Energy News

Governor Crist Sets New Energy and Environmental Agenda for Florida

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On Friday, July 13, 2007, Governor Charlie Crist signed three executive orders that will move Florida from “business as usual” to a national leadership position in renewable energy, energy efficiency and carbon emission reduction.

The first executive order (#07-126) [Adobe Acrobat PDF 20kb] requires state government agencies to “walk the walk.”  Among other things, it requires that green house gasses (GHG) resulting from state operations be reduced by 10% in the next 4 years and then consistently over time to 40% below current levels by 2025.  It establishes the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program and ENERGY STAR buildings standards as the new “standard practice” for state facilities.  It also directs the establishment of vehicle emissions “baseline” for the government’s state-owned vehicle fleet and then, for new vehicles, the purchase of “only those vehicles with the greatest fuel efficiency in a given class.”

The second order (#07-127) [Adobe Acrobat PDF 23kb] establishes state-wide GHG emission targets.  The Order set targets of reaching 2000 levels by 2017 and 1990 levels by 2025.  The ultimate goal is to reduce 1990 levels by 80% by 2050.  Among other things, this Order directs adoption of maximum allowable GHG emissions by utilities and adoption of the California motor vehicle emission standards.  It also directs the Department of Community Affairs to increase the energy performance of new buildings by 15% through the Florida Building Code.  Additionally, this order requests the Florida Public Service Commission to initiate rulemaking by September 1, 2007, to require Florida utilities to “produce at least 20% of their electricity from renewable sources (Renewable Portfolio Standard) with a strong focus on solar and wind energy.”  The order also requests adoption of IEEE Standard 1547 for Interconnecting Distributed Resources with Electric Power Systems as the statewide standard for utility interconnection and the adoption of net metering on a state-wide basis.

Order number three (#07-128) [Adobe Acrobat PDF 17kb] creates the “Florida Governor’s Action Team on Energy and Climate Change to develop a comprehensive Energy and Climate Change Action Plan that will fully achieve or surpass Executive Order targets for statewide greenhouse gas reductions specified in Executive Order 07-127.”  The Governor will appoint the members of this Action Team and it will be staffed and supported by agencies under his direction, specifically the Department of Environmental Protection, the Department of Community Affairs and the Department of Transportation.  The resulting Action Plan is to be completed in two phases, with Phase I completed by November 1, 2007 and Phase II completed by October 1, 2008.

In addition, the Governor also signed international agreements with the United Kingdom [Adobe Acrobat PDF 155kb] and the Federal Republic of Germany [Adobe Acrobat PDF 125kb]. Florida joins each nation in efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and calls for immediate worldwide action. Florida hopes to strengthen ties with each country while improving upon the science and technologies used for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving public policies and overall increasing climate-friendly commerce between Florida, the United Kingdom and Germany.

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Does the "Sunshine" State have a sufficient solar resource to support solar energy applications?

Sherri Shields Energy News , 0 Comment

Every so often, we get a call or email asking about the use of solar energy in Florida and whether the state has too many cloudy days and hazy sky conditions to support solar energy applications.  Many people say they have heard that solar energy applications only work well in the clear skies of the desert southwest and just won’t be as effective in Florida’s weather conditions.

While it is true that the desert southwest has the largest solar resource in the continental U.S., this does not mean that Florida has a poor resource.  Consider the following map that compares the solar resource for 2-kilowatt photovoltaic residential applications across the entire U.S.:

Map of the United States showing kWh per day for solar resources.

This image comes from a study the Florida Solar Energy Center conducted on the performance of 2-kW photovoltaic (PV) systems installed on highly efficient homes across the country. The results capture all aspects of PV system performance, including the temperature effect on cell performance as well as the efficiency of the conversion from DC to AC power through the inverter. The map clearly shows that the desert southwest has the largest solar resource in the continental U.S., but Florida is not very far behind with 85% of the maximum PV resource of any location in the country (7.2 kWh/day out of a maximum of 8.5 kWh/day). Consumers should note that many parts of the country that have more state financial incentives have a much poorer solar resource, making Florida a very cost-effective location for using solar energy.  You can view the complete study at:   www.fsec.ucf.edu/en/publications/html/FSEC-PF-380-04/.

There is Also Money Waiting for You in Florida!

There are also substantial federal income tax credits (30% of the cost of a solar hot water system) and State of Florida rebates ($500 for a system) for the installation of solar systems in Florida.  In addition, one Florida utility, Progress Energy Florida (PEF), recently implemented a new program that offers additional utility incentives of $450 for the installation of solar water heating systems.  These combine to offer a considerable buy-down for a solar water heating system.

If you are interested in photovoltaics, there is a federal income tax credit of up to $2,000 plus a State of Florida rebate of up to $20,000 for home applications and up to $100,000 for commercial applications.

