Besides being a great place to view manatees, Tampa Electric’s Manatee Viewing Center is also where a good number of rescued and rehabilitated manatees are released back into the wild. In fact, since the Center reopened in November of 2021, 13 manatees have been carefully returned to the warm waters there. In one day alone, a record seven manatees were released! Take a look at some of our “Celebri-tees” –…
Our forecast: Sunny with a 100% chance of solar innovations
Solar energy is clean energy. And where better to test new ideas than the Sunshine State? That’s why our research and development teams are busy testing solar energy solutions – carefully recording data, analyzing the benefits, and seeking community partners. We hope these forward-thinking innovations will play a part in achieving our vision of a net-zero carbon future. It Floats! In 2021 we began to install our first solar arrays…
Massive Plan for Tampa Electric’s Cleaner-Energy Future Brings Mighty Partners Together
Atop the Tampa Convention Center under the brilliant morning sun on Nov. 8, Tampa Electric President and CEO Archie Collins laid out a transformative plan for a cleaner-energy future. With new, emerging and future technologies, Tampa Electric will reduce its carbon-dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050. As part of this effort, the company has partnered with the University of South Florida to invest in a multi-year, multi-disciplinary “genius grant”…
We’re capturing the sun in new ways at The Florida Aquarium
The sun and the sea go together like…solar panels and Tesla batteries? At The Florida Aquarium in downtown Tampa, that’s a big warm YES! The aquarium recently opened its 6,000-square-foot rooftop terrace venue space, where we installed unobtrusive state-of-the-art solar panels that can produce 134 kilowatts of electricity. That’s enough electricity to power approximately 18 homes. Complementing the panels are two Tesla Powerwall batteries that store enough energy to power the venue’s louvered shade panels. The panels and batteries…
Tapping the sun and battery technology to light up the night
Our lighting team recently installed 175 new streetlights in Creek Preserve, a new housing development in Wimauma. But these are no ordinary streetlights. Each light is equipped with a solar panel and a battery. The solar panel makes energy during the day that’s stored in the battery to illuminate the light at night. What happens if cloud cover occurs several days in a row? No problem, the battery stores enough…