A drive deep into the woods along an unpaved road in southern Palm Bay, suddenly and surprisingly leads to row upon row of solar panels.

There are more than 284,000 panels in all, sitting on 486 acres owned by Florida Power & Light Co., the nation’s largest electric utility.

A little farther down the road from the Palm Bay Solar Energy Center, FPL has a second one called the Ibis Solar Energy Center, which went into service at the end of January. And, nearby, land has been reserved for a third one, the Fox Trail Solar Energy Center, which will launch in early 2025.

These three solar centers — being built on land that once supported citrus groves, and cattle and sod farms — are symbolic of the future of energy in Florida, where utilities seek a shift to renewable energy, and away from energy sources that have more volatile price swings.

“Because of our growing solar investments, FPL has had to purchase less fuel, which means less cost that is passed on to customers,” FPL spokesman Marshall Hastings said.

FPL has 78 solar centers generating a total of about 5,700 megawatts of power in operation in 31 of Florida’s 67 counties, including 16 locations that opened in 2023 and 12 that opened this January. That’s enough energy to power more than 1.1 million homes.

Another 18 FPL solar centers are in the pipeline to open before the end of 2024. FPL touts its solar projects operate without water or fuel — and leaves the land around the solar panels available as habitats for native wildlife.

Still, solar currently accounts for just 6% of FPL’s energy mix, compared with about 70% for natural gas and 20% for nuclear. With more solar centers in the planning stage, FPL projects in its latest 10-year forecast submitted to the Florida Public Service Commission that solar will increase to 35% of the company’s power generation by 2032.

The Juno Beach-based utility — which has about 5.8 million customer accounts and serves more than 12 million people in 43 Florida counties — already has the largest array of solar plants in the country. But it’s not the only utility investing in solar in the Sunshine State.

Duke Energy also has emerged as a major player in the solar sector, with 21 grid-tied solar projects in operation statewide.

“Our near-term solar generation portfolio represents over $2 billion of investment, about 1,500 megawatts of emission-free generation and approximately 5 million solar panels in Florida by mid-2024,” said Audrey Stasko, a company spokeswoman. “In Duke Energy Florida’s 10-year site plan, the company expects to have more than 4,500 megawatts of utility-scale solar generating capacity online by 2032.”

The plants are not cheap.

FPL says a typical 74.5-megawatt plant it builds costs $90 million to $100 million, including land and labor costs. But it is cheaper to run than a natural-gas plant, requiring no employees onsite and tapping a free power source from the sun.

A plant of that size — which takes nine to 12 months for FPL to build and encompasses 400 to 600 acres — can power about 15,000 homes. Typically, during the peak of construction, about 200 workers are involved in the project.

Even with the high initial costs to bring a solar complex online, utilities are “just printing money” by increasing their use of solar, concludes James Fenton, director of the Cocoa-based Florida Solar Energy Center, which is administered by the University of Central Florida.

He said solar — which was a relatively expensive source of power for utilities as the technology was being improved before 2010 — now is “by far the cheapest.”

Additionally, with the non-competitive nature of utilities in Florida — each having its own geographic territory — coupled with the state’s strong population growth, a utility “gets more customers, whether they deserve them or not,” Fenton said.

Dollars and sense: Is solar worth it for the Florida homeowner?

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Suntree woman talks about solar panel advantages

Carol Becker talks about the advantages of solar panels and reduced electic bills

FPL customer Carol Becker, a resident of the Sawgrass at Suntree community north of Melbourne, is seeing that savings firsthand.

Becker, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, has 53 solar panels installed on her 2,400-square-foot home, and now typically pays less than $30 a month for electricity ― in effect, FPL’s minimum base charge for residential customers. The bill includes the cost of powering her two Tesla electric cars. Her bill is down from an average of more than $215 a month before installing the solar panels.

“That saves us quite a bit of money,” said Becker, who figures she and her husband recouped their investment in the panels after six years. “I’ve personally had a very positive experience with solar. I would do it again, in a heartbeat. I love my solar.”

