by Janet Stanko with photo credit to Rick Jackson
You might not know that VISTA Gardens is entirely off the energy grid. We have no connection to TECO. Instead, we generate our own solar energy for all our needs. Solar energy powers the fan in the House of the Rising Seeds, the circulating water in the pond, the pumps that move the well water from underground to the holding tanks and then from the tanks to the garden watering spigots, and most recently the pond aerator.
If you are interested in learning about VISTA Gardens' solar power system or the technology behind it, feel free to contact Marty Kleiner, VISTA's Infrastructure Chair. He loves talking about our system.
Marty teaches VISTA student volunteers that it wasn’t the theory of relativity for which Albert Einstein won the Nobel Prize in Physics. The 1921 award was for Einstein’s services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect.
In January 2021, my husband and I installed solar to supply our home energy needs and to power my plug-in electric car. We joined the Solar United Neighbors (SUN) Co-op to get the information we needed to evaluate solar for our home, select our solar system, and locate an installer. If you’re considering solar for your home, you can join the Hillsborough Solar United Neighbors (SUN) Co-op to help in your evaluation process.
Hillsborough County government, the Environmental Protection Commission, as well as other public interest organizations endorse SUN. If you have a newer, clear unobstructed roof, you could be a candidate for your own solar system. The Co-op is free and there is no obligation to purchase. In our case we didn’t purchase our system until seven years after attending an info session. For more information, contact me at janestan@bellsouth.net or visit https://SolarUnitedNeighbors.org
One of many solar panels at VISTA Gardens and the water holding tanks (covered in black) in the background.
The solar-powered lithium battery that pumps water from VISTA’s well into holding tanks from which we irrigate our gardens.
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