A solar facility owned by Florida Power & Light, the state's largest utility. FPL
Florida’s largest utility has started construction on 10 new solar projects with a total capacity of 745 megawatts (MW). When completed early next year, the projects will increase the utility’s solar capacity by 60 percent to 2,000 MW — enough to power approximately 400,000 homes, Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) said in a statement.
Florida currently ranks 8th among U.S. states for solar power generation, with 2,290 MW of private and utility-owned capacity, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. Florida Power & Light currently operates 18 solar facilities. Six of the 10 new ones being built this year will be community solar projects, in which customers pay a small fee to participate and get a credit toward their utility bill based on the power the panels generate, CleanTechnica reported. The company announced in January that it has a goal of installing 30 million panels by 2030.
“We’ve been aggressively expanding solar with one goal in mind: bringing more solar to all of our customers cost-effectively while continuing to keep their bills lower than 90 percent of the country,” Eric Silagy, president and CEO of FPL, said in March. “This innovative program is another major step forward in our ‘30-by-30’ plan, which is one of the world’s largest solar expansions.”
