A report in the Sarasota Herald Tribune focuses on the proposed project, which has already seen county officials approve $20 million in bonds to help finance the project. Currently, the newspaper notes that the bonds could allow solar panels to be installed on 1,000 local homes and businesses, with a longer-term goal of involving 10,000 such buildings.
"One thousand homes would be better than anyone has done in the country. It would really put us on the map," local official Don Root told the newspaper, going on to cite the job-creating potential of the idea.
With a distributed energy project, photovoltaic panels or other clean energy devices are placed on a wide variety of commercial and residential buildings in a given area. Some proposals have even suggested placing small wind turbines and solar panels along highways and other associated structures.
Looking ahead, distributed solar energy projects are thought to have high potential because they require fewer permits and other obstacles that industrial-scale projects tend to need. Such plans also tend to minimize the need for new power transmission lines because they often generate power right in the areas where it will be used.
