Customers who support Sun to Go by purchasing one-time solar blocks for an event or monthly blocks that supplement their energy consumption, make it possible for Tampa Electric to build and maintain eight community-sited solar arrays. Looks for these installations that are generating clean energy right here in the Tampa Bay area and learn more about how solar energy is produced and used throughout West Central Florida.
Florida Conservation and Technology Center
Apollo Beach
The Florida Conservation and Technology Center in Apollo Beach, Florida is home to a 60,000 watt AC solar array. This location was chosen for one of our many arrays due to its proximity to Tampa Electric's Manatee Viewing Center (MVC) and the Suncoast Youth Conservation Center that offers year-round opportunities for public education. The system provides a canopy over visitors waiting to take a shuttle to and from the MVC.
LEGOLAND® Florida
Winter Haven
Earth Day 2014 marked the day representatives from LEGOLAND Florida and Tampa Electric flipped the switch on a Tampa Electric-owned 27,000 watt AC solar photovoltaic (PV) system installed atop LEGOLAND'S Imagination Zone. A PV system this size is capable of generating enough electricity from the sun to power three average-sized homes and offset about 40 tons of carbon dioxide per year – equivalent to planting more than nine acres of trees. See the large scale solar site.
Manatee Viewing Center
Apollo Beach
Meacham Urban Farm is an organic farm at the outskirts of downtown Tampa. It's there that our bright Florida sunshine is helping crops grow and will be teaching kids about clean solar energy. At the edge of the farm we've installed a solar "Curve" – a sun-storing array that resembles a giant flower. The Curve has its own battery, so visitors can charge their phones while watching free-range chickens roam or learning about sustainable farming methods.
Meacham Farm
Tampa
The Florida Conservation and Technology Center in Apollo Beach, Florida is home to a 60,000 watt AC solar array. This location was chosen for one of our many arrays due to its proximity to Tampa Electric's Manatee Viewing Center (MVC) and the Suncoast Youth Conservation Center that offers year-round opportunities for public education. The system provides a canopy over visitors waiting to take a shuttle to and from the MVC.
Middleton High School
Tampa
A magnet school for math, science, engineering and technology, Middleton High School hosts a 8,925 watt AC solar panel system as part of the school's curriculum. In case of a natural disaster or other emergency, the system also provides supplemental power for the Red Cross shelter located in this school. This 60-solar panel system has battery backup for overnight uses and is the largest contained within any Florida school.
Museum of Science and Industry
Tampa
At Tampa's Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), you can explore Tampa Electric's first solar panel system. The system is directly connected to the same electrical infrastructure that sends electricity to your home or business. In 2020, MOSI added two solar "Curve" charging stations that also send power to the community.
The Florida Aquarium
Downtown Tampa
In Tampa's Channelside District, the Florida Aquarium's 6,000-square-foot rooftop terrace venue space features unobtrusive solar panels that can produce 134,000 watts of electricity. In addition, the aquarium's Explore-A-Shore pavilion hosts a 8,602 watt AC solar array and features an interactive display to teach children about the benefits of solar energy.
ZooTampa at Lowry Park
Tampa
Tampa Electric joined with ZooTampa at Lowry Park and the University of South Florida's Power Center for Utility Explorations on a 12,793 watt AC solar panel system at the zoo. The solar panels are installed atop an elephant shade structure and an adjacent maintenance building. The project includes a Renewable Energy Learning Center that provides research opportunities for USF and Tampa Electric to study the technical, economic and environmental benefits of a renewable, grid-connected photovoltaic system for Smart Grid electric power production.