Florida Solar Incentives 2026: Tax Breaks + Net Metering

Florida solar incentives in 2026 come down to three things: a sales-tax exemption on the equipment (batteries included), a property-tax exclusion that keeps solar off your assessed value, and full-retail net metering at the investor-owned utilities (FPL, Duke, Tampa Electric and Florida Public Utilities). There is no state tax credit, state rebate or SREC (solar-certificate) market, and the 30% federal credit ended for systems completed after December 31, 2025.

What has changed this year is the fine print. FPL's minimum base bill rose from $25 to $30 a month on January 1, 2026, which is the floor a solar home pays even at zero net usage. Orlando's OUC stops paying full retail for exported power to new solar customers when its billing-system changes land in Fall 2026 — and the replacement rate is roughly half. And nearly every residential solar sale or lease over 1 kW must come with a separate, 32-item disclosure statement and at least three business days to rescind — a state law your sales rep may not bring up.

Florida solar incentives 2026 at a glance

Does Florida have a state solar tax credit or rebate in 2026?

No. Florida has no personal income tax, so a state solar tax credit has nothing to offset, and there is no state rebate program open today. There is no SREC market. The one large federal grant aimed at Florida homes, a $156 million Solar for All award to a coalition led by the Solar and Energy Loan Fund (SELF) — after the state itself, as the Pensacola News Journal reported in 2023, declined to apply — was cancelled by EPA on August 7, 2025.

So a Florida proposal that shows a "state incentive," "Florida rebate" or "state tax credit" line is describing something that does not exist. Ask what program it refers to; it is usually one of the two tax exemptions below relabelled, or the expired federal credit.

How does the Florida solar sales-tax exemption work?

Florida Statute §212.08(7)(hh) exempts "solar energy systems or any component thereof" from sales and use tax. The Florida Solar Energy Center certifies the qualifying equipment list to the Department of Revenue. The Department's Tax Information Publication 19A01-09 (August 2019) spells it out: solar collectors, inverters and other power-conditioning equipment, mounting brackets and structural supports, and "storage unit" equipment including batteries all qualify. One limit: the exemption "is not available when the cost of the solar equipment cannot be separated from the total cost of the product."

What this is worth: on $20,000 of equipment in a $30,000 project, skipping the 6% state tax (and the county surtax that rides on it) saves $1,200 or more. Two checks for a quote. First, the exemption is on equipment; the statute says nothing about installation labor, so do not assume labor is tax-free. Second, the exemption should already be built into the price — a line adding sales tax on the panels or battery is a mistake worth flagging.

Does solar raise my property taxes in Florida?

No. Florida Statute §193.624(2)(a) says that for a home, "an increase in the just value of the property attributable to the installation of a renewable energy source device may not be considered" in the assessed value. The definition of a renewable energy source device expressly includes "power conditioning and storage devices," so a battery is covered too. The exclusion applies to devices installed on or after January 1, 2013. There is no application: the property appraiser simply leaves the value out.

What it is worth depends on your millage, which is set by your county, city, school board and special districts. If the appraiser would otherwise add $25,000 of just value for the system, at 15 mills (1.5%) the exclusion saves about $375 a year, more in higher-millage districts, for as long as you own the home. As with every property-tax exemption, it does not lower your bill — it prevents a new charge. A proposal counting it as year-one savings is counting the absence of a tax as income.

How does net metering work in Florida in 2026?

Net metering is the largest incentive on this list, and the one that varies most by address. Florida's statute (§366.91) requires every utility — investor-owned, municipal and cooperative — to offer a net metering program, but it does not set the credit rate. PSC Rule 25-6.065 sets the terms for the investor-owned utilities — Florida Power & Light (FPL), Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric and Florida Public Utilities — while each municipal utility's or co-op's governing board sets its own. The rule has not changed since 2008; the 2022 bill to phase down credits (HB 741) was vetoed by Governor DeSantis on April 27, 2022.

What does net metering pay at FPL, Duke, Tampa Electric and FPUC?

Under Rule 25-6.065, each kilowatt-hour (kWh) you export "shall be credited to the customer's energy consumption for the next month's billing cycle." Credits roll forward for up to twelve months, and at the end of each calendar year the utility pays you for any unused credits "at an average annual rate based on the investor-owned utility's COG-1, as-available energy tariff" — its avoided cost, well below the retail rate. The tiers are measured in AC (what the inverter puts out), not the DC panel rating: the rule multiplies DC nameplate by 0.85. Tier 1 covers systems up to 10 kW AC (about 11.8 kW DC) and "shall not be charged fees in addition to those charged to other retail customers," with no liability insurance for the PV system and no disconnect-switch cost unless the utility pays for it. Tier 2 (10–100 kW AC) requires up to $1 million of liability insurance and, at Tampa Electric, a $250 application fee; that is why a system pushed just over 11.8 kW DC needs a reason. Our Florida net metering guide walks the tiers and the December true-up in detail.

