Pensacola Beach’s First Solar-Powered Hotel
The Gulf Coast just took another step closer to a clean energy future. The Surf & Sand, one of Pensacola Beach’s premier hotel destinations, added solar to their property this past summer through a partnership with SunFarm Energy. After many years in development, the project is Pensacola Beach’s first-ever solar-powered hotel.
Early Stages: Location, Location, Location
With miles of pristine white sand, Pensacola Beach is a destination for families across the country and around the world. Thousands of tourists, fishermen, boaters, and divers flock to the area every year. But as many Pensacola residents know, with tourism comes infrastructure. And infrastructure always comes with one big cost: energy.
In late 2021 Innisfree Hotels approached SunFarm Energy about adding solar to one of their properties on Pensacola Beach. Our sales, design, and engineering teams spent several months reviewing Innisfree’s portfolio of hotels before ultimately deciding that the Surf & Sand was the perfect project to start. Located directly across the street from the Pensacola Pier, Surf & Sand gives guests a beachfront stay experience with easy proximity to surrounding attractions. It also represented great potential for solar exposure.
Explore Our Installation Process
About the System
The Surf & Sand rooftop array aims to offset nearly half of the hotel’s energy usage. Based on our estimates, the system will produce 235MWh of the hotel’s annual consumption of 490 MWh and return significant energy savings of about $48,000 per year.
The Surf & Sand’s solar array is grid-tied, meaning it remains connected to the grid. Whenever weather conditions limit solar energy production, the grid will supplement power without interruption. Surf & Sand staff will also be able to track system production in real-time thanks to built-in monitoring capabilities.
Looking to the Future
The Surf & Sand array represents a significant milestone for SunFarm Energy, the team at Innisfree Hotels, and the community of Pensacola Beach. Our collaboration represents a longstanding commitment to a clean energy future that contributes to the preservation and conservation of resources along the Gulf Coast.
Innisfree Hotels has solidified their commitment to sustainability and we look forward to working with them on future endeavors. We hope the Surf & Sand project will serve as an example to other tourism industry leaders in our community and encourage other Pensacola Beach properties to ride the renewable energy wave.
