Solar businesses set to boom in 2009

When Dan Morrissey's father started Fafco Solar in Fort Myers in 1974, that era's energy crisis helped him sell solar pool heaters.

"That was a very short-lived inconvenience," Mr. Morrissey said. "We woke up for a minute and then went back to sleep. This time, it's going to be different."

Now, Fafco is based in Cape Coral, where solar pool heaters are still the most lucrative part of the business. But since public attention was drawn to alternative sources of energy when gas prices soared recently, Mr. Morrissey's solar hot water heaters, solar lighting and photovoltaic systems, which convert sunlight to electricity, are generating more interest than they ever have.

That is also in part because the prices have dropped, due to increasingly generous state and federal tax incentives for individuals and business owners who use solar power.

Fort Myers' city council even briefly discussed making solar-powered hot water a public utility last May.

Mr. Morrissey is even more optimistic about his business knowing President-elect Barack Obama, who has proposed spending

EVAN WILLIAMS / FLORIDA WEEKLY Dan Morrissey sells solar-powered items including this photovoltaic panel and the skylight above his head which mostly keeps his office and warehouse from using electric lights. $150 billion in the next decade on the growth of alternative energy, including solar, will take office in January. "It'll be major," he said. "It's a big part of his plan to take this country and move us toward renewable energy, and wean us off our addiction to fossil fuels."

Brian Goldberg, owner of Advance Solar & Spa in Fort Myers, said he's also experiencing an uptick in sales for his solar hot water heaters and even photovoltaic systems.

"We've seen our business grow into that marketplace in the last year probably tenfold," said Mr. Goldberg. "We're prepping ourselves for more in the next year."

Solar hot water heaters have seen the greatest increase in sales, he said, because "they're reliable, they've been around for many years and the parts are easy to put in."

Unlike PV systems, the technology for solar hot water heaters is relatively simple and cheap — akin to keeping water hot inside a garden hose. They cost about $4,500 per home, but as little as $1,500 after tax credits. Based on an average person using 50 cents of hot water energy per day, a family of four would save $750 per year.

Investment in the future

The more pricey photovoltaic systems — "the glamorous side of solar," Mr. Morrissey said, although they are used to power common devices like GPS navigation systems — aren't an easy sell to consumers.

"They are more complicated systems," Advance Solar Owner Mr. Goldberg said. "But it is a smart investment that pays for itself."

Fort Myers residents Dell Jones and his wife, Carol Newcomb-Jones, installed a photovoltaic system on their rooftop in 2004. It's rare for them to pay an electric bill at all and the Joneses often create more electricity than they use.

The extra energy goes back into the electric grid almost everyone, including Florida Power & Light, is connected to. In April, FPL sent them a check for $22, paying them for the electricity they produced (at 11 cents per kilowatt hour).

A photovoltaic system like the Jones' might cost $8,000 to $20,000, even after tax credits pay almost half. (The federal credit pays for 30 percent of solar-powered energy products and Florida's program pays $4 per watt on a photovoltaic system).

"It's more than enough to meet our energy needs," said Mrs. Newcomb-Jones, who was an adjunct professor at Florida Gulf Coast University, where she taught courses on sustainable development.

Mr. Jones is vice president of renewable project development for a Californiabased company called Regenesis Power, which deals in renewable energy sources throughout the nation.

"The interest in renewable energy from the investment banking community is alive and well," he said.

Ms. Newcomb-Jones sees solar energy systems as an investment in the health of the planet.

"I think there's a sense of urgency," she said. If we don't use more sources of sustainable energy, she added, "We're going to be living on an earth we're not used to living on."

Getting cities to go solar

Last May, Ms. Newcomb-Jones pitched the idea of making solar-powered hot water a public utility to Fort Myers city council: the city would charge citizens a monthly fee to install and maintain the solar hot water systems.

"Someday I think you're going to have a conventional energy bill and a solar bill," she said.

Although the city didn't commit to a solar thermal utility, the response was positive.

"I believe we should look at and even require new construction to provide solar power, or at least study that option," Mayor Jim Humphrey said.

Recently, Sarasota officials committed to installing solar hot water panels on 100,000 rooftops. (Ms. Newcomb-Jones said that alone is enough to offset the energy produced by about three small coal plants).

Lakeland led the way with solar hot water in Florida, making it a public utility in 1998. Fort Myers City Councilman Warren Wright said Miami had the utility in the 1920s, but dropped it later because it was out of fashion politically.

"It's important to point out that this is not newfangled technology," Mr. Wright said. "It's tried, trued and tested. I think the idea is that one, we as citizens of earth need to think about ways to reduce our carbon output. Two, I think it's a fantastic opportunity to create green collar jobs. And third, if handled correctly it could be a money-making opportunity for the city."

Last summer, Gov. Charlie Crist signed a bill that could financially reward utility companies for developing alternative energy sources — and solar power is at the top of the list.

"They keep sweetening the pot," Ms. Newcomb-Jones said.

All of this is good news for solar-based businesses. Fafco Owner Mr. Morrissey also sees solar energy as "a matter of global survival." But now, he added, "it's also a matter of economics."