Florida Solar Guide 2026: Rates, Incentives & Top Providers

Florida is the third-largest solar state in the country, and almost nobody explains it correctly.

Most state guides assume solar pays off because electricity is expensive. Florida breaks that assumption. Its residential rate is actually below the national average — 15.10¢/kWh in June 2026, against 18.34¢/kWh nationally^[2]. And unlike California, Florida has never had a statewide net metering mandate written into a big policy package. What it has is a Public Service Commission rule that forces the four investor-owned utilities to credit your exports at retail, two state tax exemptions that survive year after year, and a hurricane season that reframes the whole battery conversation.

Then 2026 changed the top of the stack. The federal 30% residential tax credit under Section 25D expired on December 31, 2025 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law 119-21). A homeowner-owned system placed in service in 2026 gets nothing from Washington^[4].

So does Florida solar still work? Yes — and for different reasons than it worked in 2024. Let's go through the numbers, utility by utility.

Why Florida is the #3 solar state

Per SEIA data compiled through June 2026, Florida has 21,968 MW of installed solar capacity, ranking third nationally behind California (55,510 MW) and Texas (53,568 MW)^[1]. That figure counts every segment — utility, commercial, and residential combined — so it understates how much of Florida's growth is on rooftops.

The residential signal is stronger than the total. Florida led the country in residential installed capacity in the first quarter of 2026, its strongest quarter since the end of 2024, per SEIA figures reported by pv magazine USA and summarized by VA Horizon^[17]. Nationally, pv magazine reported 7.8 GW of solar installed in Q1 2026^[18].

Sources: SEIA data compiled through June 2026, reported by BGR^[1]; EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A, data for June 2026^[2]. Storage capacity figures reported for Florida are small and inconsistently labeled across secondary summaries — treat them as directional, not precise.

Here's the key insight for Florida: solar works here because of billing rules — not because of very high rates, and not because of subsidies. Under the investor-owned utility rule, an exported kilowatt-hour can offset an imported kilowatt-hour on the same bill. That is a different product than what a California homeowner buys in 2026, and it changes what a good system design looks like.

For the contrast, our California guide shows what happens when export value collapses and storage becomes mandatory; the Texas guide covers a market built on cheap installation and retail choice. Florida sits between them: decent retail credit, low rates, and one enormous wildcard — weather.

Florida electricity rates: low, and that matters

Florida's residential rate is lower than most homeowners assume. The EIA puts the state average at 15.10¢/kWh for June 2026, down from 15.35¢/kWh a year earlier. The U.S. total for the same month was 18.34¢/kWh^[2].

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A, Average Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, data for June 2026^[2]. Values are preliminary estimates based on a cutoff model sample.

That lower rate cuts both ways, and honesty requires saying so:

• Each self-consumed kilowatt-hour is worth less. A solar kilowatt-hour in Florida avoids roughly 15¢ of retail power. In California the same kilowatt-hour avoids roughly 35¢. That alone stretches Florida payback relative to the biggest markets.
• But Florida homes use a lot of electricity. Cooling load dominates. A high-usage Florida household can have a bigger absolute bill than a moderate-usage household in a higher-rate state, and solar savings scale with kilowatt-hours consumed, not just with the rate.
• Rate design matters more than the average. Check whether your utility offers a time-of-use or demand-based residential option, and what the non-energy charges look like. Those fixed pieces of the bill survive solar installation.

This is why we tell Florida homeowners to model their own twelve months of usage, not a state average. A system sized off one summer bill will be wrong. Every utility guide worth reading says the same thing^[12][13].

The utilities that decide your math

Florida's electric market is a patchwork. Six names cover most homes, and they are governed by two different sets of rules.

Utility classification and territory descriptions per SurgePV's Florida incentive analysis^[3] and Sunstorm Energy's Florida net metering guide^[11]. Duke Energy Florida's customer count and county footprint per Duke Energy Florida's Micanopy battery announcement^[19].

