By HFT Staff

Terrasmart announced the completion of a canopy solar project for AdventHealth's Altamonte Springs, Florida campus, in partnership with ESA, a national solar and storage developer. AdventHealth is a faith-based system of healthcare with more than 80,000 caregivers across 50 hospital campuses and hundreds of care sites in the U.S. ESA selected Terrasmart based on its years of experience and expertise in parking garage and canopy racking. The 3-megawatt photovoltaic system is now powering approximately a third of the corporate campus's electricity needs with solar energy. AdventHealth is projected to save more than $4.6 million in energy costs over the life of the system.  

The canopy project will generate about 2,900 tons of CO2 offsets annually, accelerating AdventHealth's goals to cut carbon emissions in half by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050. The photovoltaic system will produce an estimated 4,2000-megawatt hours of clean energy each year, enough to power the equivalent of 550 homes. In addition to the collaboration with ESA, the project was executed through close coordination with Duke Energy and the city of Altamonte Springs. 

"Partnering with ESA on behalf of AdventHealth is a testament to the power of partnership as well as design ingenuity,” says Yury Reznikov, chief sales officer at Terrasmart. “Installing a multi-canopy system in a populated area instead of an open field exemplifies the adaptability of photovoltaic design, and the continued growth potential of solar energy."  

"The Terrasmart team brought valuable expertise and a collaborative mindset that helped make this complex installation a success,” says Morgan Brawner, chief revenue officer, ESA. “Their racking systems played a critical role in maximizing performance while meeting both structural and design requirements across rooftop and carport arrays.” 

Unlike wide-open fields where many solar projects are built, AdventHealth's campus is in a populated area with limited access points, narrow roads and a laydown yard three-quarters of a mile away from the primary worksite. Both Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene impacted the construction schedule and flooded the laydown yard, but the project was completed on a favorable revised schedule. 

As one of the largest privately owned solar arrays in Florida, the installation included 7,500 solar panels across the rooftops of four buildings, two multistory garages, covered walkways, and parking canopies. The project required Terrasmart to produce three separate designs – two for canopies on parking garages and one for a surface lot. The project also added 62 electric vehicle charging ports and incorporated shaded parking for hundreds of surface parking spots for staff and visitors. 

"The Altamonte Springs solar installation demonstrates our ongoing commitment to sustainability, enhances the comfort and care of our team members and patients and contributes to the betterment of our community," says Christine Stewart, VP of organizational integration and campus administration for AdventHealth.