Solar PV Leads Small Town into Solar Big Leagues

Paul Gipe, Contributor
November 21, 2011 | 2 Comments

After only three years of development, a small town in Florida has moved into the ranks of the solar big leagues worldwide. The municipal utility serving Gainesville, Florida expects that by year end 2011 the town will have installed 7.3 MW of solar photovoltaic (solar PV) systems.

The university town was one of the first in the U.S. to implement a feed-in tariff for solar PV after a previous program using grants, tax credits, and net metering had failed to install any significant number of systems.

Gainesville Regional Utilities serves a population of 200,000 people. Thus, the utility's feed-in tariff program has resulted in the installation of 0.036 kW per person. This is equivalent to that in California which has had various programs for solar PV in place since the early 2000s.

However, Gainesville will have to increase its installation rate 20 times to catch up with the German state of Bavaria, which is the region with the world's highest concentration of solar PV of 0.60 kW per person. Puglia Italy is not far behind Bavaria with 0.49 kW per person.

By year end, solar systems in Gainesville will be generating nearly 1.5 million kWh per month. In 2011, the utility estimates solar PV will have generated nearly 10 million kWh.

The Gainesville feed-in tariff program has been modified annually since its introduction to reflect the falling costs of solar PV and to more equitably distribute installations across all ratepayer classes.

More than one-third of the installed capacity has been installed on rooftops in projects less than 100 kW in size.

2 Comments

Paul Felix Schott
December 27, 2011

Our SUN in the heavens above gives the Earth more then enough Solar Energy to power all are needs.

Very soon most of the world will not need Oil. Renewable Energy like Solar, Wind, Hydro and Geothermal are now replacing Dirty Energy like Oil and Coal. Solar Energy is growing World Wide at a record pace.
Hybrid Cars are being sold at a record pace. Soon Hybrid Vehicles that run on Electric / Hydrogen, The Freedom Element. Will free the world from Oil. Thanks to a Great Scientist Dr. Addison Bain's Years of work for our Nation and with the Space Program on Hydrogen.

The day will come when many will see Solar Panels on most everything. What Free Electric the sun makes will be used to split water into Hydrogen. The Hydrogen will be used to heat our homes and to cook on and put into are Hybrid Vehicles that will run on
(The Freedom Element). Very soon most all will be filling up their Vehicles at Home.
Free from the Sun's Solar Energy. Just as Dr.Addison Bain has done for years The Fist Hydrogen Home Refueling Station in the World. That Dr. Addison Bain built by his self.

For info on Solar Energy see The Florida Solar Energy Center FSEC. Bill Young is One of the world most authority on Solar Energy PV. As Ailbert Eisenstein would say i won the Nobel Prize for Physics for my work on PHOTOVOLTAICS Energy from the SUN.

GOD Bless All
and may our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Light Up Your World and cheer your Heart this Christmas season and the coming new year 2012.
Pray for the lost to come to know Jesus Christ.

The Lord's Little Helper
Paul Felix Schott

Steve Fortuna
November 22, 2011

Congrats to GRU for achieving this sustainable milestone. Here's a great example of a prudent, progressive and well designed FIT driving demand without creating the 'boom and bust' oversubscription of SRECs. One other key to their success is their committment to working with EPCs and homeowners on interconnection and permitting, making the process more streamlined and hassle free. As much as incentives, it helps when the utility has a welcomming, partnering attitude toward renwables, unlike a few we could mention.

GRU is the brightest light in Florida's otherwise cloudy incentive climate. Wish them continued success and higher adoption rates as PV prices continue to fall.

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Paul Gipe

Paul Gipe has written extensively about renewable energy for both the popular and trade press. He has also lectured widely on wind energy and how to minimize its impact on the environment and the communities of which it is a part. For his...