A note on Gulf Power: older guides still list Gulf Power as a separate Florida utility. It is not one of the four investor-owned utilities required to offer retail net metering — the PSC-rule list is FPL, Duke Energy Florida, TECO, and FPU^[3][11]. If you are in the old Gulf Power service area in northwest Florida, confirm on your bill whether you are now an FPL customer before modeling anything.

The practical rule: your utility is the single biggest variable in your solar economics, and it is not determined by your ZIP code alone. Neighboring streets can sit in different service territories. Check the bill.

Net metering in Florida: no mandate, but a real rule

Florida does not have a statewide net metering mandate. Statements to the contrary are wrong. What it has is Florida Public Service Commission Rule 25-6.065, which governs customer-owned renewable generation for investor-owned electric utilities^[11].

Here is how the rule works in practice^{[3][11][12][13]}:

• Monthly netting. Excess generation delivered to the grid during a billing cycle is credited against your energy use in the next billing cycle.
• Twelve-month carryforward. Credits can accumulate for up to twelve billing periods.
• Annual true-up at avoided cost. At the end of the year, unused credits are paid at the utility's applicable as-available or avoided-cost energy rate — roughly 3¢–5¢ per kWh, far below retail^[3]. A big annual surplus is a bad outcome, not a bonus.
• Sizing limits. FPL, for example, requires estimated annual production to be less than 115% of the customer's annual kilowatt-hour consumption to qualify^[12].
• Three interconnection tiers. Tier 1 is 10 kW or less; Tier 2 is above 10 kW through 100 kW; Tier 3 runs above 100 kW to 2 MW. Tier 2 and above bring extra fees, insurance, and disconnect requirements^[11][12].
• Battery exports are not net-metered. Under FPL's current published policy, energy stored in a behind-the-meter battery is for the customer's own use and may not be exported to the grid^[12].

Read those last two bullets together and the design implication is obvious: size for consumption, not for maximum production, and do not count on battery exports.

Sources: FPSC Rule 25-6.065 as summarized by Sunstorm Energy's Florida net metering guide, updated July 22, 2026^[11]; utility-specific guides for FPL^[12] and Duke Energy Florida^[13]; SurgePV's Florida incentives analysis, updated June 30, 2026^[3]. Tariffs change — verify against your utility's current published documents before signing.

The OUC transition is the one to watch

OUC is the clearest example of Florida's utility-by-utility risk. According to Sunstorm's guide, OUC grandfathered eligible legacy systems through June 30, 2045. Systems interconnected after June 30, 2025 — and accounts that change hands after that date — follow a transition schedule: a temporary full-retail grace period through fall 2026, then the community solar rate through June 30, 2030, and the retail levelized fuel rate after that^[11].

Two things follow. If you are buying a home with existing solar in OUC territory, the account transfer can change your credit rate — ask before you close. And a battery becomes materially more valuable under a low export credit, because it lets you keep midday production for evening use instead of selling it cheap^[11]. SurgePV puts typical investor-owned-utility payback in the 9–12 year range and OUC-territory payback at 13–16 years for comparable systems^[3] — an industry estimate, not a guarantee.

Policy risk is real, and grandfathering is the usual outcome

Florida utilities have repeatedly pushed to reduce export compensation, most visibly through SB 1024 in 2022, which triggered legal challenges and regulatory uncertainty. As of 2026, full retail net metering remains in place for the four IOUs^[3]. When rules do change, existing customers have historically been grandfathered for a decade or more — exactly what OUC did^[11]. We would not build a purchase decision around a possible future change in either direction, but the asymmetry is worth knowing: grandfathering protects installed systems, not shoppers.

Florida solar incentives in 2026

Florida's incentive stack lost its federal layer and kept its state layer intact. Three statutes matter, and none of them were tied to the federal credit^[3].

