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The $150 million plant came in $22.5 million under budget and took just 10 months to build - several months ahead of schedule. It can withstand 130-mph winds.

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Florida Power & Light's construction of the 25-megawatt DeSoto Solar Farm in Arcadia is expected to pay big alternative energy dividends.

Germany leads in world solar energy production followed by Spain, Portugal and Japan. This could soon change, said Ed Smeloff of SunPower Corp., the California firm hired by FPL to create this first phase of its Solar Farm. SunPower operates about 500 solar systems worldwide.

"I think the United States is going to in the near future pass up Spain," he said to some 50 people who had just returned form touring the solar plant near Arcadia.

The $150 million plant came in $22.5 million under budget and took just 10 months to build - several months ahead of schedule. It can withstand 130-mph winds.

The Nov. 3 tour was organized by the Charlotte County Economic Development Office and FPL for businesses leaders in green technologies as part of the two-day Green Futures Expo & Energy Options Conference.

The DeSoto Solar Farm is already producing enough solar electricity to serve more than 3,000 homes. The sun power eventually is sent to the grid where traditional electricity sources are stored, said Smeloff.

Fields of photovoltaic panels, visible on the tour, were similar to those seen on the roofs of some homes. They catch the sun's rays and "excite the electrons," said plant manager John Granger.

Each of the 92,000 panels at the solar farm is 3-by-5-foot lined up 12 together for a length of 36 feet, and width of 5 feet. They look similar to a field covered with oversize picnic tables except for the tops, which are made of dark glass with shiny circles.

The panels move mechanically every 30 seconds to follow the sun's rays.

"They start at a 45-degree angle facing the east, and they are in the same position but are facing west at sundown," said FPL senior communications Jos Surez.

An electric wire goes from each panel into a central conduit to transform the solar electricity to alternative current used in homes. The power plant is mostly gas-operated with some nuclear energy and very little coal, said Surez.

The Solar Farm is built to last at least 30 years, and it will take from 25 to 30 years for FPL to recoup its investment, Surez said. It will eventually pay off because:

There is no fuel cost;

The plant does not consume water; and

There is little maintenance because rain cleans the panels;

The solar plant created 400 jobs at the height of construction for skilled labor, such as electrical, welding and steel work. The solar panels were made in the Philippines because U.S. photovoltaic panel manufacturers could not meet the demand, said Surez.

More construction could come in the future.

"We have to be ready to expand this site so DeSoto County will become an exporter (of electricity)," Surez said.

There is one drawback to solar energy production.

"With the power plant, we can control the output," Surez said. "With the solar plant, we have to take what it gives us. It depends on Mother Nature but the fuel is free."

Developing solar energy will take "leadership vision and government vision," said Surez, who drives an FPL car powered in part on electricity. The Toyota Prius has a device in the trunk, which allows him to plug into an electrical outlet to recharge the car's battery.

"I can go 35 miles on the battery," he said. "The time for solar is now and the time is now for Florida to be the leader."

The biggest maintenance cost for the Solar Farm operation is mowing grass around the panels, which are mounted on 14-foot long metal poles, half buried into the ground. A security fence is being erected all around the 300-acre Solar Farm because touching a panel could result in electrocution.

The solar plant is on land previously used for sod farmers and for grazing. Now, wetlands are restored, and there are retaining ponds to keep the solar panel area from flooding.

"It is in harmony with nature," Surez said. "Wildlife is coming back. Already, we have alligators, turtles and snakes."

Another reason to seek solar energy is fossil fuel is finite.

"One sure thing is that we are going to run out of fossil fuel," Surez said. "Whether it is in 50 or 500 years, it is going to happen."