to be after a thorough review of Sunrun’s lease agreement plan, which might have undergone some tweaks and changes to accommodate the state’s laws.
Now, Florida may have opened its doors to just one company for now, but others may soon follow. It is only a matter of time before other solar energy brands and companies start delving into Florida’s ripe solar market. This expectation could mean a lot of trouble for the utilities of Florida since most of them still rely on legacy electricity generation, meaning coal, oil, or natural gases which not only produce pollution but are also expensive and finite.
This begs the question, when will the utilities of California adjust? The scene is now changing in the state and more people might soon favor solar panels as a way of generating electricity instead of relying on expensive legacy electricity.
Utilities also might need to take the lead
There is also another expected problem with Florida’s allowance for solar energy, which is storage. Experts believe that Florida power utilities need to be able to manage how people tap and use the excess electricity they get from their solar panels. In most states which are the leading patrons of solar power, this excess energy from residential areas usually go back to the grid, effectively issuing an electricity refund for homes.
In other cases, the excess electricity goes to a homeowner’s energy battery, though not many people have this since it can be expensive. This leaves residents with the first option, which is to give back the excess electricity from solar panels to the utilities, which is a win-win solution. For the homeowners, this means big savings while for the utilities, this means alternative energy sources.
This brings us back to how utilities in Florida should have a more controlled way of securing such interactions between residents and electricity providers. Florida can certainly learn from the solar industry top states like California, New York, Massachusetts, and Hawaii, which use intelligent energy storage systems.
This way Florida can easily manage solar energy in the future, for whenever its residents start shifting to solar power en masse. As for solar power companies, Florida is a now ready for solar power, though not fully ready yet since it mostly allows just leases for the moment. Things may change soon though with the increasing popularity of solar energy, so it pays to be ready.
