Nearly 600,000 photovoltaic modules will be installed on above-ground supports at the Taylor Creek (above) and Harmony solar farms.

OUC – The Reliable One soon will provide customers with emission-free energy from two 74.5 megawatt solar farms being built in east Orange and southeast Osceola counties. In early February, the Taylor Creek Solar Energy Center in Orange County and the Harmony Solar Energy Center in Osceola County were being prepared for installation of photovoltaic modules.

Thousands of steel piers have been driven into the ground and linked by lateral “torque tubes,” above-ground support bars that rotate PV panels to keep them facing the sun for maximum power output.

Nearly 300,000 PV panels will be installed at each 500-acre site over the following months, with the two solar farms scheduled for completion by June 30, 2020. Afterward, construction will begin on a third 74.5-megawatt solar facility, the Poinsett Solar Energy Center located near the Orange-Osceola-Brevard county line.

OUC is the largest stakeholder in the 223.5-megawatt Florida Municipal Solar Project (FMSP), buying 108.5 MW of clean energy, enough to power 20,000 Central Florida homes. Eleven other municipal utilities in the state share the remaining 115 MW.

Owned and operated by Florida Renewable Partners, FMSP is being coordinated by Florida Municipal Power Agency. To learn more about solar options that are right for you, visit OUC Solar Solutions.

Check out the video to see the progress on the Taylor Creek Solar Energy Center.