City of Delray Beach, FL
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Solar Energy
Delray Beach is designated "SolSmart Bronze" for Advancing Solar Energy Growth
On October 24th 2017, Delray Beach received a Bronze designation from the national SolSmart program for making it faster, easier, and more affordable for homes and businesses to go solar. This designation recognizes our city for taking steps to encourage solar energy growth and remove obstacles to solar development. For companies looking to expand, a SolSmart Bronze designation is a signal that Delray Beach is “open for solar business.”
SolSmart is led by The Solar Foundation and the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative. More than 100 cities, counties, and small towns have achieved SolSmart designation since the program launched in 2016. See the map at: http://www.gosparc.org/solsmart-designees
Thinking about Installing Solar?
In the Sunshine state, approximately 70% of days are sunny or partly sunny. This makes South Florida a great place to install solar thermal or solar photovoltaic arrays and move your household toward 100% renewable energy and increased resiliency.
The popularity of solar energy has grown exponentially over the past five years as prices for solar photovoltaic panels have dropped significantly. Depending on your usage, and the size of the array you install, your monthly utility bill may drop dramatically. This, and the 30% federal tax credit for solar installations available via the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) through 2019, has reduced the time it takes to achieve a positive return on investment to about 7 years, depending of the specifications of each system.
The City of Delray Beach encourages all residential and commercial property owners to consider a solar installation on their buildings. The City of Delray Beach worked with an US Department of Energy funded SolSmart Advisor to streamline the permit application and approval process for solar installations and earn a Bronze Designation of a "Solar Ready City”. In considering a solar array for your home or business, many factors must be evaluated, including: your current and future energy demands, the capacity of the roof structure, its age and condition, the roof warrant, your planned tenure in the property, the solar technology and mounting system, and cost and financing terms offered. Owners are encouraged to educate themselves, ask questions and make informed decisions. Luckily there are many resources available. An overall primer for consumers can be found on the Solar Energy Industries Association website see: http://www.seia.org/policy/consumer-protection/solar-customer-resource-portal
Solar Energy Information
The following sites provide a good starting point, for research into many topics related to solar energy: