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The highly anticipated solar rebate offered by Florida Power and Light (FPL) was opened for application this morning. After a “sneak” opening of a minute or so around the 8:23 mark, the rebate portal was officially live at 8:30 AM. Residential solar rebate funds were all claimed or allocated within the first 30 seconds. Business solar rebates followed suit and were completely claimed in the next 3 minutes.
The incredible rate of speed at which these solar rebates were claimed makes a strong statement: Florida wants to go solar, and is begging the market to make it an affordable choice. In addition to the FPL solar rebate, customers can also get a 30% federal tax credit for their solar installations. These incentives mean that customers can expect a return on their solar investment in well under 10 years, depending on the size of the installation.
While the choice to go solar is often heavily influenced by concerns about the environment and climate change, it is a choice with huge financial benefits as well. How well the financial benefits are received are dependent on the state the panels are installed. Each state has their own policies regarding rebates, tax credits, net metering, PPA’s, and any other solar or clean energy incentives that may be offered, andpolicy dictates results. These financial benefits, combined with the continuously dropping cost of solar, and the obvious benefits to the environment, make solar the clear choice for many home and business owners.
“There are very clear financial benefits in solar energy.” Said Ray Johnson of Florida Solar One. “We have been completely flooded with requests to help home and business owners go solar; it is crystal clear that solar is what the people of Florida want.”
This rebate process is putting millions of dollars into the solar industry, an economic stimulus of the most immediate kind. As opposed to previous financial investments by state and city government that have seemingly lead to nothing but wasted money and dead-ends, this is real money that is resulting in real jobs and real solar. The hope of solar experts at Florida Solar One and across the state is that the people of Florida will be able to continue moving forward to make the choice to “go solar” an affordable option.