The Sunshine State continues to make solar news with very little of it positive. The nations third most populated state is Florida and sadly it will not become the solar energy state anytime soon. The Broward County Go Solar program that once promised expedited permitting, lower installation costs and community education for all is done, the money gone and results absent.
Broward did manage to e-mail sunny newsletters, put posters on buses, held two conferences and maintained payroll for a team of government employees with no solar experience to speak of but, not a single solar building permit has ever been issued from the Broward Go Solar program.
Meanwhile an organization called Floridians for Solar Choice made an attempt to help Florida solar seeking citizens only to be outspent by FPL and friends who collected signatures for their own petition now set for November 2016 voting intent to place the solar industry control squarely into the hands of electric companies. The consequences of this petition called Consumers for Smart Solar are not so smart and will block the sun on the promising industry too.
But regardless of petitions, politics and pundits from environmental organizations heavily funded electrical monopolies or anyone in between stumping for or against solar, the state remains ill prepared for the solar energy boom the Broward Go Solar program was funded for.
Should the state of Florida begin to install solar at a rate only 1/5th of the pace of booming solar industry states like California, New Jersey or Massachusetts, the building permit departments across the state will reel from lack of subject matter expertise and experience in the trade.
The Broward Go Solar program once promised 15 minute permits for $500 but most still take weeks and cost thousands. With these costs and obstacles most Florida building departments are unintentionally obstructing, bottlenecking and slowing progress in the solar market too.
While Broward was wallowing over twenty other states managed to implement, streamline and reduce permitting to minutes and a few dollars, many years ago.
The Department of Energy funded Broward Go Solar to eradicate these issues instead it only eliminated $3 million taxpayer dollars. The Broward Go Solar initiative has gone nowhere. The sun has now set on this program that failed to produce a single expedited or otherwise permit in over six years.