However, solar energy expert Troy Nguyen, a mechanical engineer and associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, warns that not every homeowner has benefited in the same way.

For some, “the return on investment isn’t all that attractive,” he said, taking 15 to 17 years to pay for the panels and related equipment for some single-family homes.

Ngyyen ― who teaches courses at Florida Tech on “Renewable Energy & the Environment” and “Principles of Renewable Energy” ― said much depends on the government incentives and tax credits in place when the panels are installed.

Other factors can include the size of the home, how many panels are needed, the cost of the panels at the time of installation, and whether the homeowner paid cash for the panels or took out a loan.

Asked about the benefits of solar power, Cherie Jacobs, a spokeswoman for Tampa Electric, said it has saved her company’s customers about $200 million in fuel costs since 2017.

The company has 21 utility-scale solar projects that can produce 1,252 megawatts of electricity, enough to power more than 200,000 homes.

By the end of 2026, the utility expects to have more than 1,600 megawatts of solar, giving it the power to serve an additional 60,000 homes.

“At that time, Tampa Electric will have about 17% of its energy generated by the sun ― the highest percentage of solar generation of any utility in the state,” Jacobs said.

As an added benefit, the company has saved more than 4.3 billion gallons of water by repurposing agricultural land for solar projects in its territory, she said. 

Customers are increasingly making investments of their own in solar.

“Tampa Electric has more than 24,000 customers with their own solar panels, which has been on a consistent upward trend,” Jacobs said. “Growth is due to several factors, including cost, availability of panels and tax credits, among others.”

The utility serves a roughly 2,000-square-mile area in West Central Florida, including Hillsborough County and parts of Pasco, Pinellas and Polk counties, with more than 800,000 customers.

FPL has been opening solar complexes since 2009, when it began operating its 25-megawatt DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center in Arcadia, which is one of five large-scale solar installations FPL now has in DeSoto County.

Geoff West, director for FPL development in the company’s northeast and northwest Florida region, said he does not see a time when the utility will be 100% solar, adding that it’s important to have a diverse energy mix.

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Asked to quantify how much individual customers save by having solar in FPL’s mix, Hastings said he couldn’t put a finger on it because “there are many factors that go into a customer’s bill, including the amount of energy they use, restoration costs for hurricanes and other charges.”

Through 2022, “the company has saved customers approximately $700 million in avoided fuel costs since we began investing in the technology, with approximately $375 million in savings in 2022 alone,” he said.

At the same time, FPL has reduced the use of oil and coal to less than a half-percent of its energy mix, and has made its natural gas plants more efficient. FPL plans to get coal out of its energy mix altogether by the end of the decade, and already has stopped operating its coal plants in Florida.

Solar projects are now typically 74.5 to 74.9 megawatts apiece, a size that allows utilities to work directly with local governments for approval, which generally speeds up the process. Projects of 75 megawatts or more must follow a state law for licensing large power plants. Regardless of the size of the project, it must undergo environmental review and permitting.

Utilities are taking advantage of technology to make their solar centers more efficient. For example, FPL’s new Ibis center in Palm Bay has new solar panel technology that enables the panels to move throughout the day ― in effect, “following the sun” ― to maximize power generation. It also has two-sided panels to more effectively capture solar power. That helps FPL reduce the number of solar panels required at a solar center to produce the same amount of electricity.

Universities and colleges have been part of solar’s growing footprint in Florida, through installations of their own. Near Fort Myers, a 16-acre, 2-megawatt solar farm, with more than 10,000 panels, was built on the campus of Florida Gulf Coast University in 2009, as part of its environmental sustainability mission, with half the cost funded by a state grant.

The solar field provides electricity to more than 200,000 square feet of space in three academic halls. It has reduced the university’s total reliance on FPL by 11%, while saving it about $700,000 a year in energy costs.

Others have followed in FGCU’s footsteps.

Florida International University in Miami, for example, has a 1.4-megawatt solar array with more than 4,400 solar panels at its Engineering Center, elevated above a section of the parking lot, and sporting its logo. Built in 2016, it’s run by students and faculty, in collaboration with FPL, and used for education and research on renewable energy.

