Problem
Solar energy is a renewable power source with a significant economic and environmental potential. Solar power plants convert the energy of the sun into electricity using several methods and technologies. Since the sunlight is unlimited and free, it makes solar energy attractive for humanity, regarding its current dependence on fossils. Unlike other sources of power, generating power from the sun has minimal environmental effects. Due to the U.S. favorable geographic position, the country has a big potential in using solar energy. This issue becomes especially relevant in the XXI century, as the international community has realized that the supply of fossils is rapidly decreasing. Concerns about the negative ecological impact from the use of non-renewable energy have also contributed to the interest in solar energy.

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Florida is a home for more than 20 million people, sharing 6.4 percent of total U.S. population and being the third most populated state (U.S. Energy Information Administration [EIA], 2017). Regarding its increasing population, its need for energy is obvious. The state consumes 207 million BTU per person, and the most energy-consuming sectors are the residential and the commercial (Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services [FDACS], 2016). The residential need for energy remains high due to the wide use of air conditioning systems. Since Florida produces only small amounts of natural gas and coal, it heavily depends on importing these fossils.

Today, gas and coal remain Florida’s dominant sources of energy. In 2014, the state produced 554 trillion BTU (EIA, 2017). In 2003, it had a diverse fuel mix, relying on different sources of energy, and natural gas and coal accounted for only 26.5 and 28.5 percent respectively (FDACS, 2016). The share of renewable and interchangeable energy constituted 17.6 percent (FDACS, 2016). In 2015, however, 62.9 percent of electricity was generated with natural gas, and the share of renewable energy has significantly decreased (FDACS, 2016).

Most of Florida’s renewable electric power comes from solid biomass accounting for 582 MW (FDACS, 2016). Solar capacity, on the contrast, is only 263 MW (FDACS, 2016). Florida Solar Energy Industries Association (2017) states that Florida is the U.S. 13th in terms of using this kind of energy. This is an alarming fact, regarding the tropical climate of this state. In this area, it is sunny from April to November, and the UV factor is high. This is the reason why Florida is called the “Sunshine State.” Nevertheless, its residents and decision-makers do not use this potential and rely on importing fossils.

According to EIA (2017), Florida’s electric power industry currently emits almost 112 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. The state’s total emission of this gas was 228 million metric tons and accounted for 4.2 percent of the U.S. total. Solomon, Plattner, Knutti, and Friedlingstein (2009) note that increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere results in irreversible climate changes. Evidently, the active use of solar energy will reduce the total emission and have a positive ecological impact.

Florida does not increase its use of solar energy because of low rates of installed residential photovoltaic (PV) panels and the lack of legal guidelines. Rooftop panels are the most preferable because they turn one’s house into a small power plant and do not require building a large facility. Prices of residential panels have decreased by 64 percent over the last five years (SEIA, 2017). Nevertheless, they remain too expensive to buy, and solar companies offer a third-party power-purchase agreement (PPA). This is a common and effective practice used in most of other states. However, Florida prohibits this approach and allows citizens only to lease PV systems. Kollins, Speer, and Cory (2010) state that leasing is not attractive for consumers due to panels’ quick depreciation and problems with using the federal tax credit. Also, Florida does not have a renewable energy portfolio to define the share of electricity supply from renewable sources.

Solution
To make the residential solar panel more accessible, Florida needs to lift the ban on PPA. In this model, the developer puts a PV system on the customer’s house or other property and then sells them the power. The customer completely delegates all the liabilities to the developing company which remains in charge of maintaining the equipment. In the past, the PPA model faced various legal challenges in many states, including Florida. However, only Florida failed to find a solution to the problem and prohibited it (Kollins et al., 2010).

The reason for that is the problem with defining the electric utility as a seller of electric power. In some states, definitions of utilities do not allow third-party ownership. Legally, developers of PV systems may be recognized as utilities, as they are selling electricity to the public. As a result, the developers reject the PPA model.

