The Villages, 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 excludes 100% of the added value from your home’s assessed value for tax purposes. This means you get all the benefits of increased home value without paying higher property taxes on that improvement.

For residential properties, the exemption applies to solar equipment installed on or after January 1, 2013, and continues through December 31, 2037. The exemption covers solar panels, inverters, batteries, mounting equipment, and other essential components that are part of your solar system. However, it doesn’t include backup systems or equipment that would be needed regardless of whether you have solar.

There’s no application deadline to worry about—as long as your system is installed before the program expires at the end of 2037, you’ll receive this benefit automatically through your property tax assessment. This exemption works alongside your solar investment, helping you save money on both energy bills and property taxes for years to come.

Florida’s Sales Tax Exemption eliminates the state’s sales tax on solar energy systems and all their components. When you purchase solar equipment in Florida, you won’t pay the standard 6% state sales tax (plus any local sales tax) on items like solar panels, inverters, batteries, mounting hardware, wiring, and other essential system components. This exemption applies whether you’re installing a solar electric system, solar water heating, or other solar energy applications.

The financial benefit depends on your total system cost. For example, on a typical $30,000 solar installation, this exemption saves you approximately $1,800 in state sales tax. The exemption covers a comprehensive list of equipment certified by the Florida Solar Energy Center, including photovoltaic modules, inverters, batteries, charge controllers, mounting brackets, wiring specific to the solar system, and even pool blankets used as passive solar collectors. There are no income requirements or system size limitations—any Florida resident purchasing qualifying solar equipment automatically receives this exemption at the point of sale.

To claim this benefit, you’ll need to provide documentation to your solar installer or equipment seller certifying that the purchased equipment will be used exclusively in a solar energy system. Your installer should handle this paperwork as part of the sales process. Keep in mind that standard household wiring and structural components that would exist regardless of the solar system (like your roof itself) don’t qualify for the exemption. There are no application deadlines or expiration dates—this exemption remains available as long as Florida law maintains it.

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 utilities in Florida—including Florida Power & Light (FPL), Duke Energy, Tampa Electric (TECO), and Orlando Utility 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, Gainesville Regional Utility, 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). It’s important to note that FPL and Duke Energy customers face minimum monthly bills of $25-30 that went into effect in 2022, and some utilities like Lakeland Electric require customers to switch to demand-based pricing plans.

Most Florida utilities allow excess credits to roll over month-to-month throughout the year. At the end of the annual cycle (typically December), any remaining credits are either paid out or reset to zero. The payout rate for these year-end credits varies widely—from full retail rate (City of Winter Park) to just 1.5-3 cents per kWh (most utilities). Some utilities like City of Tallahassee and Lakeland Electric allow credits to roll forward indefinitely without an annual reset. All residential solar customers in Florida are eligible for their utility’s net metering or net billing program, though specific rate structures and requirements differ by provider.