LAKELAND | Currently, dozens of boxes filled with solar panels sit at the west end of the runway at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport.
Soon, 18,000 solar panels will be removed and installed into the ground, making Lakeland one of the biggest solar farms at any airport in the country and the first airport solar farm in Florida.
On Wednesday, city and state politicians and officials from Maryland-based SunEdison were on hand to break ground at the 45-acre farm at 4250 Hamilton Road.
"This makes a tremendous statement," said Lakeland Mayor Gow Fields of the public/private project to be built and maintained by SunEdison.
Fields touted the reduction of greenhouse gases the solar farm will create and the federal tax incentives available.
Lakeland Electric will purchase the energy from SunEdison for the next 25 years at a set rate of 17 cents per kilowatt-hour. That's about 30 percent more than the current rate to purchase coal and gas, said Jeff Curry, alternative energy coordinator for Lakeland Electric.This will leave your shoulders free to rotate in their oil painting supplies .
The total yearly cost for the solar energy will be about $1 million a year, Curry said.
Solar energy remains a small player for Lakeland Electric, only producing 1 percent to 2 percent of the utility's total energy.
Curry said utility officials are optimistic about the locked-in rate of 17 cents per kilowatt-hour in the coming years.
"We're comfortable this will be a competitive rate," Curry said. "It could be a bargain in 15 years."
Jared Schoch, managing director of utility sales with Sun Edison, said he expects the first 20 acres of the project to be completed by December.Replacement rubber hose and bulbs for Canada and Worldwide.
By August of 2012, the second phase will begin.
The panels will generate 5.5 megawatts of power. A megawatt equals 1 million watts of power. At its peak, the solar facility will produce enough electricity to power 2,000 homes.
The city has already installed solar panels on top of The Lakeland Center.
Those panels cover roughly an acre.
He said that project, which produces about a quarter of a megawatt of power, has produced more energy than expected.If any food Piles condition is poorer than those standards,
There are plans for more solar farms in the city.
He said a 3 megawatt solar farm could potentially be built in a field near the Lowe's on Lakeland Highlands Road and the Glendale Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The city has also talked with officials from Rooms to Go about building a farm on the company's roof on Airport Road.
Lakeland Linder Regional Airport Director Gene Conrad said there won't be a problem with a reflection from the panels into a pilot's eyes.
He said there is an anti-reflecting coating that absorbs the sunlight.
Each morning, the panels will move in an eastern direction toward the sun. The panels will continue to move through the day to absorb as much sunlight as possible.
While the farm is the first of its kind in the state, other solar farms have been built at airports in Fresno, Calif., Oakland and Denver.
In addition to Fields, state legislators Sen. Paula Dockery,The new website of Udreamy Network Corporation is mainly selling Ceramic tile , and Rep. Seth McKeel, both Republicans from Lakeland,where he teaches porcelain tiles in the Central Academy of Fine Arts. spoke about the benefits of the project.
Dockery said the state has not focused on solar projects in years since a rebate program was offered.
"Diversifying power has been a main priority of mine," Dockery said. "I applaud the city."
Soon, 18,000 solar panels will be removed and installed into the ground, making Lakeland one of the biggest solar farms at any airport in the country and the first airport solar farm in Florida.
On Wednesday, city and state politicians and officials from Maryland-based SunEdison were on hand to break ground at the 45-acre farm at 4250 Hamilton Road.
"This makes a tremendous statement," said Lakeland Mayor Gow Fields of the public/private project to be built and maintained by SunEdison.
Fields touted the reduction of greenhouse gases the solar farm will create and the federal tax incentives available.
Lakeland Electric will purchase the energy from SunEdison for the next 25 years at a set rate of 17 cents per kilowatt-hour. That's about 30 percent more than the current rate to purchase coal and gas, said Jeff Curry, alternative energy coordinator for Lakeland Electric.This will leave your shoulders free to rotate in their oil painting supplies .
The total yearly cost for the solar energy will be about $1 million a year, Curry said.
Solar energy remains a small player for Lakeland Electric, only producing 1 percent to 2 percent of the utility's total energy.
Curry said utility officials are optimistic about the locked-in rate of 17 cents per kilowatt-hour in the coming years.
"We're comfortable this will be a competitive rate," Curry said. "It could be a bargain in 15 years."
Jared Schoch, managing director of utility sales with Sun Edison, said he expects the first 20 acres of the project to be completed by December.Replacement rubber hose and bulbs for Canada and Worldwide.
By August of 2012, the second phase will begin.
The panels will generate 5.5 megawatts of power. A megawatt equals 1 million watts of power. At its peak, the solar facility will produce enough electricity to power 2,000 homes.
The city has already installed solar panels on top of The Lakeland Center.
Those panels cover roughly an acre.
He said that project, which produces about a quarter of a megawatt of power, has produced more energy than expected.If any food Piles condition is poorer than those standards,
There are plans for more solar farms in the city.
He said a 3 megawatt solar farm could potentially be built in a field near the Lowe's on Lakeland Highlands Road and the Glendale Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The city has also talked with officials from Rooms to Go about building a farm on the company's roof on Airport Road.
Lakeland Linder Regional Airport Director Gene Conrad said there won't be a problem with a reflection from the panels into a pilot's eyes.
He said there is an anti-reflecting coating that absorbs the sunlight.
Each morning, the panels will move in an eastern direction toward the sun. The panels will continue to move through the day to absorb as much sunlight as possible.
While the farm is the first of its kind in the state, other solar farms have been built at airports in Fresno, Calif., Oakland and Denver.
In addition to Fields, state legislators Sen. Paula Dockery,The new website of Udreamy Network Corporation is mainly selling Ceramic tile , and Rep. Seth McKeel, both Republicans from Lakeland,where he teaches porcelain tiles in the Central Academy of Fine Arts. spoke about the benefits of the project.
Dockery said the state has not focused on solar projects in years since a rebate program was offered.
"Diversifying power has been a main priority of mine," Dockery said. "I applaud the city."
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