The catch is the minimum bill. FPL's residential tariff effective January 2026 states that customers "whose monthly base electric service costs fall below $30 are subject to a minimum $30 base bill" — up from $25 in 2025, alongside a base charge that rose from $9.55 to $10.52. Duke Energy Florida "will continue charging a minimum usage fee of $30 per month"; the $12.45 customer charge counts toward it, so a net-zero home sees an adjustment of up to about $17.55 to reach the $30 floor. A solar home that nets to zero still pays those. FPL's four-year rate agreement, approved by the PSC on November 20, 2025, took the typical 1,000-kWh bill in most of Florida from $134.14 to $136.64 for 2026; the settlement text does not mention net metering. Details for each utility: FPL solar in 2026 and Duke Energy Florida solar in 2026.

What do OUC, JEA, GRU, Lakeland and Tallahassee pay for exported solar?

• OUC (Orlando). OUC's TruNet Solar tariff splits customers by one date. Submit a complete interconnection application, with payment, before July 1, 2025 and your exports are credited through June 30, 2045 at the non-fuel base charge plus the fuel charge on your retail rate schedule — 6.783¢ plus 4.767¢, about 11.6¢ per kWh on OUC's October 2025 residential sheet, excluding the conservation adder on usage above 1,000 kWh. Everyone after that date is credited at the Community Solar Energy rate, defined on tariff Sheet 5.925 as the standard levelized fuel rate plus 0.7¢ per kWh — roughly 5.5¢, less than half — through June 30, 2030, and at the levelized fuel charge after. OUC is running a temporary full-retail grace period until its billing-system changes take effect in Fall 2026 (its solar page gives October 31, 2026 as the date), and says it will true up any remaining solar bank balance before the switch. A proposal for a new Orlando customer that models 25 years of retail credits is wrong from the first bill.
• JEA (Jacksonville). "Customers who send energy to JEA will receive an energy credit at JEA's fuel rate" — the fuel component only, not the full retail rate — with any year-end balance paid out. Self-consumption, not export, is what pays in JEA territory, which changes how a system should be sized.
• GRU (Gainesville). Excess energy "will be credited to the customer at GRU's current fuel adjustment rate"; customer and demand charges still apply, and GRU's page says even Tier 1 systems "may maintain" at least $100,000 of liability coverage.
• Lakeland Electric. Net metering is "credited back to the customer at the full retail rate" for residential systems up to 10 kW — but Lakeland bills rooftop-solar homes on its Solar Price Plan (a $5.77/kW peak-demand charge plus a 2.674¢/kWh energy rate), so "retail" means that plan's rate, and a savings model built on the standard tariff is wrong.
• City of Tallahassee. Full retail value "including taxes" for systems up to 100 kW, but "credits carry over month to month, but not year to year," and the city never writes a check — oversizing is wasted there.

If your quote does not name the export rate and the utility's rule it comes from, the savings number underneath it is a guess.

Which Florida utilities pay a solar or battery rebate in 2026?

Almost none. FPL, Duke Energy Florida and Tampa Electric do not advertise a rooftop solar or battery rebate; the programs Duke listed in its September 2025 rate release are efficiency rebates only. The exception is OUC, which pays "$150 for every kilowatt-hour (kWh) of designed storage capacity" of a battery, "up to a maximum amount of $2,000," for systems up to 20 kW. The catch: you must "forfeit eligibility to receive the TruNet Full Retail Rate" on exported energy. For a customer who is already on the post-2025 rate that trade may make sense; for a grandfathered customer with full retail through 2045, a $2,000 rebate is unlikely to beat 19 years of retail credits. JEA's earlier solar battery rebate is reported closed to new requests; ask JEA whether a successor program is open before a quote counts on it. If a proposal shows any Florida utility rebate, ask for the program name and who receives the payment.

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

Not for any homeowner who owns the system. Public Law 119-21 — the July 4, 2025 budget law, often called the OBBB — ended the 30% residential clean-energy credit (§25D) "with respect to any expenditures made after December 31, 2025." The statute treats an expenditure as made when the original installation is completed, so paying in 2025 for a system finished in 2026 does not preserve it. An installation completed in 2026 gets no federal credit for the homeowner who owns it — cash, loan or any other purchase structure. One thing does survive: if your installation was completed in 2025 and the credit came to more than your tax bill, the unused §25D amount still carries forward to later years. A quote that still shows it is a 30% tax credit red flag, and our guide to the OBBB and Florida solar covers the timing rules.

