Lake Haven Centre has made the switch to solar energy to help power the shopping centre.
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It's part of Vicinity Centres' $73-million national rollout of solar panels across its property portfolio.
The project at Lake Haven Centre has seen more than 5,000 solar panels installed on the roof.
If laid end-to-end, the panels would stretch more than 10 kilometres - from Lake Haven Centre to Norah Head Lighthouse.
Centre manager Michael Cochrane said it felt good to be leading the power switch.
"We're the first Vicinity centre in NSW to harness clean, renewable energy to reduce reliance on the national grid, provide greater energy resilience for the local community, and make a positive environmental impact while helping to power Lake Haven Centre," Mr Cochrane said.
"We are extremely proud Lake Haven Centre is leading the way for shopping centre solar on the Central Coast. The clean energy we'll generate is enough to power more than 450 NSW homes."
A spokesperson for the retail property group said Vicinity unveiled Stage 1 and 2 of its solar program last year, with 22 centres across Australia to benefit from solar installations.
"It's the largest retail property solar program in the country by scale and investment and ranks comparably among the top 10 biggest corporate solar projects in the United States of America," the spokesperson said.
The national solar program will generate more than 48,500 MWh of energy each year, which is equivalent to powering more than 8,300 average Australian homes.
Vicinity's head of integrated energy Renae Sambrooks said the Lake Haven project was important.
"The Lake Haven Centre project draws us closer to an expected 31MW total capacity in 2019 and is part of our ongoing commitment to, and investment in, renewable energy," she said.
"We're striving to embed innovation and renewable energy at the heart of our communities."
Vicinity's national solar program also includes several firsts for the Australian retail property sector, including a retail battery, energy block chain trial, bifacial solar panels and solar glass trials.
