Orlando, FL Solar Panels

Florida’s Property Tax Exemption for renewable energy systems ensures that installing solar panels or other qualifying equipment won’t increase your property taxes. When you add a solar energy system to your home, the property appraiser cannot include the added value of that equipment when calculating your property’s assessed value. This means you get all the benefits of solar energy—including increased home value—without paying higher property taxes on that improvement.

For residential properties, 100% of the solar system’s value is exempt from property tax assessment. For commercial or non-residential properties, 80% of the system’s value is exempt. The exemption applies to solar panels, inverters, batteries, mounting equipment, and other essential components that are part of your renewable energy system. To qualify, your system must have been installed on or after January 1, 2013 for residential properties, or January 1, 2018 for non-residential properties.

This exemption is currently set to expire on December 31, 2037, after which the law will revert to covering only residential properties at 100%. The exemption applies automatically when your property is assessed—you don’t need to pay extra fees to receive this benefit, though you may need to inform your local property appraiser about your solar installation. This incentive works alongside other state and local benefits to make solar energy more affordable for Florida homeowners.

Florida’s Sales Tax Exemption eliminates the state’s sales tax (currently 6% plus any local taxes) on solar energy systems and all their components. This means when you purchase solar panels, inverters, batteries, mounting equipment, and other essential system parts, you won’t pay any Florida sales tax on these items. The exemption applies to both complete solar installations and individual components, whether you’re buying or leasing the equipment.

To qualify, the equipment must be used exclusively as part of a solar energy system that collects, transfers, converts, stores, or uses solar energy for purposes like electricity generation, water heating, or space heating and cooling. The exemption covers a comprehensive list of components including solar panels (photovoltaic modules), inverters, batteries, charge controllers, mounting hardware, wiring specific to the solar system, and even pool blankets when used as passive solar collectors. Your solar installer will handle the documentation by having you certify that the purchased equipment is for exclusive use in a solar energy system.

There are no deadlines or expiration dates for this exemption—it remains available as long as the current Florida law is in effect. One important consideration: the exemption doesn’t apply to standard electrical wiring that would exist in your home regardless of the solar installation, only to wiring that’s unique to the solar system itself. The tax savings happen automatically at the point of purchase, reducing your upfront costs without requiring you to file for a rebate or refund later.

Net metering in Florida allows homeowners with solar panels to receive credits for excess electricity their system sends back to the grid. When your solar panels produce more energy than your home uses, that surplus flows to the utility grid, and you receive credits on your electric bill. These credits offset the cost of electricity you draw from the grid when your panels aren’t producing enough power, such as at night or on cloudy days.

The specific benefits vary significantly by utility company. Most major Florida utilities—including Florida Power & Light (FPL), Duke Energy, Tampa Electric (TECO), and Orlando Utilities Commission (OUC)—offer 1:1 net metering, meaning you receive full retail rate credits for excess energy during the billing cycle. However, some utilities like Kissimmee Utility Authority and Jacksonville Electric Utility use net billing instead, crediting exports at lower wholesale rates (typically 3-9 cents per kWh rather than the full retail rate). Credits generally roll over month to month, but most utilities conduct an annual “true-up” in December or January, paying out remaining credits at reduced wholesale rates (often 1.5-3 cents per kWh) and resetting your account to zero.

Important considerations include minimum monthly bills that some utilities have implemented—FPL charges $25 per month, Duke Energy charges $30 per month, and some utilities require customers to switch to special rate plans. Eligibility is typically available to residential customers who install qualifying solar systems and complete their utility’s interconnection process. The specific net metering policy you’ll receive depends entirely on which utility serves your home, so understanding your local utility’s rules is essential when evaluating solar savings.