Sources: SurgePV, "Solar Incentives Florida 2026: Net Metering and Rebates," updated June 30, 2026, citing Florida Statutes § 193.624, § 212.08(7)(hh), and § 366.91^[3]; federal credit status per SurgePV's 2026 solar tax credit guide^[4].

What the property tax exemption is worth

Section 193.624 prevents county property appraisers from including the value added by a renewable energy system in the taxable assessment. The exemption is automatic — no application — and covers panels, inverters, racking, battery storage, and system wiring, but not structural roof work or standard electrical upgrades^[3].

SurgePV's worked example: a $20,000 system in Miami-Dade County, where effective rates run around 1%, would otherwise add roughly $200 per year — about $5,000 over 25 years^[3]. Real money, but not decisive on its own. Review your TRIM notice afterward.

What the sales tax exemption is worth

Section 212.08(7)(hh) exempts qualifying solar equipment — panels, inverters, racking, batteries, disconnects, monitoring gear — from the 6% state sales and use tax. Labor is not exempt^[3]. On a $30,000 equipment package the saving is about $1,800 at the point of sale.

Check the invoice. The exemption is applied by the installer at the point of sale, so qualifying equipment should show $0 Florida sales tax. If tax was charged in error, a homeowner can file Form DR-26S with the Florida Department of Revenue for a refund within three years^[3].

Local and utility rebates

There is no statewide Florida rebate program. A handful of cities and municipal utilities run small, budget-limited programs that stack cleanly on top of the state exemptions^[3].

Source: SurgePV Florida incentives analysis, updated June 30, 2026, citing the City of Boynton Beach, City of Dunedin, JEA, Orlando Utilities Commission, and Lakeland Electric^[3]. Local programs are budget-limited and first-come; confirm status the week you sign, not the month you first researched.

Financing: PACE and SELF

Florida has two financing routes built for homeowners who do not fit a standard solar loan^[3]. PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) lets you install with little or no money down and repay through a property tax assessment over 10–20 years; the debt attaches to the property, so a buyer typically assumes it at sale. Some mortgage lenders will not finance a home with an active PACE lien, and it can complicate a refinance or sale. If you plan to move within five years, compare it carefully against a conventional loan. SELF (Solar and Energy Loan Fund) is a Florida-based nonprofit lender offering low-interest financing without a traditional credit check or hard income limits; rates and terms vary^[3].

What solar costs in Florida in 2026

EnergySage's Florida data, updated September 4, 2026, puts the average residential installation at $30,833 for a 14.53 kW system before any incentives — about $2.12 per watt — with average 25-year savings of $64,627^[5].

Those averages come from a marketplace where shoppers compare multiple quotes, so they skew toward larger systems than a typical one-car-garage home needs. Treat them as a benchmark, not a quote.

Sources: EnergySage local cost data, Florida and metro pages, all updated September 4, 2026^{[5][6][7][8][9]}. Costs are gross, before the state sales tax exemption is applied and before any local rebate. Per-watt figures are calculated from the reported average system size and cost. Savings estimates are EnergySage's own modeling and depend on utility, tariff, and usage — they are not forecasts.

Notice two things. First, South Florida is the most expensive place in the state to install, at roughly $2.30/W in Miami — labor, permitting, and wind-load engineering cost more in high-velocity hurricane zones. Second, the Jacksonville savings estimate is dramatically lower than the others, which is what happens when your utility's export credit is not retail.

Compare price per watt, not total system cost, and compare it against a system sized to your own consumption. Our solar savings calculator uses real EIA rates and lets you adjust every assumption, including your utility's export treatment. Whether the numbers work also depends on how long you stay — our Is Solar Worth It in 2026 guide covers the national framework, where payback stretched by roughly two to four years for cash buyers when the federal credit expired^[4].

Hurricanes: why Florida's battery math is different

This is the section that separates Florida from every other state guide.

