Bus. Owner will earn an annual profit of $14K by selling his solar energy back to electric co.

Here is a great way for a SMALL BUSINESS OWNER to help combat a crumbling economy and still keep his doors open.

Thanks to a wealth of roof space at Mike Roach's Gainesville warehouse (owns a small mailing business with five employees), Roach will soon install nearly 100 solar panels and earn an annual profit of $14,000 by selling his solar energy back to the electric company.

The program is being hailed as a pioneering step in U.S. energy policy, one that would transfer power production from massive plants relying on coal, gas and nuclear power to individual homes and businesses using sustainable and pollution-free sunshine.

This form of distributed electricity (*Feed-In-Tariff) gives business owners an opportunity to now profit on making electricity and selling it back to Gainesville Regional Utilities. (see below on system works)

But this model has set limits on how much it will produce in the form of Solar from the ultility company, not a bad thing because in order for this to work long term it needs to set production limits.

A crawl before you walk business plan per say, and looks like the crawling has almost stopped.

Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU) has announced that it has aleady reached its first year solar PV reservation target with this groundbreaking Feed-In-Tariff program. (first city in USA to use the Feed-In-Tariff model adopted from Germany*) The Florida municipal utility will continue accepting reservations for an additional 4 megawatts (MW) in 2010 on a first come first serve basis.

Gainesville's program went live on March 1. The 2009 solar PV tariff of $0.32/kWh for twenty years will remain in effect for 2010 reservations. Avg.normal rates people pay are around $0.11-13 cents/kwh)

*Germany, which pioneered feed-in tariffs 10 years ago and is now a world leader in solar and other renewable energies. The program has created approximately 250,000 jobs while electricity prices have only increased by about $2.50 a month for the average customer, according to the German government.

Here is how the system works: Anyone wanting to sell energy would receive two separate electric meters – one for the energy coming in and another for the energy going out. The solar energy would not be used on-site, but transferred to the grid where it mixes with the larger supply. As incentive, solar providers would be paid far more for supplying energy than the utility is allowed to sell it for.

Advocates say the benefits are threefold: More jobs, a cleaner environment and energy security.

Good news is this program has initiated conversations to roll this program out across the state of FL and beyond. Other states like MI has just rolled out a smaller type Feed-In-Program to test the model.

Florida Solar Energy Sunshine or ummm "Clean" Coal

The Reality Adv Campaigns have called out the coal industry for their dirty lies. Just last week, the Environmental Protection Agency decided to reconsider carbon dioxide regulation -- a serious wake up call to the coal industry.

In reality, there is no such thing as "clean" coal in America today. Coal cannot be called 'clean' until its CO₂ emissions are captured and stored safely.

Let's be clear: there are no US homes, factories, shopping centers or churches powered by coal plants that capture and store their global warming pollution.

Join Reality and help them push the coal industry to come clean about dirty coal.

"Air Freshener" is directed by the Coen brothers, and we're proud to say it's Reality's latest ad -- calling out the coal industry's ridiculous claims that coal is clean as only the Coen brothers can.

Watch it now:



Thanks for watching and supporting the fight against the coal industry,

Bob
Bob Gentile Solar Energy Consultant with Abundant Energy Inc. www.Solar-FL.com 561.732.5181

Stimulus Bill changes Solar Tax Credits to outright Grants

Watch the video below to see how SOLAR and Green Energy's future will be impacted because of the stimulus bill signed by President Obama ... Good News for those wanting affordable solar here in FL and across the country.

Namaste Solar CEO Blake Jones introduces President Obama at the Stimulus Bill signing ... Blake did a good job promoting solar, mentioning the solar projects that their company had on hold and now they can move forward, lastly about the future of solar and the growth of green jobs.

Watch Short VIDEO Here

President Barack Obama signed a stimulus bill that changes those tax credits into outright grants, the Solar Energy Industries Association said the bill would allow its members to "create 67,000 jobs in 2009 alone and a total of 119,000 jobs over the next two years."

"All these renewable-energy deals were built on tax credits. Without commercial banks with tax appetite, all these deals were stopped in their tracks," said Jake Stephens, director of development for US Solar. "This was a fix to the fix."

