CLAY COUNTY – Florida Power & Light Company has reached a new milestone in its goal toward a more energy-sustainable future: its residential subscription-based SolarTogether program already is sold out with more than 48,000 customers enrolled.

It’s a massive achievement for the company, which sold out its subscription-based solar energy in just 13 months, beating out its own expectations. The SolarTogether program is powered by 20 new universal solar energy centers built all around the state, with Clay County’s own solar farm having opened up earlier this year in April. More than 2,000 customers await their subscription on a waiting list today and more are expected to join in the coming weeks.

“We’ve very proud of the program and we’ve had a robust turnout from both residential and commercial customers,” FPL director of development Jennifer Schaffer said. “It speaks to the importance [of solar energy] and our customers’ want of these innovative programs to help them achieve their personal goals to be more sustainable and renewable...in energy use.”

SolarTogether is a subscription-based program that allows customers to subscribe to solar energy from one of the state’s 20 sites. It’s different from those that install solar panels on their homes, which create energy that is used directly within the home. That’s a great option for renewable and sustainable energy, but it’s quite expensive for the average homeowner. SolarTogether aims to make sustainable solar energy more affordable.

Instead of installing solar panels on a home, FPL has already built solar centers all around the state. Subscribers then earn bill credits associated with the energy those solar centers produce.

“I think of it like a community garden,” Schaffer said. “A bunch of people come together and someone plants tomatoes and (someone else) plants cucumbers...and together, they tend to the garden and everyone reaps the benefits.”

Schaffer said subscribers pay a subscription fee that’s fixed over time and in exchange earn a credit on their bill that their solar energy subscription fee produces. This lowers their energy bill as a whole over time and above all of that, it breaks down the barriers for customers that feel going solar is a financial challenge or locational challenge.

“Clay County is home to the Magnolia Springs Solar Energy Center so not only are [Clay County residents] part of the largest solar expansion in the country right now, but also the largest community solar program in the country,” Schaffer said. “We are proud to work with this county.”

All 20 solar energy centers in the SolarTogether program are now operational and that means roughly six million solar panels across the state are bringing sustainable energy to homes and businesses all across Florida.

“We developed FPL SolarTogether because customers wanted access to clean, cost-effective solar energy, and the response to the program was almost immediate,” FPL president and CEO Eric Silagy said. “By participating, our dedicated FPL SolarTogether customers are encouraging the buildout of cost-effective solar across the state, making Florida the largest, most affordable and most accessible solar state in the nation.”

Schaffer said the SolarTogether program is a part of FPL’s 30-by-30 plan, which sees the company attempting to install 30 million solar panels by 2030. Silagy said that this initiative will bring more than 11,700 megawatts of cost-effective solar energy to Florida and that this will be enough power to support more than two million homes. FPL’s latest achievement of selling out all possible subscriptions for its SolarTogether program in just 13 months is yet another step toward making the company’s 30-by-30 vision a reality.