Anheuser Busch Distributor Raises a Cold One to Distributed Solar

When engineering, procurement and construction company Solar Energy Management designed the largest rooftop installation in Florida, two things were especially important: that the components be industry-leading and made in America.

The record-setting system was installed on the roof of Great Bay Distributors. As the largest commercial rooftop solar installation in Florida to date, it will generate more than 2,000 MWh each year with an estimated payoff within six years. The plant will account for 90 percent of Great Bay’s energy usage and offset an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide emissions as planting more than one million trees.

Leading global PV integrator and SMA Authorized Distributor PROINSO supplied the 1.5 MW systems 51 Sunny Tripower 24000TL-US three-phase string inverters, made at SMA’s Denver, CO production facility,  and other system components to the EPC, Solar Energy Management, based in Tampa, Florida. The construction of the 1.5 MW rooftop PV system is another shining example of how commercial solar is not only affordable but a great long term investment with positive financial returns for businesses.

Solar Energy Management Presents – Great Bay Distributors – GB from Scott on Vimeo.

The 1.5MW system rests atop Great Bay Distributors’ newly constructed 286,000 square-foot facility in St. Petersburg, Florida, where its team of more than 300 people and several large-scale refrigeration units require large amounts of power on a daily basis. Installing solar achieves a dual-benefit of demand-reduction for financial savings and a reduced carbon-footprint to meet the company’s social responsibility goals.

Great Bay Distributors was established in 1968 and is the leading distributor for Anheuser Busch in Florida. As committed members of the communities they serve, Great Bay has taken active roles with many charities and volunteer organizations to help better northern Florida. Solar is just one more step in the right direction an we’ll raise a cold one to that.