A bright idea proposed by Gainesville Regional Utilities will cut the cost of solar power in Gainesville.
The new solar photovoltaic electric feed-in-tariff program, which had its first reading at the Gainesville City Commission meeting Thursday, will allow GRU customers to sell back all of the solar power they produce to GRU, said Rachel Meek, the solar program manager.
Customers with the photovoltaic systems used to produce solar power will get a monthly or quarterly check from GRU for the energy their systems produce, Meek said.
The program will launch March 1.
GRU's current program only pays customers for the excess power they produce that is not used by their homes and businesses, she said.
The steady income promised by the new program, the nation's first to be offered by a utility company, will make it easier for customers to get loans to cover the upfront costs of their photovoltaic systems, Meek said.
Meek said part of the problem with solar power is that middle America cannot afford it because it is too expensive.
With this program that pays customers for all the solar power they produce, that will change.
Solar electric companies seem to like this plan, and Meek said she predicts a solar electric company boom in Gainesville.
UF is also considering the program for the off-campus buildings where GRU provides utilities, said John Lawson, the interview coordinator for UF's Physical Plant Division.
Despite the interest in the feed-in-tariff program, being the first utility company in the nation to launch it is not easy.
"We're handling the growing pains," Meek said.
