Both houses on Florida have passed versions of a piece of legislation triggering work on plans to open many water bodies throughout the state to floating solar energy arrays. The legislation would direct the state Office of Energy to develop and submit to the Legislature recommendations for a regulatory framework for the development and operation of floating solar-power facilities. Those plans — which would cover both private- and public-sector entities — would be due Dec. 31.
Sometimes referred to using the portmanteau “floatovoltaic,” the floating photovoltaic facilities only would be permitted atop man-made water storage reservoirs, including wastewater treatment ponds, abandoned lime rock quarries, stormwater treatment ponds and reclaimed water ponds.