Go SOLAR Florida Receives Department of Energy Award to Increase Use of Solar Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded the Go SOLAR – Florida team a $1.6 million SunShot Initiative Rooftop Solar Challenge II competitive award to make it easier for Floridians to obtain grid-tied solar installations. Go SOLAR Florida is one of 8 recipients of a Rooftop Solar Challenge II award nationwide. The purpose of the award is to increase the use of and access to solar energy among the state’s residents and businesses by reducing market barriers, lowering non-hardware related installation costs and providing access to financing options over the next two and a half years.
The Go-SOLAR – Florida team is a partnership of Florida counties, cities, the Florida Solar Energy Center and Florida Atlantic University representing approximately 4 million Floridians. Six Florida counties are participating (Alachua, Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Orange and St. Lucie), along with nine Broward County municipalities (Cooper City, Hollywood, Lauderdale Lakes, Lauderhill, Lighthouse Point, Margate, Pembroke Pines, Plantation and Wilton Manors) and the City of Venice in Sarasota County.
The Rooftop Solar Challenge II program empowers teams to undertake initiatives that make it easier and more affordable for Americans to go solar, reducing “plug-in” costs by streamlining permit processes, updating planning and zoning codes, improving standards for connecting solar power to the electric grid, and increasing access to financing.
The Go SOLAR – Florida team will use the funding to:
- Improve the solar permitting process,
- Promote solar financing options statewide,
- Market solar photovoltaics and solar rights,
- Demonstrate the importance of clean energy development and related jobs,
- Model the benefits of intergovernmental cooperation, and
- Collaborate on a state-wide standard for connecting solar systems to the grid.
The award also allows the team to build on the success of the first Go SOLAR Fest, which had over 35 speakers, 1,200 attendees and 55 exhibitors sharing information on solar in Florida. Go SOLAR Fest II is scheduled for June 6 and 7, 2014 at the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale. For more information and to register, please visit
broward.org/gogreen/gosolar. A Go SOLAR Fest III will be October 9 - 10, 2015.
The U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative is a collaborative national effort that aggressively drives innovation to make solar energy fully cost-competitive with traditional energy sources before the end of the decade. Through SunShot, DOE supports efforts by private companies, academia, and national laboratories to drive down the cost of solar electricity to $0.06 per kilowatt-hour. Learn more at
www.energy.gov/sunshot.
For more information on the Go SOLAR – Florida initiative call 954-519-1260 or email
gosolar@broward.org