BRADENTON — The city of Bradenton is getting more green for the money in its effort to lower utility costs with solar energy.
On Wednesday, city council unanimously approved a bid from a Sarasota company to install a solar array on the roof of the City Centre, which houses city hall, the municipal auditorium and the police department.
The bid from Eco Solar Inc. came in so low that the city will have to beef up its order to use all the stimulus money it received from the federal government.
“Solar costs have come down,” Public Works Director Claude Tankersley said. “It’s demand, in part because of the stimulus money. We’re not the only city; a lot of the municipalities and counties in the state are doing the same kind of work.”
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Eco Solar Inc.’s bid for a 60-kilowatt system is $310,331.25. That leaves more than 40 percent of the $550,000 grant the city received from the U.S. Department of Energy. The highest of the five bids was $421,000, still well below the grant amount.
Tankersley said he installed a solar unit at his home about a year ago at a cost of $8 per watt. Eco Solar’s bid was for $5 per watt.
City council authorized the public works department to increase the size of the system to reach $550,000.
The solar array should be in place within six months, Tankersley said. Because the original array would have filled one side of the City Centre roof, the city will conduct tests on the other side to make sure it can support the additional panels.
Tankersley said the city began exploring the addition of solar energy — it should save more than $800 per month in utility costs — after the federal government offered stimulus funds.
“They came to us and said, ‘We’re willing to give you a half million dollars.’ We were like, ‘OK,’” Tankersley said.
Earlier this month, the Bill Galvano One Stop Center unveiled its new solar array, paid for by a $400,000 federal stimulus grant.
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