Tampa named an up-and-coming solar energy city

Tampa is considered one of the country's "solar builders," a city with up-and-coming solar capabilities.

But for the present, Tampa is in the middle of the pack, ranking 32 out of 66 cities in terms of overall solar capabilities according to this year's "Shining Cities" report.

Frontier Group and the Environment Florida Research and Policy Center, which released the report on Tuesday, measured a city's solar capabilities by how many watts of solar energy capacity it has per capita — Tampa currently has just under 25. While Tampa isn't setting the pace, it ranks just below the "solar leaders" category, which has 25 to 50 watts per person.

The report noted that Tampa is one of several cities that is installing solar systems on city buildings.

"Cities that invest in solar power on public buildings not only save money on electricity, but they also demonstrate the value of solar energy to their residents," the report said.

Contact Malena Carollo at mcarollo@tampabay.com. Follow @malenacarollo.