The commercial credit (§48E) belongs to whoever owns the system, so on a lease or PPA it goes to the provider. The provider can claim it only if the project clears the timing and sourcing rules: where construction begins after July 4, 2026, the system must be placed in service by December 31, 2027, and the equipment must clear the foreign-entity-of-concern (FEOC) sourcing rules. The same law's lease exclusion covers leased solar water heaters and small wind turbines, not rooftop PV, so it did not by itself end the credit on leased rooftop solar — but whether a provider actually qualifies on a residential roof is unresolved, and that is the provider's problem to prove rather than a fact you should bank on. The credit is the provider's, not yours, so it should not appear as your benefit on paper. What you are entitled to see is the rate, the escalator and the term, which the PPA rate guide and the lease vs. loan vs. cash comparison walk through.

What must a Florida solar contract disclose?

Florida has a dedicated solar-sales statute. Chapter 520, Part II ("Distributed Energy Generation System Sales," created in 2017 and expanded July 1, 2023) applies to any sale or lease of a system over 1 kW or 1 kWh used mainly on site. A seller that also installs must be licensed under Chapter 489. Every covered agreement must include a written statement "printed in at least 12-point type that is separate from the agreement" and "separately acknowledged by the buyer or lessee," covering 32 items. The ones that matter most in a quote review:

• Whether you are buying or leasing, in substantially these words: "You will lease (not own) the system installed on your property" or "You will own (not lease) the system installed on your property."
• The installer's name and state contractor license number. The installer must hold a Chapter 489 license — a solar contractor is defined at §489.105(3)(o), but other certified or registered contractors, such as electrical or roofing contractors, may also install PV within their scope. Verify whichever license number appears on the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) license search; our Florida license check guide shows how.
• The total cost "including any interest, installation fees, document preparation fees, service fees, or other fees," and the payment schedule; on a lease, every payment and the total over the term.
• "Each state or federal tax incentive or rebate, if any, relied upon by the seller in determining the price" — which in 2026 should be none for a purchase.
• The assumptions behind any savings estimate, plus the statement "future electric utility rates are estimates only."
• The system's make and model, size, first-year production, annual degradation, and "the status of utility compensation for excess energy generated by the system at the time of contract signing" — the net-metering rule above, in writing.
• Any production guarantee, who owns the tax credits, whether maintenance is included, roof and insurance warnings, and whether a lease transfers to a buyer of the house.
• Whether a lien or a UCC-1 fixture filing (a public notice that the lender or lessor has a claim on the equipment) will be placed on your home.
• "The right to rescind the agreement for a period of at least 3 business days after the agreement is signed."

The statement can be delivered electronically within 24 hours if you acknowledge receipt. A seller who "willfully and intentionally" violates the part faces a fine of up to the cost of the system. The owner can also recover "an amount equal to any finance charges and fees charged to the owner under the agreement, plus attorney fees and costs." Note the exemptions: the part does not cover a sale paid in full by the installation date, a system on non-residential property, or a sale bundled with the home itself. Separately, Florida's home-solicitation law (§501.025) gives you until midnight of the third business day to cancel a "home solicitation sale" — a sale pitched and signed at your home rather than the seller's place of business, with exceptions (for example, a sale you specifically requested). For what happens after those windows close, see can you cancel a solar contract.

Should you use PACE to finance solar in Florida?

Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing repays a solar loan through a charge added to your property-tax bill. It is common in Florida and was reformed in 2024 (Chapter 2024-273, effective July 1, 2024). For residential PACE the statute now requires:

• Total assessment no more than 20% of the property's just value (more only with the mortgage holder's written consent); estimated annual payment no more than 10% of household income, confirmed with evidence.
• Maximum term of 20 years, and no longer than the improvement's useful life; no PACE on a home with a reverse mortgage; minimum project of $2,500.
• Final funds released only after the permit is closed and the work verified.
• A right to cancel "within 3 business days after signing the financing agreement without any financial penalty," and prepayment without penalty beyond nominal administrative costs.

Two things the reform did not change. The lien attaches to the property and transfers with it, and — per the Palm Beach County Tax Collector's PACE FAQ — FHA, VA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may not insure a mortgage on a home carrying a PACE assessment, and other lenders need not accept the lien, which can complicate a sale or refinance. And the program's status is unsettled in practice. The Florida Supreme Court on December 18, 2025 affirmed, on finality grounds, the orders leaving the Florida PACE Funding Agency's bond validation in place, but, according to The Bond Buyer (July 23, 2026), governments or tax collectors in about 42 of 67 counties were refusing to collect the agency's assessments, with the agency's appeal pending at the Florida Supreme Court. If a quote is built on PACE, compare it against a plain solar loan (see solar loan dealer fees), and check whether your county's tax collector is actually collecting PACE before you rely on it. One nonprofit alternative: SELF lends up to $50,000 unsecured, with no minimum credit score.

