May 20, 2026
D3Energyone of the largest installers of floating solar in the US, has announced an exclusive state-wide master lease with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) for its solar energy projects on the water.
The company has already installed the largest floating PV array in multiple states, including Utah and Ohio. With plans for further installations in the US, the Florida company has a blanket floatovoltaic deal in its home state.
The scheme unlocks a potentially crucial new class of renewable energy infrastructure in the Sunshine State, D3Energy representatives say. The deal provides ample space for solar project installations without taking away agricultural land, state conservation land or buildable real estate from potential developers.
“In Florida, the bottleneck for new solar is rarely capital or technology; it’s available land. This lease solves that at the state level,” said Stetson Tchividjian, managing director of D3Energy. “It took years of working with FDOT to get here. Now that our first project is in the water and operational, we are ready to roll it out to partners across the state.”
D3Energy says its teams have already started work on floating solar projects under the agreement. Removing the more blanket location-by-site approach from most solar leases gives D3Energy and other developers an advantage in Florida.
Start with the floating expansion of solar energy
The sweeping agreement replaces piecemeal solar equipment procurement with a single master framework designed for consistent collaboration with FDOT. That approach is already paying off, D3Energy says, as the company has completed its first project under the new framework.
Developed in collaboration with the Orlando Utility Commissionthe FDOT pond project is located in Orlando and was fully commissioned earlier this year. Now that the framework has been fully validated for similar projects, D3Energy has chosen to open the capability to its partners across the Citrus State.
D3Energy officials estimate that FDOT’s pond portfolio could potentially support more than 1 GW of floating solar energy if fully utilized. That would be enough to power about 200,000 homes across the state, while also saving 5,000 acres of land in the state by ditching the projects.
The lease places projects where demand is already highest, with many ponds near highways and electrical substations.
The floating solar approach also has the added benefit of limiting damage during hurricane season. After Hurricane Milton in 2024, D3Energy reported that its ten solar installations in Florida sustained minimal damage and remained fully operational, with many ground-mounted solar panels suffering weather damage in the process.
Tags: D3Energy, floating solar, Florida, policy, projects
