Florida's solar energy initiatives heat up

Solar hasn't historically been a hot industry in Florida, but short- and long-term efforts are underway statewide and locally that could pay huge economic and environmental dividends.

Florida ranks third in the nation for rooftop solar potential, but comes in 13th for cumulative solar capacity installed. That's according to the Solar Energy Industries Association, a national trade association, which asserts that the state's solar policies lag behind many other states.

That's consistent with commentary on the website SolarPowerRocks.com: "There is hope for Sunshine State homeowners who want to go solar, but not because of much of anything the state has done to encourage it."

The site ranks the state 24th in the nation and gives it an overall "C" grade in its 2015 State Solar Power Rankings.

Hints of change are in the air, though, that could put Southwest Florida — and the state as a whole — on a brighter path.

'Big opportunity here is solar'

Joe Simmons signed on in 2011 to be FGCU's chair of the Renewable Energy Institute. Nearly three years later, the governor signed legislation after intense lobbying to give the university a $7 million grant to build the 25,000-square-foot Emergent Technologies Institute, which Simmons will direct.

The institute is being built on six acres within the privately owned Innovation Hub research park off Alico Road, south of the airport.

Simmons built one of the top solar programs in the nation while at the University of Arizona. He is dreaming big here, but reality keeps getting in the way.

"The excitement about solar isn't very high here," he said. "It's a big state that uses lots of electricity" but doesn't take advantage of its natural resources. "The big opportunity here is solar."

Simmons touts a long-term vision that could be a big economic driver for the state. People just have to begin to share the vision, he said, for major progress to occur.

"Solar can keep money here," he said, adding local labor could be hired to build solar plants. "We use so much electricity. It will take decades to build the fields we need. Why not start now?"

Simmons' reasoning goes like this: Utilities in the state spend about $10 billion a year to buy fuel from outside the state. If one-tenth of that money could be diverted each year to spend on solar infrastructure efforts, less would have to be spent each year outside the state on natural gas.

Of course, getting that $1 billion a year is easier said than done. Enough people have to be convinced, he said, to generate enough of a groundswell for substantial progress to occur.

Part of the goal is to develop talent that will stay here and help to diversify the region's workforce.

"We've got to increase the education," he said. "The growth here could be tremendous."

A lot of labor would be required to install the infrastructure necessary to develop a solar industry. FGCU could help to educate such a workforce.

"We're developing course work and training," Simmons said, including a master's degree in renewable energy and a bachelor's degree that would help to employ people in factories and to design the systems.

"Southwest Florida gets more sunlight than the rest of the state," he said, noting there is also less wind here compared to the east coast. Wind is not solar-energy's friend. "Southwest Florida could be the major center for solar development in Florida."

Simmons uses "could" a lot when talking about the future of the region and the state. The state could be a major solar supply hub to the Caribbean and Latin America. It could bring many high-tech jobs here.

So what's holding back the region and Florida? For meaningful change to occur, he said boldness needs to occur at the state level, most likely in the form of mandates that would force utilities' hands when it comes to renewable energy. That's what happened in Arizona. Today, solar generates as much as one-third of the electricity in Tucson, he said.

Florida seems content with "reasonably inexpensive electricity," yet it is missing out on an amazing long-term opportunity, he said.

Calyxo, a German company, has expressed interest in building a solar manufacturing plant in Fort Myers, but "I'm having trouble getting them started," Simmons said. "We're missing this opportunity completely."

So while he is still cautiously optimistic about what the future could hold, there is a trace of frustration in his voice, in what he has experienced here so far.

"They're not looking at the great big picture," he said, referring to politicians and people in power at state agencies. "They're looking at the small picture."

Developers of Babacock Ranch, however, have been looking at the big picture for a long time. Ground is finally expected to be broken later this year on what developer Syd Kitson has called the first "solar city" in the world. It is mostly in Charlotte County, but part of it is in Lee County.

Florida Power & Light plans to build a 75-megawatt solar powered generating facility, which is expected to allow the city to produce more energy than it is using. The community's 18,000 acres is expected to have 19,500 homes at buildout.

'Reducing our use of fossil fuels'

Dan Morrissey, owner of Cape Coral-based Fafco Solar Energy, has seen slow, gradual change during his 40 years in the industry.

"Solar pool heating has been the core of our business for a long time because it made economic sense right from the beginning," said Morrissey, who added that his father started the company in 1974.

Fafco Solar started doing photovoltaic solar panel installation in 1999, and the company today does installations "all the time," typically one a week. Photovoltaic, or PV panels, as they are known in the industry, convert sunlight directly into electricity.

"I'm all about reducing our use of fossil fuels," he said.

With that in mind, a grassroots citizens' effort called Floridians for Solar Choice — with supporters from across the political spectrum — is pushing the state to allow more homes and businesses to generate solar electricity.

Florida, it contends, is one of only four states to prohibit residents from buying electricity from companies that put solar panels on homes and businesses.

Floridians for Solar Choice is promoting a state constitutional amendment ballot initiative to change this, hoping to get it on the November 2016 ballot.

The amendment, in part, would allow businesses to generate and sell up to two megawatts of power to customers on the same or neighboring properties.

"I'm all for that," Morrissey said of the initiative. "I'm a small businessman and I support the homeowners and trying to get them to have more energy independence ... But I'm not against the utilities."

So for now, Morrissey will wait and see what happens with the industry. Business is good, with Fafco Solar employing about 20 people, and just hiring two people this past week.

"The industry is kind of controlled by policies and incentives," he said, noting there's just one incentive now for Floridians, a 30 percent federal tax credit that ends at the end of 2016. "If this amendment in Florida goes through, that's going to have an impact on the industry a great deal."

Connect with this reporter: email clogan@news-press.com or follow on Twitter @caseylo