Solar Guide

Florida’s Property Tax Exemption for renewable energy systems protects homeowners from paying higher property taxes when they install solar panels or other qualifying renewable energy equipment. Under this state law, the added value that solar panels bring to your home is completely exempt from property tax assessment for residential properties. This means your property taxes won’t increase even though your home’s actual value has gone up due to the solar installation.

For residential properties, 100% of the renewable energy system’s value is exempt from property tax assessment, while commercial properties receive an 80% exemption. The law covers a wide range of equipment including solar panels, inverters, storage systems, mounting hardware, and other essential components of renewable energy systems. To qualify, the renewable energy equipment must have been installed on or after January 1, 2013 for residential properties, or January 1, 2018 for commercial properties.

This exemption is particularly valuable because it’s permanent for the life of the equipment and automatically applies without requiring separate applications. However, homeowners should note that this exemption is set to expire on December 31, 2037, after which the law will revert to covering only residential properties. The exemption helps make solar installations more financially attractive by ensuring that the investment in clean energy won’t result in higher annual property tax bills.

Florida’s Sales Tax Exemption for solar energy systems eliminates the state’s sales and use tax on solar equipment and components. This means homeowners don’t pay the typical 6% state sales tax (plus any local sales tax) when purchasing solar panels, inverters, batteries, mounting equipment, and other qualifying solar system components. The exemption applies to both solar electric (photovoltaic) systems and solar thermal systems used for water heating, space heating and cooling, and other energy applications.

To qualify for this exemption, the equipment must be part of a solar energy system that collects, transfers, converts, stores, or uses solar energy as an alternative to conventional energy sources like electricity or natural gas. The exemption covers a comprehensive list of components including solar panels, inverters, batteries, mounting hardware, wiring specific to the solar system, and various accessories when used as integral parts of the solar installation. There are no income restrictions or system size limitations, and the exemption has no expiration date – it’s an ongoing benefit for all qualifying solar purchases in Florida.

Homeowners should know that sellers are required to document exempt sales, typically through a certification form completed by the purchaser. The exemption doesn’t cover standard electrical wiring that would be present regardless of the solar system, and it doesn’t apply to products where solar components are integrated into other items (like solar calculators) where the solar cost can’t be separated from the total product cost. This exemption works alongside other solar incentives and can provide significant savings on the upfront cost of going solar.

Net metering in Florida allows homeowners with solar panels to receive credits on their electric bill for excess energy their system produces and sends back to the grid. When your solar panels generate more electricity than your home uses, that extra power flows to the utility grid and you receive credits that reduce your future electric bills. The specific terms and credit values vary significantly depending on which utility company serves your area.

Most Florida utilities offer 1:1 net metering, meaning you receive full retail rate credits (typically 10-15 cents per kWh) for excess solar energy during the billing period. However, some utilities like Kissimmee Utility Authority and Sumter Electric Co-op provide export credits at reduced rates of 8-9.5 cents per kWh. At the end of each year (usually December), most utilities conduct an annual “true-up” where any remaining excess credits are either paid out at much lower wholesale rates (1.5-3 cents per kWh) or forfeited, and your account resets to zero. Some utilities also charge monthly minimum bills ranging from $25-30 or additional fees for solar customers.

To participate in net metering, you must have an approved solar installation that meets your utility’s interconnection requirements and safety standards. There are no statewide deadlines, but some utilities have changed their policies recently – for example, Clay Electric Cooperative ended 1:1 net metering for new customers in May 2022, and Gainesville Regional Utility ended it in April 2024. It’s important to understand your specific utility’s net metering policy before installing solar, as the financial benefits can vary dramatically between providers, and some utilities may have capacity limits or waiting lists for new solar customers.