Solar panel project begins at Economy Parking

(July 16, 2015) - Construction on the first solar array at Tampa International Airport is now underway. On Thursday morning, crews started pouring the first of many concrete columns needed to support a massive 170,000-square-foot canopy of solar panels on top of the Airport's south Economy Parking Garage. The project represents Tampa Electric's largest solar photovoltaic installation.

Made up of 6,200 solar panels, the 2 Megawatt installation will send enough energyto the electric grid to power 250 residential homes - or about the same amount of energy as will be used by Tampa International's new 1.4-mile automated people mover.

The project is slated to wrap up late this year.

The partnership between Tampa International and TECO was announced in September 2014, and is part of the Airport's effort to become a leader in the community on sustainability.

In addition to the solar project, the Airport recently announced it will increase the number of electric vehicle charging stations from three to 15, allowing as many as 18 electric vehicles to charge simultaneously. Currently, the Airport can only charge six vehicles at the same time.