Start with the unpopular technical fact: a standard grid-tied solar system shuts off during a power outage. It has to. Without proper isolation, a live array would backfeed a de-energized line and endanger utility crews. Your panels will sit there producing nothing while your neighborhood is dark^[13].

Outage operation requires equipment designed to disconnect the home from the grid and form a local microgrid — in practice, an inverter plus a battery. The circuits that get backed up, the power capacity, the usable energy, and whether the array can recharge the battery during an outage all have to be engineered deliberately^[13].

Florida's utilities are investing heavily in grid hardening, and it shows. Duke Energy Florida reports hardening more than 40,000 power poles, putting 50% of its primary lines underground, and rolling out self-healing technology that saved more than 300 million outage minutes during the 2024 hurricane season alone^[19]. That is genuine progress. It is not the same thing as keeping your refrigerator running for three days.

What a battery costs in Florida

EnergySage's Florida storage data, updated September 6, 2026, puts the average installed cost at $951 per kWh. A typical 13 kWh installation runs $12,359, with a reported range of $10,505 to $14,213 before incentives^[10].

Sources: EnergySage Florida storage cost data, updated September 6, 2026^[10]; Sunstorm Energy utility guides for FPL^[12] and Duke Energy Florida^[13]; Sunstorm's Florida net metering guide for municipal and cooperative treatment^[11].

So how should you think about it? In FPL and Duke territory, buy a battery because you want backup power, not because it pays for itself. In OUC, SECO, or KUA territory, a battery does double duty: resilience plus self-consumption under a low export credit. Those are two different purchase rationales with two different payback stories, and an installer who gives you the same speech in both territories is not doing the analysis.

For chemistry, cycle-life, and whole-home-backup comparisons, see our Best Solar Batteries 2026 guide.

Insurance, HOAs, and wind-load permitting

Florida has the most demanding wind-load requirements for rooftop solar in the country, and the insurance market to match. This is the section most solar guides skip, and it is where Florida projects actually go wrong^[16].

• Wind-load engineering. Panels and racking must be engineered for local design wind speed under ASCE 7-22 and the Florida Building Code, 8th Edition — in coastal zones, 130 to 180+ mph^[16].
• Attachment method. Racking must penetrate the roof deck into structural rafters or trusses. Surface-attached or adhesive-only mounting is not compliant^[16].
• Florida Product Approval (FPA). FPA is not the same as UL or IEC listing — a product can be UL-listed and still lack FPA approval, and non-approved products can be grounds for denying a wind-damage claim^[16].
• Permit and final inspection. Unpermitted installations are effectively uninsurable for wind damage in Florida^[16].
• Notify your insurer before installation. Some Florida carriers cancel or non-renew after discovering undisclosed rooftop modifications; SolarVision AI documents a Fort Lauderdale non-renewal notice six weeks after installation^[16].
• Hurricane deductibles. Often 2% to 5% of dwelling value — $8,000 to $20,000 on a $400,000 home before coverage applies^[16].
• Coverage gaps. Citizens Property Insurance generally covers rooftop solar under Coverage A, subject to limits. Standard HO-3 policies typically exclude inverter and battery failure, so price an equipment breakdown endorsement^[16].

Insurance and building-code details above are drawn from SolarVision AI's June 2026 Florida solar insurance guide, written by an EPC consultant and explicitly labeled educational rather than advisory^[16]. Work with a Florida-licensed independent agent, and verify FPA numbers in the Florida Building Commission's product approval database.

HOAs. Florida law limits how far a homeowners association can go in prohibiting rooftop solar, and many associations nonetheless impose placement or screening conditions. We could not verify the current statutory text from a primary source during this research pass, so we are not quoting a section number. Read your declaration and architectural review rules before you sign, and submit drawings for written approval. An HOA dispute discovered after installation is far more expensive than one resolved before.

The lease and PPA route

One path still connects a Florida rooftop to a federal credit — by giving the credit to someone else.

