diy solar

diy solar

Off-grid: illegal in Florida?

Cesspools in Long Guyland? And from you sir, I shall hear no jokes about the south!
I know! When I moved down here it freaked me out. This many folks and very few on sewers. EWW! They are finally requiring Septic Tanks upstream of cesspools or even leaching fields. Those have been required in most areas for 30 or 40 years! Even in the boondocks. Also starting to require low nitrogen systems on the shoreline. But guess what ? Fools be bitching about it! Crazy
 
In FL, does having an Agricultural Exemption make a difference?

We have a farm We are about to power off grid. Grid power is a mile away, so no grid power at the farm. The plan is to build an office and equipment storage on the property , but the office will eventually have "living quarters".
I was told once you build your ag exemption goes away. I think then you have to reapply.
 
This came from dept of Agriculture and sent to our building dept.



The first is 163.04 (2) F. S. and states:



“A property owner may not be denied permission to install solar collectors or other energy devices by any entity granted the power or right in any deed restriction, covenant, declaration, or similar binding agreement to approve, forbid, control, or direct alteration of property with respect to residential dwellings and within the boundaries of a condominium unit.”



The second is 163.3205 (3) F. S. – “A solar facility shall be a permitted use in all agricultural land use categories in a local government comprehensive plan and all agricultural zoning districts within an unincorporated area and must comply with the setback and landscaped buffer area criteria for other similar uses in the agricultural district.”
 
With enough acerage you can still have AG with a house
That's true enough in my case, in my state and my county. I need to reserve 20 acres for forestry land use. No idea what that equates to in the OPs county, in Florida.
 
I'm trying to do a battery backup setup. I've contacted the county for compliance requirements. I'd do it without permits and possibly without UL certified equipment. My main hesitation is due to insurance denying a claim because of no permit or UL certification.
 
I don’t think it makes sense to go completely non-UL. Forgoing UL1741 and 1973 seems illogical because there is not much saving nor restriction on equipment choice

If you skip 1741SB and 9540 that’s a different story
 
I'm trying to do a battery backup setup. I've contacted the county for compliance requirements. I'd do it without permits and possibly without UL certified equipment. My main hesitation is due to insurance denying a claim because of no permit or UL certification.
I am in Florida and installed off-grid inverters and server rack batteries, all permitted. The process was super easy and the permitting fees were nothing compared to the cost of the system. For more details, keep reading.

I did the work myself with help from a friend. This falls under the Florida owner-builder exemption. You just have to sign a waiver saying you are aware of a bunch of things but still want to do it yourself. Also you are not allowed to pay anyone for help, but family or friends can help as long as you are supervising the work.

I called the city and they told me I needed a building permit and an electrical sub-permit. A survey map marking the location of the equipment was required. Other than that, I described the project as installing a battery based *manual* backup generator, drew laughable connection diagram, printed the UL certifications and manuals for inverters and batteries, Finally printed 2 copies and delivered them in person. They filled a notice of commencement and i needed to go to the county to get it stamped and bring it back once the permit was approved. i paid $13 to the county, including $1 for an extra copy of the NoC. To my surprise, the permit was approved the following morning. I brought the stamped NoC and paid $58 or $68 and got my permit. You have 6 months to complete the project.

About a month later we were done: new subpanel with most of the house circuits, a manual interlock for choosing between grid and off-grid power, and then the inverters and batteries.

I set up the inspection online and the inspector came the following day. He asked a bunch of questions, seemed to care a lot about grounding, wire sizes, and how the system would be turned on/off. If the system kicked in automatically, I would have needed an external disconnect, but since it was manual... Also, for the new panel, i had to use AFCI breakers for all 15A/20A circuits that go to any outlet inside the house. Got the approval signed on the spot!

Overall, permitting was a frictionless, straightforward experience, and the few people i dealt with were super helpful. All these rules are there to protect me and my house, and the people involved made it easy to comply with the rules.

As for going completely off-grid now, no one can prevent me from stopping DEF service and opening the main breaker in the entrance panel...

YMMV.
 
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I am in Florida and installed off-grid inverters and server rack batteries, all permitted. The process was super easy and the permitting fees were nothing compared to the cost of the system. For more details, keep reading.

I did the work myself with help from a friend. This falls under the Florida owner-builder exemption. You just have to sign a waiver saying you are aware of a bunch of things but still want to do it yourself. Also you are not allowed to pay anyone for help, but family or friends can help as long as you are supervising the work.

I called the city and they told me I needed a building permit and an electrical sub-permit. A survey map marking the location of the equipment was required. Other than that, I described the project as installing a battery based *manual* backup generator, drew laughable connection diagram, printed the UL certifications and manuals for inverters and batteries, Finally printed 2 copies and delivered them in person. They filled a notice of commencement and i needed to go to the county to get it stamped and bring it back once the permit was approved. i paid $13 to the county, including $1 for an extra copy of the NoC. To my surprise, the permit was approved the following morning. I brought the stamped NoC and paid $58 or $68 and got my permit. You have 6 months to complete the project.

About a month later we were done: new subpanel with most of the house circuits, a manual interlock for choosing between grid and off-grid power, and then the inverters and batteries.

