TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (CBSMiami.com) – Floridians who decided to take advantage of the sun by purchasing solar energy systems are finally getting some of their rebate from the state.

The rebates were promised more than two years ago and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said he made the rebates a priority since his department inherited the program a few months ago.

But, even though the rebates are coming, they will not be for the originally promised amount. Instead, the 8,800 rebates will be approximately 52 percent of the requested amount.

The rebate amounts were calculated by dividing the total dollars available by the number of approved applications.

The reason behind the cut in rebate payouts was the response to the program was greater than the state legislature expected and the program quickly ran out of money in 2009.

The Florida Legislature in 2010 appropriated $29 million for the program, but it still wasn’t enough to pay the full rebates.

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