Under a lease or power purchase agreement, a third-party company owns the system on your roof. That company can claim the Section 48E Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit: a 30% base rate for projects that begin construction by July 4, 2026 or are placed in service by December 31, 2027, with prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements needed to reach the full 30% rather than the 6% base. Some of that value gets passed to you as a lower monthly payment or a lower rate per kilowatt-hour^[4].

Bonus adders can push the credit above 30%^[4]: domestic content (+10 points, requiring at least 50% FEOC-compliant component costs for 2026 construction starts), energy community (up to +10 points), and low-income (+10 to +20 points under an IRS capacity allocation).

This is the structural reason third-party ownership got more competitive in 2026: the credit is only real if someone can claim it, and the financing company always can^[4].

The tradeoffs are the same as anywhere. You do not own the system, you do not get the equity, and the contract must transfer to a buyer or be bought out at closing. Read the transfer clause and the escalator before signing — a 2.9% annual escalator can erase the initial rate advantage within 12 to 15 years^[4]. We cover the full comparison in our PPA vs Lease vs Buy guide.

Who benefits most in 2026

Two Florida homeowners on the same street with the same roof can face completely different outcomes. The variable is almost always the utility and the ownership structure.

Sources: SurgePV Florida incentives analysis^[3] and 2026 tax credit guide^[4]; Sunstorm utility guides^[11][12][13]; FPL's SolarTogether program page^[10]; OUC solar programs^[15].

The honest summary: Florida is not a state where incentives decide the outcome. It is a state where billing rules and weather decide the outcome, and the incentives just improve the edges.

Choosing a Florida installer

Florida's installer market is large, competitive, and uneven. A short checklist that catches most of the expensive mistakes:

1. Confirm your utility first. Read the bill, not the ZIP code. FPL, Duke, TECO, FPU, OUC, JEA, SECO, or a co-op changes the entire financial model^[3][11].
2. Get three quotes and compare price per watt, not total cost — system sizes differ between proposals.
3. Require twelve months of usage in the sizing work. Florida cooling loads swing hard by season^[12][13].
4. Ask which interconnection tier you land in. Tier 1 is 10 kW or less; Tier 2 runs 10–100 kW, with added fees, insurance, and disconnect requirements^[11].
5. Verify Florida Product Approval numbers for every panel and racking component before signing^[16].
6. Confirm a permit will be pulled and a final inspection completed. Unpermitted solar is uninsurable for wind damage^[16].
7. Notify your insurer in writing before installation, and get the Coverage A limit update confirmed afterward^[16].
8. Insist that a homeowner-owned quote show the federal credit as $0. A proposal listing a 30% federal reduction on a 2026 cash purchase is using a template that no longer matches the tax code^[4].
9. Ask whether your battery can export. Under FPL's current guidance, it cannot^[12]. And treat PACE with care — the lien can complicate a refinance or sale^[3].

Frequently asked questions

Does Florida have net metering?

Not by a statewide mandate — it is utility by utility. Florida Public Service Commission Rule 25-6.065 requires the four investor-owned utilities (FPL, Duke Energy Florida, TECO, and Florida Public Utilities) to provide monthly net metering for qualifying customer-owned generation, with credits carrying forward up to twelve months and any unused balance paid at avoided cost at year end. Municipal utilities and electric cooperatives set their own rules, and several pay well below retail for exports^[3][11].

Is the federal solar tax credit still available in Florida in 2026?

Not for homeowner-owned systems. The Section 25D Residential Clean Energy Credit expired for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025, terminated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law 119-21). There is no phase-down and no grandfathering for contracts signed but not commissioned. Commercial projects and third-party-owned residential systems can still qualify for the Section 48E credit at 30% if they begin construction by July 4, 2026 or are placed in service by December 31, 2027^[4].

Will solar raise my Florida property taxes?

