Sunday, April 13, 2014
Thoughts on Solar in Florida
Over the past few months in Florida, I have found that it is increasingly difficult to add solar or sell solar to customers. I am specifically talking about photovoltaic (PV) electricity producing panels. Lately the electrical utilities have either been difficult to work with or have basically told us that solar would "overload" their local distribution network on their electrical grid. This is an excuse that I am seeing more and more with solar sales in Florida.
I have installed solar panels in North Carolina and other states without issues. My favorite utility to deal with so far has been Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which is mainly based in Tennessee and about 1/3 of all of the states that Tennessee touches. TVA has been the easiest to work with in regards to customer service, with most interconnection agreements moving fast and their engineers being very positive or great to work with over the phone/e-mail. Other electrical companies that I am dealing with in North Carolina, Florida, or Alabama have been extremely difficult to get any help or have stalled our interconnection agreements (these agreements allow the owner of the solar panels to put electricity into the grid). In North Carolina for instance, I have waited over a month to get a simple e-mail back from a third-party engineer (this engineer isn't even from the electrical utility) to ask me about a "power unity factor" which is a number that was on the included specification sheet I had sent to the electrical utility a month prior. Little things like this where I have to wait weeks for any kind of response back from the utility (or third party consultants in that specific case) have slowed the implementation of solar energy in many states.
I would wish that some legislation could be passed, or if TVA could "teach" these other utilities how to be a friendly or even solar-friendly utility.
I have installed solar panels in North Carolina and other states without issues. My favorite utility to deal with so far has been Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which is mainly based in Tennessee and about 1/3 of all of the states that Tennessee touches. TVA has been the easiest to work with in regards to customer service, with most interconnection agreements moving fast and their engineers being very positive or great to work with over the phone/e-mail. Other electrical companies that I am dealing with in North Carolina, Florida, or Alabama have been extremely difficult to get any help or have stalled our interconnection agreements (these agreements allow the owner of the solar panels to put electricity into the grid). In North Carolina for instance, I have waited over a month to get a simple e-mail back from a third-party engineer (this engineer isn't even from the electrical utility) to ask me about a "power unity factor" which is a number that was on the included specification sheet I had sent to the electrical utility a month prior. Little things like this where I have to wait weeks for any kind of response back from the utility (or third party consultants in that specific case) have slowed the implementation of solar energy in many states.
I would wish that some legislation could be passed, or if TVA could "teach" these other utilities how to be a friendly or even solar-friendly utility.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
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