California and Colorado have found solutions which can be applied to Florida’s problem. California Public Utilities Code has a definition of an electrical corporation which can sell electricity to the owners of the property where it generates power (Kollins et al., 2010). This solution allows companies to sell energy to individual customers without excessive formalities. In Colorado, there was uncertainty regarding the regulation of systems under 10kW. In 2009, local Public Utility Commission confirmed that such systems are not defined as utilities, and they can use the third-party financial model (Kollins et al., 2010). Therefore, Florida needs to redefine its definition of utility and include special rights for solar system developers.

Another way to enhance the use of solar energy is promoting the adoption of the renewable energy portfolio. Florida is among the other nineteen U.S. states which do not have this document (Timilsina, Kurdgelashvili, & Narbel, 2012). It is aimed to regulate the share of renewable energy in the total amount of produced power. This will define the standards of using solar energy, and electricity suppliers will have to follow them, relying more on alternative energy.

Feasibility
The feasibility of these solutions strongly depends on society’s readiness to use renewable energy more effectively. California and Colorado faced legal obstacles, but the decision-makers realized the importance of supporting the third-party PPA model. In Florida, however, the authorities rejected such changes. Moreover, the initiative called Amendment 1was on the ballot in 2016 (“Florida Solar Energy Subsidies and Personal Solar Use,” n.d.). Although it was claiming to be solar-friendly and providing constitutional rights for PV systems’ owners, it contained a point which implied increasing their expenses on maintaining the equipment. The initiative was defeated because it did not win a supermajority vote of 60 percent (“Florida Solar Energy Subsidies and Personal Solar Use,” n.d.). Nevertheless, the supporters of this potentially harmful initiative outnumbered the opponents, indicating the society’s incredulity towards the solar energy.

The adoption of the renewable energy portfolio also depends on society’s readiness to rely on alternative sources. Education, gross domestic product, and growth rate of population proved to be the main indicators of such probability (Huang, Alavalapati, Carter, & Langholtz, 2007). According to Education Week Research Center (2017), Florida is 29th in the U.S. regarding the education quality. However, its gross domestic product was ranked 4th in the U.S. in 2015, and its population is increasing (EIA, 2017). Therefore, Florida has the potential to become more solar-friendly because it has economic reasons to use renewable energy more consistently. However, its low education quality results in the public’s ignorance about harms of traditional energy and benefits of alternative sources. If people are not informed about these facts, they will not support any sustainable energy initiative, including the third-party PPA model and the renewable energy portfolio.

    References
  • Education Week Research Center. (2017). Quality Counts report examines state scramble to put federal ESSA law into effect. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/media/quality-counts-2017-news-release.pdf
  • Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. (2016). Office of Energy annual report. Retrieved from http://www.freshfromflorida.com/
  • Florida solar energy subsidies and personal solar use. (n.d.). In Ballotpedia. Retrieved from https://ballotpedia.org/
  • Huang, M.-Y., Alavalapati, J.R.R., & Carter, D. (2007). Is the choice of renewable energy portfolio sandards random? Energy Policy, 35, 5571-5575, doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2007.06.010
  • Kollins, K., Speer, B., & Cory, K. (2010). Solar PV project financing: Regulatory and legislative challenges for third-party PPA system owners. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Retrieved from http://www.nrel.gov/
  • Solar Energy Industries Association (2017, June 8). Solar spotlight: Florida. Retrieved from http://www.seia.org/
  • Solomon, S., Plattner, G.-K., Knutti, R., & Friedlingstein, P. (2009). Irreversible climate change due to carbon dioxide emissions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106(6), 1704-1709, doi: 10.1073/pnas.0812721106
  • Tomisilina, G. R., Kurdgelashvili, L., & Narbel, P.A. (2012). Solar energy: Market, economics and policies. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16, 449-465, doi:10.1016/j.rser.2011.08.009
  • U.S. Energy Information Administration (2017). Florida State Energy Profile. Retrieved from https://www.eia.gov/state/print.php?sid=FL