Search Weight Loss Topics:

Home » Fitness » A St. Petersburg Planet Fitness goes solar, hopes to drop energy bill to $0 – Tampabay.com (blog)

ST. PETERSBURG Following six months of planning and construction, the Planet Fitness on 66th Street formally activated a rooftop solar array that will eliminate the building's net energy output, drawing praise from Rep. Charlie Crist and Mayor Rick Kriseman at a ceremony Friday morning.

Though Crist lauded Planet Fitness's renovation, he said Pinellas County, and Florida overall, still lags in solar energy production, a statement he has made often dating back to his tenure as governor.

"We are the Sunshine City in the Sunshine State," said Crist, a St. Petersburg Democrat. "And so, for us not to be owning solar is kind of shocking."

Kriseman, echoing the same message, blamed Florida's state lawmakers for the slow move toward solar.

"It's really because we have a Legislature, some of whom don't even believe in the science of climate change, which is a challenge," Kriseman said. "There's too many of them that have been feeding from the big utility companies for too long."

Florida has plenty of larger solar arrays and plenty of newly-built structures that tout themselves as "net-zero," meaning they produce at least as much total energy as they use. But St. Petersburg-based Solar Energy Management, which oversaw the Planet Fitness solar installation, said the 20,000-square-foot building is the largest to be retrofitted to zero net energy.

Owner Doug Kuiken said the new system will effectively reduce the gym's monthly energy bill which ran at upwards of $4,000 to zero, not including taxes.

The building's 179-kilowatt solar array is made up of 536 panels, and it will give Planet Fitness a return on its investment in less than six years, according to Scott McIntyre, chief executive of Solar Energy Management. He declined to provide details on the project's total cost.

Part of Planet Fitness's motivation for installing the solar panels, McIntyre said, was to secure the solar tax credit that allows for a 30 percent tax deduction on solar installation costs. The credit begins to decrease after 2019.

Crist, a first-term congressman after winning Florida's 13th District in November, said tax incentives are one of the most effective ways to spur solar growth in Pinellas. Returning to St. Petersburg for the Fourth of July recess, he said Friday's ceremony was a good way to spread the word that businesses can make the move to net zero.

"I just think it's the right thing to do," he said. "And so, I found out about this, and I'm like, yeah, of course we'll be there. It's a no-brainer."

A St. Petersburg Planet Fitness goes solar, hopes to drop energy bill to $0 07/07/17 [Last modified: Friday, July 7, 2017 2:41pm] Photo reprints | Article reprints

More:
A St. Petersburg Planet Fitness goes solar, hopes to drop energy bill to $0 - Tampabay.com (blog)

Your Full Name
Your Email
Your Phone Number
Select your age (30+ only)	30313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120
Select Your US State	Select Your StateAlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWashington,DCWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming
Program Choice	Select Your ProgramInjectable HGHInjectable TestoteroneInjectable SermorelinInjectable Weight LossInjectable HCG DietInjectable Vitamins
Confirm over 30 years old	Yes
Confirm that you resident in USA	Yes
This is a Serious Inquiry	Yes
Message:

Home » Fitness » A St. Petersburg Planet Fitness goes solar, hopes to drop energy bill to $0 – Tampabay.com (blog)