New homes will now require solar panels in South Miami

Beginning September 18th anyone building a new house in South Miami, and in some cases renovating an existing home, will have to install solar panels. The ordinance that passed last week, the first of its kind in Florida, will require “175 square feet of solar panel to be installed per 1,000 square feet of sunlit roof area, or 2.75 kw per 1,000 square feet of living space, whichever is less. If the house is built under existing trees, the shade may exempt it.”¹ Also included in the ordinance are home renovations that replace “more than 75 percent of the structure or extend the structure by more than 75 percent.”²

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“South Miami Mayor Philip Stoddard, a biology professor at Florida International University, has championed this measure. His entire home runs on solar and he drives an electric car. His monthly electric bill is about $10.

‘Solar reduces the cost of home ownership, it makes houses sell faster, it returns more to a builder, it makes local jobs, and most importantly, it reduces carbon emissions today to help our children and grandchildren have a better future tomorrow,’ he said Tuesday night.”³