WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — It's National Clean Energy week and Florida Power and Light Company is celebrating it by reminding everyone about their FPL SolarNow program.
It's a voluntary program in which customers can choose to support solar trees or canopies, which help bring clean solar energy to their communities.
"Clean energy is the future," said Kira Rodriguez, FPL Spokesperson. "We find that these installations are just symbols of sustainability that turn tourist destinations like the South Florida Science Center and Aquarium into a clean energy landmark."
Each solar tree is capable of producing about up to three kilowatts of solar energy – enough to power an electric vehicle 15,000 miles per year.
"Our solar trees actually work. They are pulling down energy from the sun and providing it into an FPL's grid,” said Kaley Grau, marketing manager at South Florida Science Center & Aquarium. “So, not only are we powering the science center, we're helping collect power for the rest of our community.”
Around Palm Beach County, the collective amount of solar installations could generate enough clean electricity annually to power the needs of about 197 electric vehicles ----12 coffee shops or 600 classrooms, just to name a few. In all, helping remove hundreds of thousands of carbon dioxide emissions to reduce pollution.
"In addition to the smaller solar installations, we're working on large-scale solar energy centers. In Palm Beach County alone, we have two of those across the state, we have 42. That energy goes directly into the grid, and it allows us to keep your bills lower across the board," said Rodriguez.
FPL says they plan to install 30 million solar panels by 2030.