Don’t let Coral Gables stop you from going solar

Florida has a strong solar access law to protect our right to put solar on the roofs of our homes and businesses. Unfortunately, the City of Coral Gables has a consistent history of denying permits to install solar if the array faces the street. This includes systems with south-facing arrays. South-facing arrays are the most efficient direction to maximize solar production.

Denying these installations limits the number of Coral Gables residents that can go solar and can make it impossible for a home to go solar and have battery back-up in the event of a grid outage.

According to the law¹, permitting rules must ensure solar installation is within the area required for its effective operation, that is, due south, or 45 degrees east or west of due south.

Coral Gables’ unreasonable restrictions substantially drive up the cost of solar for residents. It needlessly extends the payback time, diminishing solar’s power to be a financially-viable investment. It forces Coral Gables residents to continue using fossil fuels when they want to power their homes with renewable energy. It denies residents the ability to use a safe and reliable energy source when the grid goes down. Lastly, such restrictions make it difficult to produce enough energy to adequately charge a battery and maintain power during a grid outage.

Please send a message to city leaders urging them to support our solar rights and allow street-facing solar installations. Feel free to personalize the message to tell them why their current policy undermines Coral Gables’ laudable clean energy plans. The City should make it as easy and cost effective as possible for all of its residents to go solar.

1. Florida Statute 163.04 “Such entity may determine the specific location where solar collectors may be installed on the roof within an orientation to the south or within 45° east or west of due south if such determination does not impair the effective operation of the solar collectors.”