I set up the inspection online and the inspector came the following day. He asked a bunch of questions, seemed to care a lot about grounding, wire sizes, and how the system would be turned on/off. If the system kicked in automatically, I would have needed an external disconnect, but since it was manual... Also, for the new panel, i had to use AFCI breakers for all 15A/20A circuits that go to any outlet inside the house. Got the approval signed on the spot!

Overall, permitting was a frictionless, straightforward experience, and the few people i dealt with were super helpful. All these rules are there to protect me and my house, and the people involved made it easy to comply with the rules.

As for going completely off-grid now, no one can prevent me from stopping DEF service and opening the main breaker in the entrance panel...

YMMV.
Did you say? What county are you in? A lot in FL depends upon the county. I know for building, St Johns and Marion are Easy compared to Putnam
 
I'm doing the same in Brevard but the town have their own building department. The paperwork I have to fill in for them is laughable, but I will have to comply with current electrical code. In my case this is a new build.
 
How can they tell you you have to to purchase a service you don’t want
Remember obamacare? They've now set the precedent for mandatory almost everything and they're increasing mandatory health interventions "for your own good".
The trend ain't slowing down yet.
 
Many didn't, but the rest did it without a nanny government's permission. ?
Another reason history (at the least) isn't emphasized- you might discover reasons that you don't need an all invasive nanny state from cradle to grave.
I'd talk to some contractors and see how/what they deal with and their typical solutions. When you're doing solar all day long, you tend to find pragmatic solutions
 
IIRC, part of the challenge is that the utility in the region has an exclusive contract to provide power and it is fairly comprehensive.

Might be wrong - wouldn't be the first time.
 
Freedom in the USA ain't free "Freedom cost a buck o' five..." That's from a song I heard once.

It is very much a pay to play system.

In Florida, there ae 90 some odd lobbyist from the power utilities in Tallahassee protecting the power company's revenues. And they fork out 10s of millions of dollars in political contributions.

I was not able to find the NABCEP political contributions. (The NABCEP is the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners). I am sure their interest are for the certified solar installers and service providers. I imagine they are responsible for prohibiting homeowner from installing their own solar but that is speculation.

It's the "golden rule" and us regular citizens do not have the gold.
 
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imagine they are responsible for prohibiting homeowner from installing their own solar but that is speculation.
You can pull a permits and do it yourself no problem, but it has to be to code and this is to protect the grid and also stop your panels blowing away during a hurricane.
 
Rules and regulations !!!!
For a new build, you need to pull permits for everything and before it becomes a livable property, you need a Certificate of Occupation (CO)
Department of health are the ones that get you, you must have sanitary living conditions or they will chuck you out.
And if the service is available at your property, you must use it (water, sewer)
Now electricity, that is a grey area that I am about to explore.
So camp.
 
I am in Florida and installed off-grid inverters and server rack batteries, all permitted. The process was super easy and the permitting fees were nothing compared to the cost of the system. For more details, keep reading.

I did the work myself with help from a friend. This falls under the Florida owner-builder exemption. You just have to sign a waiver saying you are aware of a bunch of things but still want to do it yourself. Also you are not allowed to pay anyone for help, but family or friends can help as long as you are supervising the work.

I called the city and they told me I needed a building permit and an electrical sub-permit. A survey map marking the location of the equipment was required. Other than that, I described the project as installing a battery based *manual* backup generator, drew laughable connection diagram, printed the UL certifications and manuals for inverters and batteries, Finally printed 2 copies and delivered them in person. They filled a notice of commencement and i needed to go to the county to get it stamped and bring it back once the permit was approved. i paid $13 to the county, including $1 for an extra copy of the NoC. To my surprise, the permit was approved the following morning. I brought the stamped NoC and paid $58 or $68 and got my permit. You have 6 months to complete the project.

About a month later we were done: new subpanel with most of the house circuits, a manual interlock for choosing between grid and off-grid power, and then the inverters and batteries.

I set up the inspection online and the inspector came the following day. He asked a bunch of questions, seemed to care a lot about grounding, wire sizes, and how the system would be turned on/off. If the system kicked in automatically, I would have needed an external disconnect, but since it was manual... Also, for the new panel, i had to use AFCI breakers for all 15A/20A circuits that go to any outlet inside the house. Got the approval signed on the spot!

Overall, permitting was a frictionless, straightforward experience, and the few people i dealt with were super helpful. All these rules are there to protect me and my house, and the people involved made it easy to comply with the rules.

As for going completely off-grid now, no one can prevent me from stopping DEF service and opening the main breaker in the entrance panel...

YMMV.
@solarhombre Great Information for us which live on Florida, I am in Palm Coast, FL
For those that are going to install solar panels and need enginered seals for the ground mount take a look at Scott Hunt he does consoltutation and drawing for DYI installs. Note: I am not afiliated with him or his company, I have seen many of his installs and he is a pro at this. I don't know if he would do a install in Florida as he is out of South Carolina. his about link: https://practicalpreppers.com/about-us/
And his How it Works link: https://practicalpreppers.com/diy-solar-systems/.
His youtube channel link: https://www.youtube.com/@engineer775
If I could afford Solar I would definatly use his service for enginnering.

Thank you again @solarhombre for your information

Thanks
Scat
 
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