How Florida quietly exceeded California in the growth of solar energy

Solar energy is thrived throughout the United States, and for the first time, Florida meets the industrial forces in Texas and California.

Although climate change was removed from the official state policy in 2024, Florida added more solar energy more than California last year, with more than that 3 GB From the next new capacity online.

“This is not a coincidence,” said Silvia Liva Martinez, chief analyst at Wood McKinsey. “Florida is now the formation of national solar growth.”

The increase is raised by facilities, not plates on the surface. Florida power and light Only 70 % of the new solar energy was built in the state last year. The state base allows developers to overcome long sites for projects that are less than 75 megawatts, which accelerates construction and reduces costs.

“There is no silver bullet,” said Sayed Kitson, founder of Babcock Ranch, a town that is almost fully designed by Solar. “But a single thing that Florida got is acceptance. Here, people want solar energy. We prove that it works.”

Babcock Ranch runs on his MicroGRID and He remained online during Hurricane Ian in 2022, While it became a large part of the southwest of Florida dark.

“We have not lost energy, internet or water,” said Don Bishop, the owner of a house there. “This changes how you think about energy.”

The economy does the rest. As industrial demand and climbing of natural gas prices, solar energy is increasingly cheaper, even without subsidies.

“The accompanying does not build solar energy because it is green,” said Martinez. “They do it because it is cheaper.”

But the new challenges appear.

In July, President Trump signed Ali A beautiful beautiful bill, Who accelerates the decline in tax credits for solar energy and wind. Home investment credit loses federal investment after 2025. The developers face strict final dates and tougher resource rules.

“He will not kill the market,” said Zoe Gaston, an analyst who follows the solar energy industry in Wood McKinsey. “But it makes mathematics more difficult.”

Analysts now expect a 42 % decrease In solar installations on the surface in Florida over the next five years. While growth continues to have a facilities, the network restrictions have become a problem. Facilities flow money in storage, smart infrastructure and network upgrades to keep up with it.

Babcock Ranch experiences new MicroGrid systems to add flexibility. Hope is that other societies can take the playing book and adapt it, and the neighborhoods of storms every time.

“This has been tested for years,” Kitson said. “Now it comes to showing others they can do so too.”

The biggest question is whether Florida can maintain this momentum without policy support, and while it still tends to naturally.

“Florida has solar energy resources,” said Mark Jacobson, a professor at the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department in Stanford. “What is missing is political consistency.”

Watch the video to see how Florida has become a leader of solar energy and what it could slow.