New website helps residents save money

The Solar Education Association of the Florida Keys has launched a website that helps those who want to tap the sun’s energy find installers in the Keys, get information about tax credits and other financial incentives, and learn more about how they can use solar to save money.

The website, www.seaflkeys.com, is part of the organization’s effort to promote solar education and the training of solar installers.

Many local residents have already discovered how much money and energy they can save by heating their household water, heating their swimming pools, or generating electricity when they install solar panels on their roof.

“We want to illustrate how effective solar can be on our sunny islands,” said SEA executive director Michael Welber. “The Keys are one of the best areas in the entire country for using solar and we’re hoping to make more people aware of how much money they can save by tapping this free resource.”

The new website lists several local success stories as well as information about how other Floridians are using solar. In addition, the site includes links to Internet sites that offer valuable information about solar energy.

Under the section Local Resources, the Solar Education Association website provides contact information for installers in the Keys. There are only a handful and SEA is looking to greatly enlarge that pool.

Toward that end the group hopes to work with Florida Keys Community College and local high schools to find the resources, recruit faculty, and develop curricula to teach students the important and necessary skills to enter this ever-expanding field.

The site lists online opportunities for people to access courses on solar installation of all types since no educational institution in the Keys offers such training

Solar offers real job opportunities to local students. Because prices are declining in all solar industries, the number of people employed in this area has skyrocketed. The Solar Foundation reports that jobs in the solar industry grew by 86 percent in the past five years. As of 2013, according to industry estimates, there were 143,000 solar jobs and more than 50,000 in wind in the United States.

People interested in learning more about the Solar Education Association of the Florida Keys can visit the organization’s new website at www.seaflkeys.com or its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/seaflkeys/.

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]