Purpose: 

To construct a floating solar array on the reclaimed water storage pond at the Water Reclamation Facility to reduce electrical costs with credits from Florida Power & Light and improve electrical grid resilience with hurricane-proof power generation.

Project Background: 

The City of Venice has identified an opportunity to install a large scale solar Photovoltaic (PV) system at the City's Water Reclamation Facility (WRF).  Floating solar technology is in use around the world and the prevalence of installations in the United States is growing.  The system involves a system of solar panels installed on floats, anchored to the shore or bottom and rated to handle the wind rating (and natural motion of waves and the pond level fluctuation).  The floats support the panels and allow workers to access the panels for maintenance, without moving the system to shore.  One advantage of floating solar systems is they can produce 2‐3x as much electricity on the same parcel as land‐based systems. 

Project Benefits: 

The City of Venice owns and operates a complex system of facilities to provide water, wastewater, and reclaimed water service to its residents.  Operation of these facilities accounts for a large portion of the City’s overall energy use and therefore represents a substantial operation cost.  Specifically, the WRF is the largest energy user in our system and the project would offset $172,000 annually in energy costs.

Project Status:  Preliminary planning and economic analysis is currently in process.

Strategic Plan Goals:

• Upgrade and Maintain City Infrastructure and Facilities
• Provide Efficient, Responsive Government with High Quality Services 

Total Estimated Cost:  $7,500,000

Funding Sources:  Local and federal

Project Schedule:

Design Start To be determined

Design Complete One year from design start

Estimated Construction Completion 1-2 years