New solar site in Suwannee County helping power over 23,000 homes

• Suwannee County is now home to a new solar panel site that is split by Interstate 10.
• The site will add nearly 75 megawatts of energy to the Florida power grid.
• Read the story below to see why the town of Falmouth was chosen for the site and where solar energy lies in the makeup of Florida energy sources.

BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Over 220,000 solar panels are now online in Suwannee County. You may notice them while driving on I-10. I’m First To Know Meteorologist Riley Winch here to let you know how the sun is powering our neighborhoods.

Drive through Suwannee County on Interstate 10, and you’ll see lots of fields.

One field in the small neighborhood of Falmouth is powering the community around it.

“It’s very unique in that I-10 actually splits it up!”

Audrey Stasko is a spokeswoman for Duke Energy Florida, the energy provider that launched the site.

The solar panels here cover 400!

It generates nearly 75 megawatts of energy.

That’s enough to power up to 23,000 regular sized homes per year.

With a strong sun angle and over 225 sunny or partly cloudy days per year, North Florida is a great place for solar panels. And it’s not just what’s coming from above.

“What’s the soil like? How much is it going to cost to either purchase the land or lease the land?”

Because having a solid foundation supports all these panels.

And these solar panels fill lots of land.

While walking through the solar site, rows of around 60 panels each seem to go on forever. And underneath, there is lots of grass and vegetation that is host to animals like snakes and bees.

Stasko tells me while 80% of Duke’s energy comes from Natural Gas.

I checked the website Statista.

Their research shows Florida as a whole also gets most of its power form natural gas.

Behind that is nuclear energy at 11.5 percent, followed by coal at 7.5 percent.

Solar made up 3.7 percent as of 2021.

But more solar energy is expected to be harvested going forward.

The Falmouth site plays a role in that mission.

“We’re able to put more clean renewable energy back on to the power grid which serves all Florida customers.”

The U.S. Energy and Information Administration says solar power across the nation is in the process of increasing 75% over the course of two years. From Suwannee County, I’m Meteorologist Riley Winch, ABC 27.