Florida solar energy supplied nearly 9% of the state’s total net electricity generation in 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). About four-fifths of that solar generation came from utility-scale facilities, while small-scale solar generation was about eight times higher than in 2019. The figures below describe Florida’s electricity system, solar adoption, and major projects using the measurement periods stated by each source.
Contents
- Florida electricity system at a glance
- Solar’s role in Florida generation
- Household demand and the electricity system
- Utility-scale solar and FPL
- SolarTogether and statewide expansion
- Florida solar center comparisons
Florida electricity system at a glance
The EIA’s Florida Electricity Profile for 2024 places Florida among the largest electricity systems in the United States. The state had 72,012 megawatts (MW) of net summer capacity, ranking third among states. Electric utilities accounted for 65,925 MW, ranking first, while independent power producers and combined heat and power plants accounted for 6,087 MW, ranking 26th.
Florida generated 266,119,236 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity in 2024, ranking second among states. Electric utilities generated 249,530,741 MWh, ranking first. IPP and CHP plants generated another 16,588,495 MWh, ranking 27th.
The same EIA profile reports these 2024 environmental and consumer-price measures:
- Sulfur dioxide emissions totaled 19,758 short tons, ranking 19th.
- Nitrogen oxide emissions totaled 48,637 short tons, ranking fourth.
- Carbon dioxide emissions totaled 92,505 thousand metric tons, ranking second.
- The average retail electricity price was 12.53 cents per kilowatthour, ranking 18th.
These totals describe the full Florida electricity system, rather than solar generation alone. They provide context for the scale of the system into which solar capacity is being added.
2024 Florida electricity profile
| Measure | Florida result | U.S. rank |
|---|---|---|
| Net summer capacity | 72,012 MW | 3rd |
| Electric utility capacity | 65,925 MW | 1st |
| IPP and CHP capacity | 6,087 MW | 26th |
| Total generation | 266,119,236 MWh | 2nd |
| Electric utility generation | 249,530,741 MWh | 1st |
| IPP and CHP generation | 16,588,495 MWh | 27th |
| Average retail price | 12.53 cents/kWh | 18th |
Solar’s role in Florida generation
Renewable resources supplied about 10% of Florida’s total in-state electricity net generation in 2024, according to the EIA’s Florida state analysis. Solar energy made up about 90% of Florida’s renewable generation during that year. On the broader electricity mix, solar accounted for nearly 9% of total net generation.
The scale of solar generation was not evenly divided between facility types. About 80% of Florida’s solar generation came from utility-scale facilities in 2024. The remaining share came from small-scale solar, a category that includes smaller systems connected to the electricity system rather than large generating plants.
The EIA also reports a clear change over time in the small-scale segment: Florida’s small-scale solar generation in 2024 was about eight times greater than in 2019. That comparison identifies the change between those two years; it does not provide a separate percentage growth rate or a total MWh figure for the small-scale segment.
Florida’s solar position therefore has two distinct parts. Large facilities supplied most solar generation in 2024, while the small-scale segment had expanded substantially compared with 2019. Together, these figures show solar as the dominant renewable source in the state’s in-state generation mix for the period measured.
Household demand and the electricity system
Florida’s electricity use is closely tied to homes and buildings. More than half of Florida electricity consumption comes from the residential sector, according to the EIA’s Florida state analysis. About two-fifths comes from the commercial sector. Those shares are stated as approximate proportions, so they should not be treated as an exact 100% breakdown of every consuming sector.
Electricity is also the primary home-heating energy source for about nine in 10 Florida households. Almost all Florida households use air conditioning. These household measures help explain why generation capacity and electricity demand are especially important in Florida: the residential sector represents more than half of consumption, and electricity supports both cooling and, for most households, primary heating.
The EIA reports that Florida imported about 3% of the electricity it needed to meet consumer demand in 2023. This is a different measurement year from the 2024 capacity, generation, and solar figures above. It is also a statewide electricity-balance measure, not a solar-import statistic.
Florida had about 3,600 public electric vehicle charging locations at the end of 2024, according to the EIA’s state analysis. The location count describes public charging locations, not individual charging ports or the amount of electricity used for transportation.
