Florida
Florida solar in 2026
Here is what almost nobody says plainly: Florida is now one of the last large states where the utility credits your exported solar power at the full retail rate. California gave that up in 2023. Arizona gave it up in 2016. Florida still has it, written into administrative code, and the legislature's 2022 attempt to kill it got vetoed. That one surviving rule does more for Florida solar math than any incentive.
How Florida net metering actually works
The mechanics live in Florida Administrative Code Rule 25-6.065 and they are cleaner than most states. Excess kWh in any month become a credit on next month's bill at the full energy rate. Credits roll forward up to twelve months. Whatever is still unused at the end of your January billing cycle gets paid out in cash, but at the utility's avoided cost rate (the COG-1 tariff), which is a fraction of retail. The design tells you how to size: cover your own annual usage, do not build a power plant, because the year end payout rate is deliberately unattractive.
Two more mechanics worth knowing. Interconnection is tiered, and Tier 1 systems under 10 kW AC skip application fees and insurance requirements. And the rule measures system size in AC terms using a 0.85 conversion from DC nameplate, so a 11.7 kW DC array still squeaks under the Tier 1 line. Your installer should know this. Ask anyway.
Source: Florida Administrative Code Rule 25-6.065. The 2022 bill that would have phased this out, HB 741, was vetoed by Governor DeSantis (veto announcement). No replacement legislation has passed since.
FPL and Duke just went opposite directions
FPL serves more homes than any utility in America, and its January 2026 rate settlement raises bills every year through 2029. Duke Energy Florida went the other way and cut typical residential bills roughly 25 percent in 2026 after fuel savings and the end of storm surcharges. Same state, same rule book, opposite bill trajectories. Solar payback in FPL territory gets better every year of that settlement. In Duke territory it just got noticeably worse.
| FPL residential (RS-1), 1,000 kWh month | Amount |
|---|---|
| Base charge | $10.52/mo |
| Energy charge, first 1,000 kWh | 7.865 c/kWh |
| Energy charge above 1,000 kWh | 8.865 c/kWh |
| Fuel charge, first 1,000 kWh | 2.893 c/kWh |
| Typical total bill, January 2026 | $136.64 |
| Scheduled typical bill, 2027 | $143.05 |
| Scheduled typical bill, December 2029 | $148.15 |
Source: FPL residential rate summary, January 2026 and the approved 2025 rate settlement (Florida PSC). Duke's 2026 bill decrease: Duke Energy release. We could not verify current Tampa Electric line items from primary tariff documents, so we do not quote them.
Incentives: two exemptions, no credit, no rebates
Florida keeps it simple. You will not find a state check or a tax credit here, and with no state income tax there is nothing to credit anyway. What you get instead are two permanent exemptions that quietly protect the deal.
| Exemption | What it saves | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Sales tax | 6 percent state sales tax never applies to solar energy systems | Section 212.08(7), Florida Statutes |
| Property tax | 100 percent of the value a residential system adds is excluded from assessment | Section 193.624, Florida Statutes |
| Federal 25D homeowner credit | Gone. Ended for purchases after December 31, 2025 | CRS summary of OBBBA |
| Federal 48E via lease or PPA | Survives for third party owners, who price some of it into your rate | Same source; confirm terms in any TPO contract |
Production by city
Our PVGIS runs, August 17, 2026, same model settings statewide. The Sunshine State earns the name unevenly: Tampa beats Tallahassee by 6 percent, with afternoon thunderstorms and humidity shaving everyone below the desert Southwest. Florida compensates with the biggest average systems in our coverage, 14.75 kW per EnergySage, because the AC load is relentless.
| City | kWh per kW per year | Annual output, 14 kW system |
|---|---|---|
| Tampa | 1,578 | 22,092 kWh |
| Miami | 1,553 | 21,742 kWh |
| Orlando | 1,540 | 21,560 kWh |
| Jacksonville | 1,502 | 21,028 kWh |
| Tallahassee | 1,488 | 20,832 kWh |
Method: PVGIS v5.2, NSRDB radiation database, south facing, 30 degree tilt, 14 percent losses. Model runs by Solar Learning Lab.