Disney World is now one of the biggest users of solar in the state.

Eight years in the making: A solar-powered town exists in Southwest Florida

In Southwest Florida, developer Syd Kitson has found a way to power an entire town, in partnership with FPL.

When he proposed what became America’s first solar-powered town in Southwest Florida years ago, Kitson faced doubts from many, who thought it could never be done, even in sunny Florida. To say his critics considered him “crazy,” he said, would put it nicely.

The skepticism only added fuel to his fire to build an environmentally friendly, sustainable community entirely powered by the sun. While it took eight years to come to fruition, Babcock Ranch is thriving as one of the top-selling master-planned communities in the country. 

“It is something that goes back many years,” Kitson said. “It has always been a goal of mine to prove a new town and the environment can work hand in hand. I’m a strong environmentalist, and I know that sounds crazy, when you have a ‘developer’ that’s a strong environmentalist.”

The idea of renewable energy as a power source for a new town also faced its share of opposition. 

“There were a lot of people that just weren’t in favor of it,” Kitson said. “A lot of those people had interests in oil and gas. So, the thought of having solar energy come in, and be a source of energy, probably just wasn’t very attractive to them.” 

Time magazine recently named Kitson, chairman and CEO of Kitson & Partners, as its “Dreamer of the Year,” recognizing his success at Babcock Ranch.

Now that his idea is proven, other developers are interested in copying it in the United States ― and beyond. He said it’s the biggest compliment.

In May, home sales reached the 3,000 mark at Babcock Ranch. Sales have been faster than expected, which Kitson attributes in part to its resiliency as a solar-powered town.

The town, sitting east of Fort Myers, is powered by an 870-acre solar farm, with the country’s largest solar-plus-battery storage system.

The community’s biggest test came during Hurricane Ian in September 2022, and it didn’t disappoint. No one lost power, and not one solar panel was lost during the Category 4 storm, despite its ferocious winds.

Made up of nearly 700,000 individual panels, the community’s solar farm will power more than 19,000 residences at build-out, along with businesses and schools. The town, encompassing more than 18,000 acres, is expected to eventually have about 55,000 residents, living in a mix of housing, including rental apartments.

Now, the community has about 10,000 residents.

“There is probably a good 10 years left, in terms of home sales, but it’s going very fast,” Kitson said. “It’s going a lot quicker than we thought it would.”

Part of the land remains a working cattle ranch, and Kitson sold a huge chunk of the 91,000 acres he purchased to the state and Lee County for preservation. The Babcock Ranch Preserve covers 80% of the original property, making him proud.

Neighborhood solar co-ops are rapidly rising

Outside of living in a solar town, there are ways to find kindred spirits, in an effort to be more environmentally friendly and energy-conscious.

Since 2007, Solar United Neighbors, a national nonprofit, known for short as SUN, has helped homeowners and business owners across the country “go solar” with rooftop panels, through a community approach that offers support and discounts.

The mission-driven organization helps neighbors form co-ops for more buying power to reduce the cost of solar installations, while educating and protecting buyers.

One such co-op in Southwest Florida, with nearly 150 members in Lee and Collier counties, hired Fort Myers-based Florida Solar Design Group through a competitive bidding process. It chose the company over seven other firms in early 2023 to handle their installations, based on the company’s experience, reputation and warranties, not just on its rate.

When word spread about the formation of the co-op, Carol Rizkalla, a newer resident of rural Golden Gate Estates, in eastern Collier County, said she “joined it immediately.”

As a biologist and environmentalist, the sustainability of solar interested her, and so did the potential for savings, which made the idea more attractive to her husband.

“For him, I think it was more about cost,” she said.

While she initially got a quote for panels that could have produced enough energy to cover “99% of her needs,” she said the cost to install that much solar capacity ran too high, and so did the cost to insure it. So, she opted for a lesser number of panels that provides for about 70% of her household’s demands for a 1,640-square-foot home, with three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Unexpectedly, she had to switch insurance companies because hers would not cover the panels.

