Florida solar panel quote: what to check before you sign

Check the license

Florida law defines a solar contractor as one whose services consist of installing, altering, repairing, maintaining, relocating or replacing solar panels for potable solar water heating systems, swimming pool solar heating systems and photovoltaic systems, along with the equipment used with them (section 489.105(3)(o)). The same paragraph says a contractor certified or registered in another category does not need a solar license for services that fall within the scope of its own license.

Either way, look the company up on the Department of Business and Professional Regulation's license search before you sign, match the license holder to the name on the contract, and confirm the license covers the work.

If you signed at home: three business days to cancel

Florida's home solicitation sale law gives you the right to cancel until midnight of the third business day after you sign (section 501.025). It covers a sale over $25 that a seller solicits in person somewhere other than its own place of business, such as your front door, and that you agree to somewhere other than its place of business (section 501.021). A business day is any calendar day except Sunday or a federal holiday.

To cancel, give the seller written notice in person or by mail at the address in the agreement. Notice by mail counts when it is postmarked, and it does not need any particular form, so long as it says in writing that you do not want to be bound. The law does not cover a sale that results from your own request for specific goods or services, so a visit you asked for may not qualify. The federal Cooling-Off Rule can also apply to sales made at your home; our guide to free estimates explains it.

Your HOA cannot say no, but it can choose the spot

Under section 163.04, a deed restriction, covenant or similar agreement may not prohibit solar collectors on the buildings it covers, and an association with the power to approve changes may not deny you permission to install them. It may decide where on the roof they go, within an orientation to the south or within 45 degrees east or west of due south, as long as that does not impair how well the panels work.

In a lawsuit under that section, the side that wins is entitled to its costs and reasonable attorney's fees. You still need to follow your association's application process, so ask the installer whether it will prepare the HOA submission and whether the price assumes a particular roof face.

Net metering and your electric bill

The Florida Public Service Commission's Rule 25-6.065 requires investor-owned utilities to let customers with their own renewable generation net meter, and to install the meter needed at no additional cost. Excess power you send to the grid in a billing cycle is credited to the next month, credits carry forward for up to 12 months, and at the end of each calendar year the utility pays for unused credits at an average annual rate based on its COG-1 as-available energy tariff. Ask what that rate is before a proposal counts year-end credits as savings.

Under the rule, each utility's standard interconnection agreement must require the system to be inspected and approved by local code officials before it runs connected to the utility's grid, so ask who pulls the permit, who schedules the inspections and who files the utility's interconnection application. The rule covers investor-owned utilities; if your power comes from a city utility or an electric cooperative, ask it for its own policy.

If you are offered a lease, note that the rule's definition of customer-owned generation expressly allows leasing the system from a third party on terms that do not include buying electricity from that third party. Ask whether an offer is a lease of equipment or an agreement to buy electricity.

Taxes: what Florida exempts, and the federal credit that ended

Florida exempts solar energy systems and their components from sales tax (section 212.08(7)(hh)), and the Florida Solar Energy Center certifies which equipment counts. For residential property, section 193.624 says the value a solar energy system adds to the property may not be considered when the property is assessed, for systems installed on or after January 1, 2013.

The federal Residential Clean Energy Credit is different. The IRS says it equaled 30% of the cost of qualified clean energy property installed from 2022 through December 31, 2025, and that it is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025. If a proposal for a system you would buy and install now subtracts a 30% federal credit from the price, ask the seller to show in writing what that figure is based on, and check with a tax professional before you rely on it.

If it is financed through PACE

Florida's residential PACE programs can finance a renewable energy improvement such as solar (section 163.08) through an assessment collected with your property taxes (section 163.081). Before a financing agreement can be signed, the program administrator must give you a written estimate and disclosures that you acknowledge one by one, including the total amount financed, the estimated annual assessment, the term, the interest and estimated annual percentage rate, and the total estimated annual cost.

Those disclosures must also tell you that you can cancel within 3 business days after signing without a financial penalty, that you can repay early without a penalty or prepayment fees beyond nominal administrative costs, that a mortgage lender may require the full amount paid off if you sell or refinance, that the assessment creates a lien on the property from the date the agreement is recorded, that utility or insurance savings are not guaranteed and do not reduce the assessment, and that not paying it can lead to a tax certificate and the loss of the property. The administrator must also hold an oral, recorded phone call with you before the agreement is approved.

What a complete solar quote should spell out

Compare proposals on the same terms. Each one should give the system size in kilowatts and the total price, so you can work out the price per watt yourself, and name the panel and inverter make and model, including whether it uses microinverters or a string inverter, and any battery.

Ask how the annual production estimate was calculated, what electricity rate and yearly rate increase the savings figures assume, and whether shade or roof direction were accounted for. If you are financing, ask for the cash price too, so you can see what the financing adds.

Look at the roof before the panels. Ask how old the roof is, what it would cost to remove and reinstall the panels if the roof needs replacing later, and who warrants the roof penetrations against leaks. Finally, get the workmanship warranty and the equipment warranties in writing, and confirm who handles the permit, the inspections and the utility paperwork.