Commercial solar for Tampa Bay businesses, from a contractor that also holds the roofing license.
Fused designs and installs commercial solar across Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Manatee counties: shops, warehouses, offices, churches, clubhouses, agricultural buildings and multi-family common areas. Roof-mounted or ground-mounted. Because we hold the Florida roofing license as well as the electrical license, the roof under the array is our responsibility too, which is the part most commercial solar contracts leave out.
Also see Commercial solar service and maintenance.
Clamp-mounted array on standing-seam metal. No penetrations, which is what a commercial roof warranty wants to see.
The commercial work we do well
Fused is a light-commercial contractor, not a utility-scale developer. The right fit is a building with a daytime load and a roof or a piece of ground to put the array on.
Shops, warehouses and offices
Flat or low-slope roofs get a ballasted or attached racking system designed to the roof's load rating; metal roofs get clamp-mounted racking with no penetrations.
Churches and nonprofits
Big, simple roofs and weekday loads that match the sun. We've also done the detach and reinstall when a church re-roofs.
HOAs, condos and clubhouses
Common-area meters: clubhouse, pool pumps, irrigation, gate and lighting. One system can offset the association's bill.
Agricultural and equestrian
Barns and pole buildings in Odessa, Lutz, Plant City and east Pasco often have room for a ground mount, which never has to come down for a re-roof.
Multi-family
Owner-paid house meters and common areas. Tenant-metered units are a different conversation and we'll tell you so up front.
Battery backup
Tesla Powerwall 3 and FranklinWH for businesses that need to ride through an outage: refrigeration, point of sale, a server closet, a well pump.
120 kW across three rooftops, St. Petersburg
A 300-panel, 120 kW DC system for a surface refinishing company in St. Petersburg, completed in November 2023 and split across three buildings on one site: a standing-seam metal warehouse, a block outbuilding and a flat commercial roof. The three arrays run on SolarEdge three-phase inverters and produce about 226,000 kWh a year.
- Roofing on the same contract. A section of the flat roof that wasn't getting solar was due for replacement, so it got a spray polyurethane foam (SPF) roofing system under the same contract. The owner dealt with one contractor for the roof work and the arrays instead of two.
- Tier 3 interconnection. At this size the project falls into Duke Energy's Tier 3 process, which requires a utility transformer study and higher insurance limits. Fused handled the study, the paperwork and the insurance requirements as part of the job.
- Three roofs, one system. Each building got its own array, sized to its roof and its structure, all tied into a single interconnection and one monitoring portal.
- The result. Three years on, the owner's electric bill is a fraction of what it was, and the roof under the array has one company responsible for it.
At a glance
120 kW DC300 × 400 WSolarEdge three-phase~226,000 kWh/yrDuke Energy, Tier 3SPF roof section
How commercial differs from residential
| Interconnection | Systems over 10 kW AC fall under the utility's Tier 2 process (10 to 100 kW) under Florida's net metering rule, which adds an application fee, a liability insurance requirement and a longer review than a home system. TECO, Duke, WREC, FPL and PRECO each run it differently. We file it and track it. |
|---|---|
| Permits | Commercial permits go through the same city or county office as residential but with commercial plan review, engineer-sealed structural and electrical drawings, and, on larger projects, a fire-department review of array setbacks and pathways. Jennifer pulls them in-house. |
| Roof condition | A commercial roof is the biggest variable. If it has less than 10 years left, solar on top of it is money spent twice. We're licensed to replace it, shingle, metal, tile or TPO on low-slope sections, and we'll say so if that's the right order of operations. |
| Tax treatment | Commercial solar is treated differently from residential under federal tax law: depreciation applies, and projects that qualify under the current deadlines can take the investment credit. Your CPA confirms what applies to your entity; we supply the cost basis and documentation. |
| Service after | Every commercial system we install is serviced by the same company for its life: monitoring for error messages, annual inspection and cleaning plans priced by panel count, and repair at any point. |
The roof and the array, one responsible contractor
Commercial solar contracts usually stop at the racking. The roof under it belongs to someone else, and when it leaks the two companies point at each other. Fused holds the roofing license and the electrical license, so attachments, flashing, the membrane and the array are one responsibility, warranted by one company, serviced by the same company for the life of the system.
Fuze Inc. d/b/a Fused Solar and Roofing
CCC1331058EC13014750CBC1252064Verify any Florida license at myfloridalicense.com. Proof of general liability, workers' compensation and licensing on request. Office: 14034 N Florida Ave, Tampa, FL 33613. Since 2007.
Commercial solar, answered plainly
Do you install commercial solar in Tampa?
Yes. Fused installs commercial solar across Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Manatee counties for shops, warehouses, offices, churches, HOA common areas and agricultural buildings. Roof-mounted or ground-mounted, with battery backup where it's needed.
What size commercial solar systems do you install?
Light commercial: typically systems in the 10 kW to 100 kW range that fall under the utility's Tier 2 interconnection process. We are not a utility-scale developer, and we'll say so if a project is bigger than we should take.
Can you put solar on a flat commercial roof?
Yes. Flat and low-slope roofs get ballasted or attached racking engineered to the roof's load rating and wind zone. If the membrane is near the end of its life we're licensed to replace it with TPO first.
Does the roof warranty survive a solar installation?
It depends on who does the work. Fused holds Florida roofing license CCC1331058, so the attachments and the flashing are warranted by the same company that can warrant the roof. On metal roofs we clamp to the seams with no penetrations.
How long does a commercial solar installation take?
Longer than a home. Engineering, commercial plan review and the Tier 2 interconnection usually put a light-commercial project at three to five months from signed contract to permission to operate; the on-roof work itself is days to a couple of weeks.