On a bright note, she said: “I think it’s for the better, because I heard the company wasn’t renewing policies and would probably leave Florida anyway.”

Instead of 50 panels, she bought 30.

“I still have an electric bill that is less than $100, where, before, it was well over $300,” Rizkalla said.

While she financed the cost of going solar, even with the monthly cost to pay off the loan, she’s saving money.

“It’s still less than what we were paying for just electric,” Rizkalla said.

Plus, she’ll have the added benefit of a federal tax break for her investment in solar. The Inflation Reduction Act extended the 30% solar tax credit to 2032.

Solar United Neighbors has organized two co-ops in Southwest Florida so far, and plans to launch a third one soon, based on the strong interest. There are already names on a wait list, said Heaven Campbell, the group’s program director for Florida.

On average, 30% of the members who join a co-op end up installing solar, through the chosen or “winning” company, which is a much-higher conversion rate than contractors normally see when working with property owners one-on-one, she said.

Members who don’t end up installing solar often make that decision based on cost. Solar isn’t right for everyone, with many factors to consider, including energy use, Campbell acknowledged.

Solar shouldn’t be installed on an older roof, for example, or a roof that is heavily shaded by trees or by other structures, she emphasized.

The switch to solar should be viewed as a long-term investment that will pay itself off over time, as panels can last 25 years or longer, so it makes the most sense for homeowners who plan to stay put for a while, not move around, Campbell said.

“Solar itself, it’s hard to make it economically not work because you are self-consuming your own energy, so it usually helps you save on your utility bill,” she said. “It future-proofs you against utility bill increases.”

Solar United Neighbors has worked to educate and protect consumers in Florida since 2015, when it was approached by an Orlando-area resident who wanted her church to go solar. While the church never installed solar, many in its congregation did at their own homes, with help from the support group, Campbell said.

“The church had a major building renovation. Now, they’re about to go solar,” she shared.

Floridians have some of the highest electricity bills in the Southeast, but it can’t all be blamed on the rates charged by utilities. On average, users consume a lot of energy in the state, with air-conditioning and heating systems among the biggest culprits, Campbell said.

“Floridians don’t want to be hot or cold,” she said. “Most utilities in Florida have summer and winter peaks.”

Since its inception, Solar United Neighbors has formed more than 400 co-ops in 14 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

“We are working on our 86th co-op in Florida,” Campbell said. “So, I like to say we are the biggest and brightest.”

Solar expansion resulting in job growth and increased tax revenue

The expansion of solar in Florida is creating jobs for the state’s residents, as well as generating tax revenue for its counties, cities and school districts.

The latest annual solar job census, released in July by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, shows that Florida had the second-highest number of solar jobs in the country, at 12,267, albeit a fraction of the 78,116 solar jobs in California.

Solar job growth in Florida — up 4.3% in 2022 from a year earlier — outpaced the national rate of 3.5%.

“The solar industry has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade, overcoming one challenge after the next to provide a quarter-million jobs for Americans of all educational levels and backgrounds,” Larry Sherwood, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council’s president and CEO, said in his analysis of the census.

With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022 — which dramatically expanded the available tax credits, tax incentives and other funding for clean-energy projects, including solar — job growth is expected to swell in the years ahead.

A year into the act’s passage, independent groups estimated that more than 170,600 new clean-energy jobs already had been created for electricians, mechanics, construction workers, technicians and others across the country. During the next decade, the law is projected to generate more than 1.5 million additional jobs in the sector nationwide.

Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, noted that more than half of all new solar jobs nationwide in 2022 did not require a bachelor’s degree, helping even more Americans launch their careers in the industry.

Solar industry data shows that the United States had its biggest year for solar installations in 2023, and that Florida was second only to California in new installations.

However, Michelle Davis, head of solar research at Wood Mackenzie and lead author of the U.S. Solar Market Insight report, cautions that “growth is expected to be slower starting in 2026, as various challenges like interconnection constraints become more acute. It’s critical that the industry continue to innovate to maximize the value that solar brings to an increasingly complex grid. Interconnection reform, regulatory modernization and increasing storage attachment rates will be key tools.”

