Florida solar laws in 2026, in plain English

Solar rights: HOAs and cities can't ban it

Cities and counties can't ban solar panels, and neither can deed restrictions, covenants or homeowners' associations. An association may pick where panels go on the roof, facing south or within 45° east or west of due south, but only if that doesn't impair the system's effective operation. Whoever wins a lawsuit over it gets attorney's fees.

What it means: Your HOA can shape placement but can't say no. There's no "10%" rule in the text, and condo patio railings are excluded.

HOA solar rules in Florida

Solar easements

You can get a written easement from a neighbor to keep sunlight reaching your panels. It must be recorded like a deed and spell out the properties, the angles of sky it protects, where it crosses the neighbor's land, and any payment.

What it means: 163.04 limits HOAs and local governments, not neighbors. If shade from next door worries you, an easement is the tool the law provides, and it takes the neighbor's agreement.

Solar contract disclosures

Every agreement to sell or lease a home solar system needs a separate written statement, in at least 12-point type and acknowledged by you separately, covering up to 32 items: the installer's license number, whether you're buying or leasing, the total cost with interest and fees, tax incentives the price relied on, how savings were estimated, any lien or UCC-1 filing, and a right to rescind for at least 3 business days.

What it means: No separate disclosure statement is a reason not to sign.

What to check in the disclosure

Three days to cancel a home sale

For a sale made at your home, you can cancel until midnight of the third business day after you sign. Written notice in any form works, in person or by mail, and a mailed notice counts from the postmark.

What it means: Put it in writing and keep proof of when you mailed it.

How to cancel

Tougher penalties for targeting seniors and military families

Unfair or deceptive practices aimed at a senior (60 or older), a person with a disability, or a servicemember, veteran or their spouse or dependent child carry civil penalties of up to $15,000 per violation, and restitution to the victim comes first.

What it means: Report it to the Florida Attorney General's office.

Where to report a solar company

Residential PACE financing

Since 2024, a PACE loan for a home must pass set checks: the assessment generally can't exceed 20% of the home's just value without your mortgage holder's consent, and there are no balloon payments or prepayment penalties. You acknowledge an itemized disclosure line by line, can cancel within 3 business days, and the lien ranks with county taxes. A seller must disclose it to a buyer.

What it means: PACE is secured by your home the way property taxes are. Read the disclosure before you sign.

Solar financing in Florida

Leases are legal; selling you rooftop power isn't

Anyone supplying electricity to the public is a regulated utility. The net metering rule allows leasing a system from a third party on terms that don't include buying electricity from it, and the Public Service Commission has ruled that fixed lease payments aren't a sale of electricity.

What it means: No company can sell you power from panels on your roof by the kWh. A lease with a fixed payment is legal.

Why power sales aren't allowed · Solar leases

Property tax

For homes, the value added by a renewable energy device, including panels, inverters and batteries, installed on or after January 1, 2013, may not be counted in your assessed value.

What it means: Solar doesn't raise your property tax assessment.

Florida solar tax breaks

Sales tax

Solar energy systems and their components are exempt from Florida sales tax. The Florida Solar Energy Center certifies the list of qualifying equipment.

What it means: A quote shouldn't add sales tax on qualifying solar equipment.

Florida solar tax breaks

Private providers

You or your contractor can hire a licensed private provider to review plans and inspect the work. The building department is then limited mostly to checking that the forms are complete, and for a single-trade job on a one- or two-family home it has 5 business days to flag missing documents or the permit is deemed approved.

What it means: Ask whether your installer uses a private provider in your county.

How long going solar takes

Owner-builders

Homeowners can act as their own contractor on a home they'll live in, supervising the work on site; selling or leasing it within a year creates a presumption it was built to sell. A separate solar-only clause, which requires a licensed electrician for the wiring, applies only where the local government took part in a federal Rooftop Solar Challenge grant.

What it means: Many counties let homeowners pull their own solar permit. Check your county's owner-builder rules first.

Installing solar yourself

Net metering at the big four utilities

FPL, Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric and FPU must interconnect and net meter customer solar up to 2 MW, in three tiers: 10 kW or less, over 10 to 100 kW, and over 100 kW to 2 MW. Extra kWh become credit on the next month's bill, and leftover credit is paid once a year at a much lower rate.

What it means: A home system of 10 kW or less is Tier 1, which has no application fee and needs no liability insurance.

Florida net metering

City utilities and co-ops

Every city-owned utility and electric co-op that sells power at retail had to create a standardized interconnection agreement and net metering program by July 1, 2009, and each sets its own terms.

What it means: Credit for exported power varies widely outside the big four.

Solar by utility

Plug-in and balcony solar

Florida hasn't passed a plug-in or balcony solar law. Solar wired into your home needs your utility's interconnection approval, a permit and an inspection.

What it means: A kit can't simply be plugged in without that approval.

Plug-in solar in Florida

Going off the grid

No state law requires a home to buy electricity, but a working septic system must connect to an available public sewer within 365 days of written notice.

What it means: Cutting the power line is up to you; water and sewer hookups can be local or state rules.

Living off the grid in Florida