Florida numbers, your inputs
The Florida case is volume, not rate. At $2.17/W cash median, installs here are the cheapest of our five states, and retail rate net metering means every exported kWh is worth the same as one you use. What holds payback near 10.7 years is the 15 cent power price. If you are in FPL territory, remember that price is scheduled to climb through 2029, which shortens every payback estimate below.
Slider bounds come from our PVGIS runs across five Florida cities. Tallahassee sits at the bottom of the range, Tampa at the top.
National cash median was $3.50 per watt for 2024 installs (LBNL). Massachusetts quotes often run higher. Use your quote.
Assumptions you can change
Use the rate on your actual lease or PPA quote. There is no published statewide average we trust enough to hardcode.
Cash purchase
$17,143 after state credit
- Year 1 benefit
- $155/mo
- Payback
- 9 years
- 20 year net position
- $28,022
No federal credit and Florida offers no state income tax credit. The working parts of the deal: full retail net metering at the investor owned utilities, no sales tax on the equipment, and the system value stays out of your property assessment.
Solar loan
$239/mo 15 yr payment
- Year 1 net
- -$84/mo
- Upfront
- $0
- 20 year net position
- $2,092
We price loans at $3.37 per watt: the EnergySage Florida cash figure plus the $1.20 national loan-over-cash spread LBNL documents, since dealer fees get built into loan pricing.
Lease / PPA
$0 down you buy the power
- Year 1 net
- -$90/mo
- Upfront
- $0
- 20 year net position
- -$22,855
The provider keeps the federal 48E business credit and prices some of it into your rate. Third party ownership is legal in Florida, but read the escalator clause twice.
Estimates, not quotes. Inputs use the Florida average rate from EIA (Table 5.6.A, May 2026), our own PVGIS production runs, and EnergySage August 2026 cost data. Your utility matters here: FPL rates are set to rise through 2029 while Duke cut bills in 2026, and those two paths change the math in opposite directions. We are a solar installer and we also partner with other solar companies. See our disclosures.
The fine print people miss
- Net metering credits reset to a cash payout at avoided cost every January. Oversizing past your annual usage donates margin to the utility (Rule 25-6.065).
- Duke territory payback got worse in 2026 precisely because bills fell. Cheaper grid power is good news for your budget and bad news for solar ROI. Both things are true.
- Hurricane exposure makes Florida one of the states where the insurance conversation belongs in the solar conversation. Call your insurer before you sign, not after the panels are up.
- Florida licenses solar contractors specifically (CVC license class). Verify any bidder at MyFloridaLicense before letting them on the roof.
Top rated installers in Florida's biggest solar metro
Florida licenses solar contractors at the state level, so a company installing in Miami can usually quote Orlando or Tampa too. We anchor our ratings research in the Miami metro, the state's densest residential solar market. These are the top Google Maps results there at a 4.4 rating floor, and a useful starting bench wherever you live in the state. Verify any contractor's CVC license on the DBPR site before signing.
VOLT Home
Miami, FL
4.8(668 Google reviews)
Goldin Solar
Miami, FL
4.5(161 Google reviews)
Nova NRG
Miami, FL
4.8(133 Google reviews)
Lux Solar
Miami, FL
4.7(111 Google reviews)
Terra Energy Solar
Miami, FL
4.6(101 Google reviews)
Star scores come straight from Google Maps, pulled August 17, 2026 through DataForSEO. Nobody bought a slot on this list and inclusion is not our endorsement; do your own diligence on licensing and recent reviews.
Go deeper: Miami
Miami waives every city solar permit fee and processes applications in three business days, the strongest city level incentive we found anywhere in the country. The dedicated guide covers the folio number rule, county fee tables, hurricane engineering requirements and a Miami specific production curve: Miami solar in 2026.
Check your home against these numbers
Four quick questions, then a range built from this page's EIA and PVGIS data. We are a solar installer and we also partner with other solar companies. Details in our disclosures.
What does your monthly electric bill look like?
Florida average is $167 per month (EIA, 2024).