Additional information on these solar energy tax credit, state rebate and utility incentive programs can be found by clicking on the following links:

Florida citizens express their opinion on solar energy for Florida:

http://www.flaseia.org/FloridaMaxon-DixonSolarPoll.pdf

Florida Solar Energy Center Presents Energy Award to Walt Disney World Company

Sherri Shields Energy News , , 0 Comment
Photo of (left to right) Tom Hopkins, Walt Disney; Paul Allen, Reedy Creek; Jim Fenton, FSEC.
Tom Hopkins, Animal Operations Area Director at Walt Disney World Co. (left), and Paul Allen, Chief Energy Management Engineer at Reedy Creek Energy Services (center), accept the Energy Achievement Award presented by Jim Fenton, Director of FSEC.

At last week’s Policy Advisory Board Meeting of the Florida Solar Energy Center/University of Central Florida, Center Director Jim Fenton presented the Florida Energy Achievement Award to Paul Allen, representing Walt Disney World Company and its “Strive for Five” energy reduction program. The Florida Energy Achievement Award is presented annually to an entity that demonstrates statewide leadership and significant achievement in sustainability and energy savings in Florida. Fenton commented, “Choosing the winner of this year’s competition was especially hard, because we had a number of high-quality applications from private companies and utilities who are conducting energy-saving programs in the state and achieving significant results. Our committee felt, though, that Disney’s innovative company-wide program designed to reduce overall energy consumption by 5 percent by involving everyone from management to cast members stood out because of its wide impact as well as its individual components.”

Allen later presented an overview of the program “How Disney Saves Energy (Hint: It’s Not Magic)” in a presentation to the board and FSEC staff members. Paul Allen is Chief Engineer of Energy Management at Reedy Creek Energy Services, which provides electricity, water and fire service to Disney World. Allen described the development of the program, designed to respond to Disney management concerns about the energy consumption and the need to reduce energy usage. Called “Strive for Five,” the program involves all levels of employees in the company’s goal to reduce energy usage by 5 percent.

Energy-reducing strategies have measurement as their basis. By measuring usage in various areas and departments and presenting it in an easy-to-read format, all employees can see what is happening: how much energy is used, if it is more or less than the previous period of measurement. Allen said that when everyone in the company is looking at results, each department is motivated to do its best. Walt Disney World Company uses Utility Report Cards (http://utilityreportcards.com), a database-supported reporting system which exhibits many statistics showing how much electricity is being used and some of the factors that have impacted the usage. Disney’s innovative company-wide program is designed to reduce overall energy consumption by 5 percent by involving everyone from management to cast members-a facility-wide effort.

To read more about how Disney saves energy, click here (pdf icon 255KB).

Reedy Named New Photovoltaics Division Director

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Photo of Bob Reedy
Bob Reedy

Bob Reedy, manager of Transmission Line Design with the Georgia Transmission Corporation, has been named director of FSEC’s Photovoltaics Division.

If you’ve followed FSEC activities over the years, you’ve certainly read a great deal about Bob’s work with the center, especially during his 12 years as Director of the Engineering and Operations Group and manager of Wholesale and Renewable Energy Businesses at Lakeland Department of Electric and Water Utilities.  At Lakeland Electric, he worked closely with FSEC on projects ranging from setting up a utility-sponsored solar water heating program to his leadership of Lakeland Electric’s development with FSEC of the super-efficient home that began the national Zero Energy Home effort.

This work has given him extensive experience in the utility industry and in the field of distributed power systems, with a specialty in energy marketing, financing and business planning.

Bob brings more than 20 years experience in renewable energy to his new position, including administrative positions with The Energy Authority in Jacksonville, Turbec Americas, and Georgia Transmission Corp.  He received a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree and a Master of Science degree from Auburn and an M.B.A. from Florida Southern.  Bob began his new job at FSEC on January 12.

Resolve to Save Energy: Five Simple steps to become more energy efficient

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Photo of programmable thermostat. 1. Use a programmable thermostat with your air conditioner.Or turn up the temperature setting on your standard thermostat while you are gone. Even a few hours can make a difference in your utility bill.
Photo of compact fluorescent light bulb being installed into lamp. 2. Replace all your light bulbs with compact fluorescent lighting.If you live in a 2000 sq. ft. home, in a year’s time, you could save 1500 kWh and $200! These bulbs can last 3-5 years!
Photo of hand on duct. 3. Inspect your duct system – cool your home not your attic. Contact your local utility for information about inspection and duct repairs.
Photo of hand holding metal ruler in attic insulation. 4. Check your attic insulation.Adding some could help on cooling costs. Also check you door’s weather stripping.
Graphic of partial screen capture of "Turn off computer." 5. Turn it off.Whether it’s turning off lights, or shutting down your computer when it’s not in use, over time, these small efforts can save you big energy dollars.