Alternative Energy

Green energy growth | Research and development programs | Solar energy in the Sunshine State | Photovoltaic power | Solar thermal systems in business | Related sites

FPL is pioneering efforts to develop renewable and alternative energy sources for customers. In particular, we engage in

• Sunshine Energy^SM, a renewable energy program, for
  • residential customers
  • business customers
  • large commercial and governmental customers
• Interconnection and net metering of customer renewable interconnection
• Rebates and incentives programs aimed at reducing energy demand for
  • residential customers and
  • business customer
• Other research and development programs are mentioned below.

Green energy growth

Presently, Florida depends on renewable or “green” energy for about 1 percent of its electricity needs. Because of FPL’s efforts, this percentage may eventually grow. The company believes that greater use of conservation and cost-effective renewable resources is good for our nation and that the ongoing evaluation of emerging clean energy technologies is a worthy pursuit.

Not only does FPL have research and development programs that evaluate emerging energy technologies including renewable energy, the company currently uses renewable resources as part of its energy mix. For example, most of FPL’s biomass resources are in Florida, where electricity is purchased from power plants that produce energy using fuel from

• solid waste
• landfill gas
• waste paper and
• sugar cane wastes.

These plants are located in

• Broward
• Palm Beach
• Volusia and
• Putnam counties.

Research and development programs

In addition, FPL has research and development programs that evaluate emerging energy technologies including renewable energy. Here are some examples:

• A photovoltaic research and development program looking at a technology that replaces existing roofing materials such as shingles with photovoltaic materials. This program, which is focused on test installations at two universities and five homes, is aligned with the federal government’s “Million Solar Roofs” initiative.
• In response to customer interest, FPL introduced a “green energy” program – Sunshine Energy – where customers can choose to purchase and support clean power initiatives.
• Thanks in part to customer support, FPL installed a 10 kw photovoltaic system at the Martin Plant in Palm Beach County in 1998.
• FPL supports other developing cleaner energy technologies, including industry research and development on fuel cells and micro-turbines.

Solar energy in the Sunshine State

Solar power is an exciting emerging technology. It is environmentally-friendly because it produces no emissions or noise. It’s fueled by one of Florida’s most abundant resources – the sun.

But while energy from the sun is virtually limitless, it’s expensive to convert to usable electricity in Florida. In addition, geography is a key determining factor in the use and potential cost effectiveness of large-scale generation using renewable energy sources such as solar power.

FPL employees participated in the December 2003 dedication of this 4-kw solar energy center at the Harllee Middle School in Bradenton. View video news clips from WTSP-TV and WWSB-TV.

Both wind and solar power production are very land-intensive. Florida’s land use opportunities are limited by its

• large urban centers
• extensive shorelines
• in-land agriculture and
• environmentally sensitive wetlands.

Though nicknamed the “sunshine state,” Florida has too much cloud cover to make large-scale solar power production a cost effective alternative.

Wind power generally requires sustained winds of 12 mph or stronger, making America’s deserts and mountain ranges more likely places for wind energy technologies than Florida.

As a result of the limitations to large-scale solar and wind production in Florida, FPL displaces fossil fuels through greater use of conservation as a way to contribute to a cleaner environment.

Over the past two decades, FPL has helped customers in Florida reduce their overall energy equal to 10 medium-sized power plants. FPL energy efficiency incentives paid

• residential customers $71.2 million and
• business customers $35 million.

For more information, visit Solar Research Frequently Asked Questions.

Photovoltaic power

Photovoltaic systems directly convert sunlight into electricity using solid state technology. Photovoltaics are also called solar cells. All solar power generated feeds directly into FPL’s electric grid system and then into your home or business. During operation, a photovoltaic system does not create noise because there are no movable parts, and no pollution or hazardous wastes are generated because no fuel is burned.

Some residential customers who want alternatives to traditional electricity sources as a lifestyle choice are purchasing photovoltaic systems of their own from independent suppliers for home use. These systems are presently expensive to install and the payback is decades long. However, many of these systems also are capable of connecting to FPL’s power grid and can return excess generation to the company.

Solar thermal systems in business

Solar thermal systems use solar radiation directly to generate electricity. The parabolic trough is the leading solar thermal electric technology used today. The table below describes this process.

Other solar thermal systems include central-receiver technology, which uses mirrors to focus the sun’s energy on a central receiver, and parabolic dishes in small-scale application.

Related sites

The following sites give you additional information:

• Florida Solar Energy Center is the energy research institute of the State of Florida.
• Green Power Network contains background information on the concept of green power and the context in which green power fits into the electric power industry marketplace.
• Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network, a resource for information on the Internet about renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
• Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy describes the technical and economic status of the major emerging renewable energy options for electricity supply.
• National Wind Coordinating Committee supports the development of an environmentally, economically and politically sustainable commercial market for wind power.