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Gainesville, Florida, Becomes a World Leader in SolarYou don't have to be big to go big on solar power. That's the lesson from the Gainesville Regional Utilities, the electric utility whose feed-in tariff solar policy has brought over 7 megawatts (MW) of solar to the city's 125,000 residents. The raw number isn't much, but it puts Gainesville among the world leaders in solar installed per capita, beating out Japan, France, and China (and besting California, with 32 kilowatts -kW- per 1,000 residents).
The basic premise behind the feed-in tariff program is that anyone who wants to be a solar power generator can connect to the grid and get a 20-year contract for their power from the municipal utility. The price differentiation helps accommodate solar arrays of various sizes, from residential to larger commercial installations, spreading the economic opportunity. The differentiation may also help small-scale residential projects that can't use federal tax incentives for businesses (depreciation). Thus far, approximately one-third of the city's 7.3 MW of solar power is in relatively small systems 100 kW and smaller. About half the installed capacity is in projects 500 kW and larger. The solar feed-in tariff program also brings value to the local community and electricity system. A report released earlier this year found that the grid benefits and social benefits of solar power far outweigh the typical valuation of solar power by utilities. These benefits include reduced stress on the utility distribution system and reduced transmission losses. The feed-in tariff program also means local economic development. With a rule of thumb of eight jobs per MW, according to a University of California, Berkeley, study of the jobs created from renewable energy development, Gainesville has already generated 56 jobs. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated that each megawatt of solar adds $240,000 to the local economy, and if Gainesville's solar projects are locally owned, the value could be much higher.
For more information on feed-in tariffs and their success in supporting solar power, see CLEAN v. SREC: Finding the More Cost-Effective Solar Policy. This post originally appeared on Energy Self-Reliant States, a resource of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance's New Rules Project. The information and views expressed in this blog post are solely those of the author and not necessarily those of RenewableEnergyWorld.com or the companies that advertise on this Web site and other publications. This blog was posted directly by the author and was not reviewed for accuracy, spelling or grammar.
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John Farrell
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The problem was that Solar Impact, a Gainesville, FL solar contractor, was permitted by GRU to cheat the lottery-style system by submitting incomplete applications in the names of unregistered LLCs, and making application for multiple systems per roof top (other contractors were not permitted to do the same). This practice, simply stated, resulted in a stacked deck which significantly disadvantaged other solar contractors, applicants, and Solar Impact's own customers in the selection process. Subsequently, Solar Impact was awarded 80% of the commercial capacity.
Small solar arrays comprise much of the 7.3 MW in Gainesville; however, the largest feed-in tariff systems currently in operation there, are owned by German companies which have no other ties to the community. Participation in the feed-in tariff program by foreign companies results in a transfer of wealth out of the Gainesville area.
Civil suits are currently pending against GRU and Solar Impact.