Solar Energy Center; development of solar energy standards.

(1) SHORT TITLE.—This act shall be known and may be cited as the Solar Energy Standards Act of 1976.

(2) LEGISLATIVE INTENT.—The Legislature intends to ensure that solar energy systems manufactured or sold within the state are effective and represent a high level of quality of materials, workmanship, and design.

(3) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:

(a) “Center” means the Florida Solar Energy Center of the Board of Governors.

(b) “Solar energy systems” means equipment which provides for the collection and use of incident solar energy for water heating, space heating or cooling, or other applications which normally require or would require a conventional source of energy such as petroleum products, natural gas, or electricity and which performs primarily with solar energy. In such other systems in which solar energy is used in a supplemental way, only those components which collect and transfer solar energy shall be included in this definition.

(4) FLORIDA SOLAR ENERGY CENTER TO SET STANDARDS, REQUIRE DISCLOSURE, SET TESTING FEES.—

(a) The center shall develop and adopt standards for solar energy systems manufactured or sold in this state based on the best currently available information and shall consult with scientists, engineers, or persons in research centers who are engaged in the construction of, experimentation with, and research of solar energy systems to properly identify the most reliable designs and types of solar energy systems.

(b) The center shall establish criteria for testing performance of solar energy systems and shall maintain the necessary capability for testing or evaluating performance of solar energy systems. The center may accept results of tests on solar energy systems made by other organizations, companies, or persons if such tests are conducted according to the criteria established by the center and if the testing entity does not have a vested interest in the manufacture, distribution, or sale of solar energy systems.

(c) The center shall be entitled to receive a testing fee sufficient to cover the costs of such testing. All testing fees shall be transmitted by the center to the Chief Financial Officer to be deposited in the Solar Energy Center Testing Trust Fund, which is created in the State Treasury, and disbursed for the payment of expenses incurred in testing solar energy systems.

(d) All solar energy systems manufactured or sold in the state must meet the standards established by the center and shall display accepted results of approved performance tests in a manner prescribed by the center, unless otherwise certified by an engineer licensed pursuant to chapter 471 using the standards contained in the most recent version of the Florida Building Code.