Before you sign: 5 incentive lines to check in a Florida solar quote

1. No "30% federal tax credit" on the price of any system you will own, and no "state credit," "Florida rebate" or "state incentive" line at all.
2. No sales tax on the equipment. The exemption should already be in the price; a tax line on panels, inverter or battery is an error.
3. The export rate and the rule it comes from — "full retail under PSC Rule 25-6.065" at FPL, Duke or Tampa Electric, or your municipal utility's actual credit (OUC's rate after November 1, 2026; JEA's fuel rate). Then the minimum bill: $30 a month at FPL and Duke is the floor your savings cannot go below.
4. The Chapter 520 disclosure statement, separate and separately signed, with the installer's license number, the incentives "relied upon" (none for a 2026 purchase), the compensation status for exports, and your three-business-day rescission right. If it is missing on a financed or leased deal, the seller is out of compliance (cash sales paid in full by the install date are exempt); ask for it before you sign.
5. Who owns the system and who claims what. On a lease or PPA any §48E credit is the provider's, not yours; the contract must say whether it transfers when you sell and whether a UCC-1 will be filed on your home. On a purchase, the two exemptions are yours, automatically.

Florida solar incentive FAQ

Do I need to apply for the property-tax exclusion?

Not under the statute. §193.624 tells the property appraiser not to consider the added value; there is no form to file for a home. If you see the system's value showing up in your assessment, contact your county property appraiser and cite §193.624(2)(a).

Are batteries covered by the Florida exemptions?

Yes on both. The FSEC-certified list published by the Department of Revenue for the sales-tax exemption includes batteries, and §193.624's property-tax definition covers "power conditioning and storage devices." Whether a battery is worth buying is a separate question — see do you need a solar battery in Florida.

Can my HOA stop me from installing solar in Florida?

No. A homeowners association (HOA) cannot. Florida Statute §163.04 says a deed restriction or covenant "may not prohibit or have the effect of prohibiting solar collectors … from being installed," and "a property owner may not be denied permission to install" them. The association may choose where on the roof panels go, but only "within an orientation to the south or within 45° east or west of due south" and only "if such determination does not impair the effective operation of the solar collectors." If it comes to litigation, the prevailing party gets attorney's fees.

Is there a hurricane or insurance incentive for solar in Florida?

No incentive, but there are requirements. The Florida Building Code requires rooftop solar and its mounting to be designed for the wind loads in the national ASCE 7 standard. On insurance, the Chapter 520 statement warns that solar "may impact your future insurance premiums," and Citizens Property Insurance's FAQ on whether its policies cover solar panels says only to contact your agent to determine the extent of your coverage. Systems over 10 kW AC at the investor-owned utilities also carry the net-metering insurance requirement (Tampa Electric requires it for batteries of 1 kW or more); see the Tier 2 insurance guide and Florida homeowners insurance and solar.

Is solar still worth it in Florida without the federal credit?

Often, but the payback is longer than it was with the federal credit, and the answer depends on your utility's export rate and minimum bill more than on any incentive. Our Florida solar panel cost guide has current per-watt pricing and get solar now or wait runs the timing math.

Get your Florida solar quote checked, free

If you have a Florida proposal in hand, send it over and we will check the incentive lines, the export-rate assumption for your specific utility, the minimum bill, and whether the Chapter 520 disclosure is complete — the review takes about 15 minutes and costs you nothing. Start a free quote review, or read how the review works first. Solarfying is an independent solar broker; if you go ahead with an installer we introduce, that installer may pay us a referral fee. Homeowners never pay for the review.

Figures are from the 2026 Florida Statutes (§§212.05, 212.08(7)(hh), 212.02(26), 193.624, 163.04, 366.91, 501.021–501.025, 520.20–520.26, 163.08–163.087, 489.105); Department of Revenue TIP 19A01-09; PSC Rule 25-6.065 F.A.C.; the FPL residential tariffs effective January 2025 and January 2026 and FPL's November 20, 2025 rate-agreement release; Duke Energy Florida's minimum-bill page and 2025–2026 rate releases; Tampa Electric's net-metering application; OUC, JEA, GRU, Lakeland Electric and City of Tallahassee net-metering pages (2026); Public Law 119-21, 26 U.S.C. §25D(d) and the IRS Residential Clean Energy Credit page; EPA's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund page; Chapter 2024-273, the Florida Supreme Court's December 18, 2025 opinion in the FPFA bond-validation cases, the Palm Beach County Tax Collector's PACE FAQ, and The Bond Buyer (July 23, 2026); the 2023 Florida Building Code – Residential; and Citizens Property Insurance FAQ 3011. Rates, rebates and utility rules change; confirm current terms with your utility and a tax professional before relying on them. This article is general information, not legal or tax advice.