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Dana Blickley, the property appraiser in Brevard County — where FPL has six solar centers either in operation or planned — said the construction of solar projects generally boosts property tax revenue in the county where the projects are located, as the taxable value of the property increases.

In Palm Bay, for example, FPL’s solar installations generated more than $259,000 in additional property tax revenue for the 2023-24 tax year above the taxes from the agriculturally zone land surrounding the solar operations. That’s even though a state statute exempts 80% of the taxable value of the solar equipment from property taxes. The property tax revenue for Brevard, Palm Bay and the Brevard School District will rise even more as FPL installs more solar panels on the site.

FPL said its solar centers typically provide hundreds of thousands of dollars a year in tax revenue to the counties in which they operate.

Palm Bay Mayor Rob Medina is excited about the expansion of solar projects in his city, saying that the solar facilities “not only generate clean energy, but spark economic vitality, showcasing Palm Bay’s role as a leader in innovation.”

What is Duke’s floating solar initiative?

Duke Energy’s Florida subsidiary owns 10,500 megawatts of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 1.9 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 13,000-square-mile service area. It provides electricity in 36 counties.

Based on Duke Energy Florida’s current fuel mix, each 74.9-megawatt solar facility displaces about 1.2 million cubic feet of natural gas, 15,000 barrels of fuel oil and 12,000 tons of coal each year.

In March, Duke Energy Florida, headquartered in St. Petersburg, started building its first floating solar array as a pilot project in Polk County. The almost-1-megawatt array will have more than 1,800 floating solar modules and span about 2 acres, built on top of an existing cooling pond at the company’s Hines Energy Complex in Bartow. A complete connection to the grid is anticipated in late-spring 2024.

“We believe solar and battery energy storage will play a significant role in how we deliver more diverse, clean energy to our Florida customers, now and into the future,” said Stasko, Duke’s spokeswoman.

The company now has six battery sites operating in Florida, totaling more than 50 megawatts. These sites store excess solar energy for later use, improving power reliability overall, and supporting critical services during power outages, helping to balance energy demand and manage intermittent resources, such as solar, Stasko said.

“We are working to island the batteries, which means they will be able to provide backup electric power at a later time,” she said.

Solar installer sees a heightened interest

The Florida Design Solar Group, one of the largest solar installers in Southwest Florida, has been the chosen contractor for two Solar United Neighbors co-ops in the region. Co-owner Dominick Zito said the biggest issue with the last co-op was that it overlapped with Hurricane Ian in 2022, so some who planned to do solar installations within the established timelines couldn’t because of severe roof damage.

“We still have people that are extremely interested and want to go with solar, but that have to wait until their insurance settlement,” he said.

Despite Ian, the co-op resulted in 21 installations, which will produce more than $1 million in savings over 25 years to the customers.

The company’s participation in its first co-op in 2020 resulted in 12 installations, generating $750,000 of savings for its clients, and producing even more solar capacity, based on the size and location of the installations.

“These are huge, huge numbers for us.” said Zito, a self-professed solar geek, who has been in the business for more than a decade.

“Solar in the Sunshine State, there is a definite business model for it,” he said. “There is an absolute return on investment for consumers, both commercial and residential.”

The more visible solar panels get in Florida the more acceptable they become, with more potential customers feeling less apprehensive about investing in them, Zito said.

“You don’t have to be a tree-hugger anymore to go solar,” he said.

The Florida Design Solar Group primarily serves Collier, Lee and Charlotte counties, where business is booming.

“There has been a very big increase in solar and solar interest in Southwest Florida,” Zito said.

Over the past few years, the company has seen a 30% to 35% increase in its annual book of business, with residential installations making up about 85% of its installations, Zito said.

He attributes the heightened interest primarily to higher electric bills, which many are struggling to pay as they face higher costs in general, driven by inflation.

His company installs two types of solar — thermal for pool heating, and photovoltaic for powering homes and other buildings, which is the most common choice by its customers.

