The project, set for completion by April 2012, will install a total of 1MW(1,000kW) of renewable energy generation in the form of solar or wind power on 1,370 separate billboard structures in eight markets from Pensacola to Daytona and Tallahassee to Fort Myers.
The installations will be on billboards along interstates and major thoroughfares, giving the project the widest public exposure. The Department of Energy is providing a $2.5m grant to the project through the Florida Energy and Climate Commission and the Governor’s Energy Office, while Lamar is funding the remaining $10m.
As part of its initiative, Lamar Advertising is sponsoring Renewable Florida, a web-based clearinghouse to help Floridians find the cost-efficient ways of maximizing renewable energy.
Robert Switzer, vice president of operations of Lamar Advertising, said: “Over the 20- to 25-year life span of the billboards converted to renewable energy, we will return an untold amount of renewable, emission-free energy to the power grid while demonstrating in a very graphic manner to the public the payoff that comes with renewable energy.”
