Florida Power & Light adds five new solar energy centers to support community solar program

The Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) has finished work on and expects to begin operations at five new solar energy centers by year’s end, activating 1.4 million more solar panels and bolstering what is already the nation’s largest community solar program: SolarTogether.

Each site consists of around 500 acres, with one each in Nassau, St. Johns, Union, Baker, and Okeechobee counties. For Nassau, St. Johns, and Union, the additions also represent the first solar energy centers installed there. Total, FPL is slated to begin 2021 with 33 solar energy centers throughout Florida, pushing it closer to a goal of operating 30 million solar panels by 2030.

“Nobody in America is building more affordable solar than FPL, and I’m very pleased that despite many challenges, including multiple storms and COVID, the FPL team was able to keep all of these projects on schedule and budget,” Eric Silagy, president and CEO of FPL, said. “Our FPL SolarTogether program is an innovative piece of the company’s rapid solar expansion, which helps us consistently deliver America’s best energy value – electricity that’s not just clean and reliable, but also affordable.”

The five new energy centers will benefit both residential and business customers. As part of the SolarTogether program, they will also help reduce FPL’s fuel costs and boost its emissions-free generation capacity. Each facility will generate 74.5 MW and, when combined, will deliver enough energy to power about 75,000 homes.

Work is not done for FPL, however. Another nine solar energy centers are already under construction, and the company expects to complete work on them sometime next year.