Northwest: Right Time, Right Place

Brothers Michael, top, and Ben Bloodworth came home to launch a business that takes advantage of Florida’s abundant sunshine. [Photo:Florida’s Great Northwest]

Coming Home

As a boy growing up on St. George Island just off the Florida Panhandle in Apalachicola Bay, Ben Bloodworth instinctively knew that the sun was the area’s best natural resource.

“It’s what you either avoid or look for every day,” he says.

But like many boys who hail from small towns, Bloodworth felt the lure of the city and moved to Atlanta. But long commutes and congested roads proved too much, and he came back to Franklin County, where he started Sol Verde Renewable Energy Solutions in January 2008 Together with his brother Michael, Ben Bloodworth installs solar photovoltaic and thermal panels in new spaces and retrofits older spaces for solar technology.

Sol Verde’s future is bright in large part because of federal and state tax incentives that are reducing the costs of going green. In December 2007, for example, the Florida Public Service Commission adopted a net metering rule that allows customers to sell back some of the power they generate on their own from renewable technologies to publicly held utility companies and save on their utility bills in the process.

Combining their green approach with a commitment to leave the world a better place, Sol Verde has applied their ingenuity to helping protect sea turtles.

All along the beaches in Florida female sea turtles crawl ashore to lay their eggs. When the hatchlings emerge, their tendency is to move toward the brightest light, which, on a natural beach, is usually the water. On developed beaches, it’s more likely to be a busy road.

Sol Verde’s solution is energy-efficient lights to guide the newborns in the right direction. The Bloodworths are working hard to get them placed on shores where turtles nest. Given that 27 Florida counties have marine turtle protection ordinances, the market is ripe.