No. Florida Statute § 193.624 excludes 100% of the value added by a residential renewable energy system from the taxable assessment, and the exemption runs through December 31, 2037. It applies automatically — you do not file an application. Your home may appraise higher, but the solar value is not included in the assessed value. Check your TRIM notice after installation^[3].

Do I still pay sales tax on solar panels in Florida?

No, for qualifying equipment. Florida Statute § 212.08(7)(hh) exempts qualifying solar systems and components from the 6% state sales and use tax, including panels, inverters, racking, batteries, disconnects, and monitoring equipment. Labor is not exempt. The exemption is applied at the point of sale, so your invoice should show $0 Florida sales tax on qualifying equipment. If tax was charged in error, file Form DR-26S with the Florida Department of Revenue for a refund within three years^[3].

Do I need a battery with solar in Florida?

Not for the net metering value. Under FPL and Duke Energy Florida's current monthly net metering structures, exported solar already receives useful billing treatment, and storage is evaluated mainly for hurricane and storm resilience, selected-circuit backup, and medical or work-from-home needs. A battery becomes more financially interesting under a municipal utility or co-op with a low export credit, because then it lets you self-consume midday production instead of selling it cheaply^[11][12][13].

Will my solar panels work during a hurricane outage?

Not on their own. A standard grid-interactive solar system must shut down when the grid fails, to protect lineworkers and equipment. Running your home during an outage requires solar-plus-storage designed to island from the grid, with the backed-up circuits, power capacity, usable energy, and recharge behavior all engineered deliberately. If air conditioning backup matters, ask about startup requirements, soft starters, load shedding, and realistic cooling duration — central AC is usually the largest load in a Florida home^[13].

Can my HOA stop me from installing solar in Florida?

Florida law limits how far a homeowners association can go in prohibiting rooftop solar, but many associations still impose placement, screening, and design conditions. Read your declaration and architectural review procedures before signing, and submit drawings for written approval rather than assuming. We could not verify the current statutory text from a primary source in this research pass, so confirm the specifics with a Florida attorney or your governing documents rather than relying on a number from any guide, including this one.

Bottom line

Florida in 2026 is a better solar market than its electricity rates suggest, and a worse one than its sunshine suggests.

The case rests on three things that did not change when the federal credit expired: a PSC rule that gives investor-owned utility customers monthly retail net metering, a property tax exemption locked in through 2037, and a sales tax exemption with no expiration date. Add a lower-than-average electricity rate and the arithmetic is thinner than California's — but the rules are more stable, and self-consumption is less urgent here than in a state with avoided-cost exports.

What actually determines your outcome:

• Your utility. FPL, Duke, TECO, and FPU customers get monthly retail netting. OUC, SECO, KUA, and co-op customers often do not^[3][11].
• Whether you need backup power. In FPL and Duke territory, buy a battery because outages happen, not because it pays back. In low-export-credit territory, it also earns its keep through self-consumption^[12][13].
• How you own it. Cash and loan buyers get no federal credit in 2026; third-party ownership still routes a 30% Section 48E credit into the deal through the system owner^[4].
• Whether the paperwork is right. Wind-load engineering, Florida Product Approval, permits, final inspection, and an insurance conversation before installation^[16].

Our verdict: if you are an FPL, Duke, or TECO customer who plans to stay long term and has twelve months of usage data, Florida solar still pencils — in the 9-to-12-year payback range that SurgePV models for investor-owned utility customers, and longer in a low-export-credit territory^[3]. Those are estimates, not promises. If you are in OUC, SECO, or KUA territory, run the numbers more carefully and decide whether a battery is doing double duty before you size the array. And if the real reason you want solar is that you are tired of losing power every August, buy the battery on purpose — just do not pretend it is a rate-arbitrage play.

Start with your own numbers. Our solar savings calculator uses real EIA rates with every assumption adjustable. If you are comparing states before you buy, the California guide and Texas guide cover the two markets that bracket Florida's, and Is Solar Worth It in 2026 covers the post-credit national picture.