Tampa Tank Inc.-Florida Structural Steel (TTI-FSS), a globally recognized steel fabrication company, has completed installation of a 507-kilowatt solar photovoltaic (PV) system at one of its three Tampa-based manufacturing facilities.
At a half a megawatt, this is the largest solar installation for an industrial plant in Hillsborough County, Florida, and one of the largest in the state. Solar Advantage installed the 1,492 Canadian Solar 340 panels and 51 inverters for property developer Shepard Capital Partners, from whom TTI-FSS leases the facility. TTI-FSS expects to save some $75,000 – 80,000 in energy costs the first year by drawing power first from the solar installation and secondly from local supplier TECO Energy.
David Reed, principal at Shepard Capital Partners, member of TTI-FSS’ advisory board and founder of the nonprofit Sustany Foundation, explained, “Solar energy is an appealing alternative power source because it substantially reduces operating costs while securing a large portion of the company’s power needs for 25 years at a lower fixed price, from 13 cents per kilowatt currently to 3 cents per KW. In addition, TTI-FSS will benefit from a federal investment tax credit worth 30 percent of the system’s cost and the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MARCS) bonus depreciation of 50 percent the first full year of operation.”
He added, “We were looking for an opportunity to demonstrate how we can move away from carbon-based fuel use in a heavy industrial operation. Having worked with Solar Advantage President Martin Clewis at the Sustany Foundation, we quickly recognized the economic benefits of using solar power for TTI-FSS. Keeping our investment with a local company was also an appealing aspect of this project.”
According to TTI-FSS founder Cal Reed, “We’re all concerned about the environment, so we were willing to consider solar energy as an alternative resource after evaluating three important factors: One, the return on investment; two, the viability of the manufacturing plant structure itself to support the number of solar cells necessary without having to reinforce it; and, three, the proposal from Solar Advantage to provide the quality and savings we expected at a reasonable cost. Fortunately, all three factors aligned to make this project possible.”
The solar power cells capture sunlight and turn it into direct current (DC) electricity, which flows to the inverters to convert it into alternating current (AC) electricity. The AC electricity moves to the breaker box, where it is used to power the facility’s lights, tools and other manufacturing equipment. The installation is complete and will be put in operation within the month once the bi-directional solar meter is installed by Tampa Electric.
Solar Advantage President Martin Clewis emphasized the customized solutions his company employs for clients. “We used a diversified approach for the inverters in this particular project. Instead of one huge truck-sized inverter, we installed 51 small solid-state inverters, made in California, scattered throughout the array of panels. This minimizes the size of the system footprint and cuts down on potential service and repair-related down time.”