“Solar photovoltaic is really coming on strong in the industry in Southwest Florida,” Zito said. “The big problem is there are a lot of door-knockers and sales agencies that are really misleading homeowners.”

That’s why he suggests those who are interested in installing solar talk directly with representatives of solar companies. Zito and the company’s other owner both meet individually with clients, to make sure the clients understand what they are getting into, where their money is going and what they can expect in the end.

“Every time we install a solar electricity system it’s benefiting the homeowner or property owner, by reducing their electricity bill and their dependence on the power companies,” Zito said. “So that savings goes directly” to them.

It’s important for potential customers to understand they may still have to pay an electricity bill, however, depending on how many panels are installed and the location of the panels.

If the deal offered by a sales agent — who works on commission — sounds too good to be true, it probably is, and you should “run the other way,” Zito warned.

“I love the fact that everybody is going solar to help the environment and future generations,” he said. “That’s absolutely spectacular. That’s my goal, as the business owner. But I do not like people getting taken advantage for doing the right thing. For going solar, for promoting renewal energy.”

But why not wind power in the Sunshine State?

Along with solar, a popular source of renewable energy is wind power. Total annual U.S. electricity generation from wind energy increased from about 6 billion kilowatt-hours in 2000 to about 380 billion kilowatt-hours in 2021, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In 2022, wind turbines were the source of about 10.2% of total U.S. utility-scale electricity generation — about three times the generation from solar.

However, Fenton at the Florida Solar Energy Center said wind is not an efficient energy source for Florida, because it is not steady or intense enough. Ideally, a steady wind of 20 mph would be what’s needed, he said.

According to the Energy Information Administration, good places for wind turbines are where the annual average wind speed is at least 9 mph for small wind turbines and 13 mph for utility-scale turbines. Favorable sites include the tops of smooth, rounded hills, open plains and water, and mountain gaps that funnel and intensify wind.

Wind speeds generally increase with increasing elevation above the earth’s surface. So, Florida’s mostly flat land is a drawback for wind power.

The Energy Information Administration reported that the five states with the most electricity generation from wind in 2022 were Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas and Illinois. These states combined produced about 57% of total U.S. wind electricity generation. Florida had no utility-scale wind electric generation that year.

Fenton, though, sees the possibility of offshore wind generation projects built off the Florida coast by the 2040s.

Solar’s future in Florida: ‘We’ve got to add solar like crazy’

Florida placed seventh in a ranking by Forbes magazine of the best states for solar energy for 2024, behind California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Massachusetts and North Carolina. The study took into account six factors ― megawatts of solar installed, solar jobs, number of homes powered by solar, percentage of energy run by solar, clear weather days per year and average cost of solar panel installations for homes.

Data compiled by Forbes found that Florida was far behind many other states in percentage of energy generated by solar, at 5.3%, at the time of ranking. That, for example, compared to 27.3% in California, 22.9% in Nevada and 19.4% in Massachusetts. In all, 15 states ranked ahead of Florida in this category.

Nguyen, the Florida Tech professor, said, even though Florida is called “the Sunshine State,” it’s not necessarily the best state to be in for solar energy. Solar energy, for example, is generated more efficiently in Southern California and Arizona, where there is more direct radiation from the sun reaching the panels, compared with Florida, where the water molecules in the atmosphere from humidity scatter the solar radiation.

It’s difficult to predict the future of solar in Florida “without a crystal ball,” Nguyen said.

“From a public relations perspective, it looks great to the public” for utilities to build more solar plants, he said, but “it’s all in the economics” ― whether power companies can generate powerful profits from the solar investment.

As you would expect, Fenton is a strong proponent of expanded solar power.

“I’m upbeat about the future,” he said. “We’ve got to add solar like crazy.”

Dave Berman is business editor at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Berman at dberman@floridatoday.com, on X at @bydaveberman and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dave.berman.54

Laura Layden is senior business reporter at the Naples Daily News. Contact Layden at Laura.Layden@NaplesNews.com