Brilliant Harvest proud to help create 'Green Places' | Sarasota Solar Contractor

Brilliant Harvest has long been proud to work with numerous regional nonprofits, religious institutions and schools – including Sarasota Audubon Society, Temple Emanu-El, Tampa Bay Watch, Florida House, New College, Ringling College, State College of Florida, Culverhouse Community Garden, Mote Marine, Out of Door Academy, and many more – knowing that their solar installations would save them money and provide energy to fulfill their mission.

In August of 2019 – as part of an overall environmental stewardship program intended to inspire a new generation of conservationists, and with funding from the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation – we installed the largest solar energy system in Sarasota County at Girls Inc. The 200,220 Watt system was expected to produce approximately 300,000 kilowatt hours of energy annually, helping Girls Inc. to achieve its goal of becoming a net zero energy facility (meaning 100% of on-site energy consumption will be offset) and save $20,000 annually in energy costs.

The effort has since grown: In October of 2019, a cross-sector partnership, Partners for Green Places, launched with the goal of encouraging organizations and businesses to commit to energy efficiency and sustainability.

Here’s some background, from the Partners for Green Places website: “The City of Sarasota and Sarasota County sustainability staff approached Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation and Gulf Coast Community Foundation to pilot a water and energy efficiency program for nonprofits. The pilot, seeded by the Partners for Places matching grant program – a joint project of The Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network – grew to include William G. and Marie Selby Foundation and Community Foundation of Sarasota County.”

The process includes energy assessments coupled with energy and water efficiency projects; implementation projects are funded through a matching grant process. The hope is that not only will these projects help in the fight against climate change but will also result in significant savings that can be used to further the participating nonprofits’ core missions.

So far, Brilliant Harvest has completed Partners for Green Places projects with nonprofit organizations including:
• Children First (117.26 kW)
• Harvest House (three installations totaling 32.39 kW)
• Project 180 (8.61 kW)
• Forty Carrots (8.85 kW)

We congratulate all of the partners for their vision and commitment to a greener future: City of Sarasota, Sarasota County, Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Community Foundation of Sarasota County, UF/IFAS Extension, William G. & Marie Selby Foundation and Dream Large.