The bill Obama signed converts those tax credits into outright grants for solar-energy projects. The State of Florida now has $95 million worth of renewable energy grants that Businesses and residential owners can take advantage to go solar. Yes now available is clean, affordable energy for you, call now to find out complete details.

Bob Gentile Solar Energy Consultant with Abundant Energy Inc. www.Solar-FL.com 561.732.5181

FL Government waking up to this "Green" Thing- Way to Go!

Great article from Miami Herald.... Looks like FL is finally waking up to being the leader in renewable energy in the US. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will be more than just words and they do what they say.

I look forward to working with FL to be the leader in "Going Green",

Bob

''We want to be a leader in this country in solar and wind,'' said Public Service Commission Chairman Matthew Carter. ``We want to establish a dynamic and vibrant marketplace.''

''We agree the people of Florida don't want to pay a lot for renewable energy,'' said Jerry Karnas of the Environmental Defense Fund. ``But we also know they want renewable energy and they want a lot of it so the key is how do we get the most renewable energy for the least cost.''



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The Miami Herald
Sat, Jan. 10, 2009

Renewable energy gets push in Legislature
BY MARY ELLEN KLAS

Florida electric companies would have to rely on an increasingly heavy mix of wind, solar and biomass to generate their power over the next 11 years, under a proposed rule state regulators voted to send to the Legislature late Thursday.

Calling their decision ''historic,'' the Florida Public Service Commission unanimously voted to send the Legislature the proposal that calls for 20 percent of their fuel mix to come from renewable energy sources by 2020. They also agreed that consumers could be charged up to 3 percent more in order to jump start the market for the clean technologies.

''We want to be a leader in this country in solar and wind,'' said Public Service Commission Chairman Matthew Carter. ``We want to establish a dynamic and vibrant marketplace.''

The commission's draft rule would require that 75 percent of the renewable energy fee go to finance solar and wind production and 25 percent go to finance biomass production.

The financial incentive is needed, commissioners said, because developing these projects is expensive and they want companies to be willing to build them in Florida.

The Legislature can approve or reject the recommendation before the rule takes effect. The recommendation is only a small piece in a large and complicated debate over how to spark investment into more environmentally-friendly energy sources and reduce Florida's contribution to climate change.

The rule also recommends the following goals:

* 7 percent of the fuel used by power companies come from renewable energy sources by 2013, 18 percent by 2019 and 20 percent by 2020;

* commissioners will review the goals every three years;

* penalties for companies that fail to meet the goals;

''We have a long term commitment to it so these industries are going to come to Florida,'' Carter said. ``We're going to have jobs. Florida's going to be a leader and we may even be able to export solar technology to other states...I'm all for leading.''

The vote was a victory for Gov. Charlie Crist who first recommended the ''20 percent by 2020'' standard and won plaudits from the environmental and alternative energy industries. But PSC staff concluded last year that that wasn't achievable until 2041. Florida got 3.6 percent of its electricity from alternative energy as of 2007, the commission said.

The commission hired a private consulting company, Navigant, to conduct a thorough study and market analysis. Navigant concluded that Florida could reach at least 24 percent of its energy portfolio from renewable energy by 2020 with the right incentives.

At Crist's insistence, the 2008 Florida Legislature authorized the PSC to set the rule, but the Legislature gave itself the authority to approve or reject it. At the heart of the debate is the question of how fast Florida can develop solar and wind power at a reasonable cost to consumers and how much more to allow consumers to be charged to get the new technologies up and running.

Commissioner Lisa Edgar said that while she ''doesn't generally like carve-outs,'' it may be necessary to charge customers more money to meet the 2020 goals.

Commissioner Nathan Skop agreed: ''20 percent by 2020 is an ambitious goal and it's going to take money to get there,'' he said.

''We agree the people of Florida don't want to pay a lot for renewable energy,'' said Jerry Karnas of the Environmental Defense Fund. ``But we also know they want renewable energy and they want a lot of it so the key is how do we get the most renewable energy for the least cost.''

The commission also recommended that the Legislature exclude nuclear energy from the 20 percent requirement, something Florida Power & Light and other large utility companies fought hard to get.

© 2009 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved.

Bob Gentile
Solar Energy Consultant
Abundant Energy, Inc. Palm Beach County Area

Office: 561.732.5181
Email: solarnow@bellsouth.net
Solar-FL.com