Utility-scale solar and FPL
Florida Power & Light (FPL) reported operating 28 solar power plants in Florida in the source describing its solar expansion. That source also reported that two FPL solar power plants featured energy storage and that FPL’s universal solar capacity was approximately 1,975 MW at the time of the announcement.
FPL says each universal solar energy center is capable of generating nearly 75 MW of emissions-free energy. The company says each center can power about 14,000 homes and avoids emissions equivalent to taking 17,000 cars off the road each year. FPL also says each solar power plant creates around 200 jobs during development and construction.
The company-level figures are not the same type of measure as the EIA statewide statistics. The EIA figures describe Florida’s overall electricity system for a stated year, while FPL’s figures describe company facilities, program plans, or company estimates at the time of the cited announcement. The home, car, and job figures are therefore best read as FPL’s stated project-level estimates.
SolarTogether and statewide expansion
FPL describes FPL SolarTogether as the largest community solar program in the country. The program had more than 38,000 participating Floridians in the source’s current-energy-centers information and was bringing nearly 1,500 MW of new solar capacity to Florida.
FPL also planned to install 30 million solar panels statewide. The company expected that plan to power more than two million homes and expected to complete it by the end of 2025, five years ahead of schedule. These are plan and expectation figures, so they describe FPL’s stated program targets rather than an independently measured completion result.
The program figures show how utility-scale development and participation programs can be described in different units. SolarTogether is measured by participating Floridians and planned capacity, the 30 million-panel plan by panels and expected homes powered, and individual centers by capacity, land area, panels, or stated emissions comparisons.
Florida solar center comparisons
FPL’s project fact sheets provide facility-level statistics for several Florida solar energy centers. Sunshine Gateway is a 450-acre solar site on a 954-acre property. It has 351,230 photovoltaic panels and generates 74.5 MW of clean energy. FPL says it can power about 15,000 homes annually and avoids emissions equivalent to removing 14,000 cars from the road each year.
The FPL Manatee Solar Energy Center is a 751-acre solar site with 341,880 photovoltaic panels. It generates 74.5 MW of clean energy and can power about 15,000 homes annually. FPL says Manatee avoids emissions equivalent to removing 14,000 cars from the road each year. The company contributed more than $17.3 million in tax revenue to Manatee County in 2021, according to the Manatee fact sheet. FPL also says the Manatee Energy Storage Center is the largest integrated solar-powered battery in the world.
FPL’s Space Coast Next Generation Solar Energy Center is located on a 60-acre property. Its fact sheet reports 37,664 photovoltaic panels, 10 MW of clean-energy generation, and enough annual power for about 1,100 homes. FPL says the center avoids emissions equivalent to removing 1,800 cars from the road each year. The company contributed more than $24 million in tax revenue to Brevard County in 2021 for Space Coast.
The following comparison keeps the facility measurements separate rather than combining unlike figures:
| Solar center | Property or site | Panels | Generation | Homes annually |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunshine Gateway | 450-acre site; 954-acre property | 351,230 | 74.5 MW | About 15,000 |
| Manatee | 751-acre site | 341,880 | 74.5 MW | About 15,000 |
| Space Coast | 60-acre property | 37,664 | 10 MW | About 1,100 |
FPL’s Twin Lakes Solar Energy Center has 283,770 photovoltaic panels and is located on an 858-acre property. FPL contributed more than $5.7 million in tax revenue to Putnam County in 2021 for Twin Lakes. The supplied project fact sheet provides the panel, land, and county-tax figures for Twin Lakes but does not provide a generation or homes-powered figure here.
FPL’s Pelican Solar Energy Center has 340,440 photovoltaic panels and is located on a 565-acre property. FPL contributed more than $57.9 million in tax revenue to St. Lucie County in 2021 for Pelican. As with Twin Lakes, these project details should be kept distinct from the facility statistics reported for Sunshine Gateway, Manatee, and Space Coast.
Taken together, the project figures show the range of scales represented in FPL’s Florida portfolio: facilities with tens of thousands of panels and 10 MW of generation, as well as facilities with more than 340,000 panels and roughly 74.5 MW. The statewide EIA figures and FPL’s project facts answer different questions, but both indicate that solar is a substantial and expanding part of Florida’s electricity landscape.