With close to 3,000 hours of annual sunshine, Fort Lauderdale stands as an ideal location for solar energy. The City has set goals for increasing renewable energy usage and decreasing its carbon footprint in the Advance Fort Lauderdale Comprehensive Plan. To support these goals, the City has participated in the GoSolar Broward Rooftop Solar Challenge and received SolSmart Gold designation in recognition of its efforts to streamline the solar permitting process.
Considering Solar for your Home or Business?
A solar energy system can be a significant investment depending on the route you choose to procure it, take your time to research all the options to make an informed decision including any available incentive programs from Federal and State authorities. Some basics to consider as you get started:
A solar energy system may not be good investment for some properties due to limitations of geometry, orientation relative to daily sunshine, or nearby factors that would impact solar production such as other buildings or trees. Before engaging with a solar developer, examine your property's roof to see if it gets unimpeded sunshine as shading will impact your solar production capability. Remember that the south side of your property will generate the most power on a sunny day and should be the focus of your examination.
If your roof gets plenty of sunshine be sure to also check its physical condition as well. Conduct any necessary repairs or replacement before installing a solar system as it is expensive to remove a system to fix a roof after installation.
Finally, check with your property insurance carrier and inquire if there are any issues with installing a rooftop solar energy system and your current policy.
The larger the solar system to install, the more costly of an investment it will be. Before engaging with a solar developer, seek out opportunities in your home or business where you can lower your current energy usage and therefore the amount of solar needed. This can be accomplished with simple investments like LED lighting, sealing doors and windows, having your HVAC tuned up for optimization, or installing solar shades on windows. FPL offers free Home Energy Surveys to assist if needed.
If you use electricity to heat water for your home, examine the possibility of installing a solar thermal system. These can greatly reduce electricity costs by using sunshine to heat water for usage rather than standard domestic hot water or pool heaters. The trade-off to consider is such a system will take up space on your roof top that otherwise would be dedicated to a solar energy system so weigh your options of both to ensure your needs are met.
Before engaging with a developer, examine your electricity bill to determine exactly how much electricity you use annually and its cost. Visit Florida Power and Light's website here to learn more: Understand My Bill.
Keep in mind that if you intend to finance your solar energy system, it's optimal to install a system whose monthly cost matches or is lower than your current electricity bill. Learn more about rooftop solar financing here with the Clean Energy States Alliance.
The Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is the most common way to lower the price of your solar energy investment. This credit can be applied for the tax year your system is installed and can also be used for cost reduction of any energy storage system installed that is connected to your solar.
Solar PV systems installed in 2020 and 2021 are eligible for a 26% tax credit. In August 2022, Congress passed an extension of the ITC, raising it to 30% for the installation of which was between 2022-2032. (Systems installed on or before December 31, 2019 were also eligible for a 30% tax credit.) It will decrease to 26% for systems installed in 2033 and to 22% for systems installed in 2034. The tax credit expires starting in 2035 unless Congress renews it.
There may exist other incentives outside the Federal ITC, search the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency for additional ways to lower the total cost of ownership.
You've done your homework and know that your property can both host a solar energy system and the economics of such an investment are feasible. Now it’s time to find a solar installer to design, permit, and install your new system. In Florida there exists an abundance of qualified solar installers so speak to as many as you can to get a sense of cost (with and without the Federal ITC) and how long will it take to pay off via the avoided utility energy costs. Please note that the City of Fort Lauderdale does not endorse any one installer.
As you investigate which installer is right for your project, be sure to read up on available consumer protection for those entering into such agreements:
Some property owners may decide that the traditional approach of upfront purchase (via cash or financing) of a solar energy system doesn't work for them. Fortunately there exists other viable methods such as Property Assessed Clean Energy Financing (PACE), signing up for utility solar energy programs, or pooling resources with other like-minded property owners via a solar cooperative.
Investigate each option and inquire with their respective service providers to understand how each option works.
What is Net Metering?
“Net metering” means a metering and billing methodology whereby customer-owned renewable generation is allowed to offset the customer’s electricity consumption on-site and the customer can receive payment for renewable energy generation in excess of usage.
Adopted in Florida in 2008, net metering allows electricity utility customers who install permitted solar energy systems to sell any excess electricity produced back to the utility company. This calculation of imported vs exported energy is handled via the installation of a new meter by the utility, typically done once a solar energy system is installed (but not yet activated).
For example, if your solar energy system produces more energy than your property can use, the excess is sent to the utility grid to be used elsewhere by other customers. That excess energy will then be credited to you on your monthly bill. Often, a solar energy system can generate enough per month to not only reduce utility energy cost by 100%, but also generate continual excess. At the end of the year, if your system produced a total excess versus consumed, the utility will issue payment to the customer for the wholesale value of that energy!
Net metering is an important tool for not only customers but also the utility as it allows greater resilience in times of peak energy usage and is a more cost-effective approach versus major capital investments. Read more about how it works here.
Florida's Solar Energy Laws
In the State of Florida, current law forbids any entity (including homeowner associations) from prohibiting the installation of solar or other renewable energy devices on Florida buildings. An association may require approval of a system installation, and may establish restrictions for installations. However, any such restrictions must be reasonable, not arbitrary, and applied in a uniform manner for all association members. Also, any restrictions must not have the effect of impairing the performance or increasing the cost of a solar system.
In particular, a homeowner association may not prevent the installation of solar collectors on the roof of a home. The association may determine where on the roof the collectors may be installed, so long as the collectors face within 45 degrees of due south. Finally, any requirement(s) that a system be screened from view by trees, fences, ground mounting racks, or a remote roof location that is hidden from the street, will generally violate the statute.
Read the following to further understand your solar rights!
Florida Homeowners Solar Rights Act
Solar in Florida Fact Sheet from Southern Energies Industry Association