PALMETTO — Manatee School for the Arts has launched a major solar initiative that will implement solar as the primary power source for its entire campus. The school is partnering with Tampa Bay Solar for what will be one of the largest rooftop solar projects in Florida history.
Manatee School for the Arts expects to decrease current utility costs by 90% annually. Estimates for the project claim it will pay for itself within seven years. The savings will go toward school operational expenses, including plans to expand offerings with new art and dance facilities, and a public dance auditorium that can be used for public events.
"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to convert to solar energy," said Charles W. Jones, Ph.D, President of Renaissance Arts and Education, parent company of Manatee School for the Arts. "Not only is this a cleaner option for the environment, but the school will save thousands of dollars a month in energy costs."
Tampa Bay Solar will oversee the design, engineering, and installation of the system. The installation will include an estimated 3000 panels, producing over 3,800,000 kWh of Solar PV annually—enough to offset the energy needs of the school for the next 25+ years.
Once finished, it will generate up to 2.0 Megawatts of photovoltaic power output, advancing clean energy in Florida and setting a national precedent for sustainable infrastructure in education. The company says the system represents the equivalent of powering 200 homes every day for more than a quarter of a century.
"This partnership is particularly meaningful to me," said Steve Rutherford, Owner of Tampa Bay Solar. "It’s a chance to give back to my community and to show the next generation of leaders the power of solar energy—not just as a technical solution, but as a core value of environmental stewardship."
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N_Alice_Newlon
https://youtu.be/St-aJifgiDc This link will take you to April 17, 2025 presentation done byJulia Herbst, Solar United Neighbors. This was mentioned in the presentation and SUN is a non-profit that can arrange and do the anaysis to facilitate the help people in the Gulf Coast of Florida install solar as well as help non-profits. In the presentation she shared multiple programs including one for non-profits and some for homeowners, and you need to hop onto quickly because some of these incentives may go away next year and it must be installed by year end. Be part of these ecological and cost saving programs.
Sunday, April 20 Report this
Bill
That all sounds great but remember when The Bill Galvino Turning Points on 17th Ave got a 209 panel 48kW rooftop system that was to produce 80,000 kWh of electricity per year, which is expected to save the homeless center an estimated 32% in utility costs in its first year. The system will reduce environmentally damaging CO2 emissions by 1,500,000 million pounds per year. Complementing the solar equipment is a massive 130kW back-up generator supplied by Windemuller Technical Services that will be used during storm power outages. The project was funded by a $400,000 Federal block Grant administered by Manatee County’s Department of Affordable Housing.
What happened to this system and why is it not working?
Monday, April 21 Report this
WTF
A great idea long overdue I've been pushing solar to the school board and the board of county commissioners for decades. Tampa Bay solar is a top-notch company who has hundreds of installs all across Florida. The systems today are not the systems of even 10 years ago. Solar panels have dropped 80% in price in the last five years, racking systems have been improved greatly and the inverters are plug and play today. It'd be interesting to see what the payback would be but I would say it would be less than 10 years so the solar panels have a 25-year warranty and after that it only drops nominally you could easily get 50 years out of the solar panel, you'd have to replace the roof before the solar panel goes out. This should be a model for every educational facility in Manatee County. In fact manatee Technical College should partner up with Tampa Bay solar and a partnership of internship and basic installation solar program that would offer on the job training with this partnership
Seaport manatee has hundreds of thousands of square foot roofing available for solar and despite my encouragement of over 10 years they have not installed one solar panel. Shame on them. The county buildings don't fare much better very little solar to amount of anything. Shame on them.
Bayshore high school has 15 acres of brownfield which would make a perfect solar farm that could distribute energy not only to Bayshore high school ant to State college across the street.
For the record.
Monday, April 21 Report this