Sunprint
The short answer
At Florida's average electric rate, every $100 of monthly electric bill needs roughly 4 to 5 kW of solar to offset it. So a $300 bill needs about 13 to 16 kW, and a $700 bill needs about 30 to 38 kW.
Two things move that number for your home. The first is your utility: Florida utilities charge roughly 11 to 18 cents per kWh, and a cheaper kWh means the same bill covers more electricity, which takes a bigger system. The second is your roof, which is what a site visit is for. The utility table below shows how much the first one matters.
Already have solar and the bill hasn't dropped the way you expected? This page is about sizing a new system. See why an existing solar bill stays high instead.
Sizing by bill amount
Each figure below assumes the bill you enter is a typical month rather than a summer peak. If one bill jumped and you are not sure why, start with why Florida electric bills spike. Savings are shown as a range because systems are normally sized to cover 75 to 95 percent of yearly usage, not all of it. All five cards use Florida's average electric rate of 14.18 cents per kWh. Your utility may charge more or less, which changes the system size, so see the utility table further down.
A $300 a month electric bill
Worth a serious lookA $300 bill is where solar starts to make obvious sense for most Florida homes.
This is the Florida average (14.18 cents per kWh, rates rising 3% a year). Your utility can change the system size and the 25-year figure, so check what it means for your own provider.
A $400 a month electric bill
Strong caseAt $400 a month you are paying roughly $4,800 a year to your utility, and most of that is energy you could be generating.
This is the Florida average (14.18 cents per kWh, rates rising 3% a year). Your utility can change the system size and the 25-year figure, so check what it means for your own provider.
A $500 a month electric bill
Strong caseA $500 bill usually means a larger home, a pool pump, or electric water heating, all of which run during daylight. If a pool is part of the picture, see our solar for pool homes guide before assuming how much of the bill it explains.
This is the Florida average (14.18 cents per kWh, rates rising 3% a year). Your utility can change the system size and the 25-year figure, so check what it means for your own provider.
A $600 a month electric bill
Strong case, roof permittingAt this level the system needed is large, and roof space becomes the limiting factor more often than budget.
This is the Florida average (14.18 cents per kWh, rates rising 3% a year). Your utility can change the system size and the 25-year figure, so check what it means for your own provider.
A $700 a month electric bill
Strong case, check for waste firstA $700 bill is high even for Florida. Before sizing a system it is worth checking for an inefficiency, such as an aging AC unit or a pool heater running longer than it needs to.
This is the Florida average (14.18 cents per kWh, rates rising 3% a year). Your utility can change the system size and the 25-year figure, so check what it means for your own provider.
These are planning figures, not quotes. They use Florida's average residential rate, so your own utility's rate will shift them. The calculator uses your specific utility, and it also asks which month your bill is from, because a winter bill and a summer bill point to different yearly usage.
Your utility changes the system size
The cards above use Florida's average rate of 14.18 cents per kWh. Your utility's rate can sit well above or below that. A bill is a dollar amount, so at a cheaper rate the same dollars buy more kilowatt-hours, and covering more kilowatt-hours takes a bigger system.
Here is a $400 a month bill at eight of the larger utilities, worked out the same way as the cards above.
| Utility | Cents per kWh | System size (kW) for $400 |
|---|---|---|
| TECO (Tampa Electric) | 15.60 | 15.5 – 19.6 |
| Duke Energy Florida | 15.50 | 15.6 – 19.7 |
| Orlando Utilities (OUC) | 15.24 | 15.8 – 20.1 |
| SECO Energy | 14.98 | 16.1 – 20.4 |
| Clay Electric | 14.02 | 17.2 – 21.8 |
| JEA | 13.84 | 17.4 – 22.1 |
| FPL | 13.71 | 17.6 – 22.3 |
| Lee County Electric (LCEC) | 13.54 | 17.8 – 22.6 |
What that table is telling you
- Size moves a lot. The same $400 bill needs about 16 to 20 kW at Duke Energy Florida but about 18 to 23 kW at Lee County Electric. That means a different amount of roof space and a different system price.
- First-year dollars stay the same. Where exported power is credited at the full retail rate, a $400 bill is $400 whichever utility sends it, so the yearly savings come out the same at $3,501 to $4,435. FPL, Duke and TECO work this way under a state rule. Municipal and co-op utilities set their own export rules, so check yours. What changes with the utility is how big a system it takes to earn those savings.
- The 25-year total moves too. It depends on how fast your utility's rates are assumed to rise, which our calculator sets between 1.5 and 3 percent a year depending on the utility.
Rates are each utility's average residential rate from federal EIA data for 2024 or 2025. Your own rate depends on your plan, so treat these as a starting point.
Is solar worth it at each of these bill levels?
Bill size tells you how much there is to save. It does not tell you whether the math works for your home. These are the things that decide it.
Solar generally makes sense when
- You own the home, since a renter cannot make this decision
- Your bill is consistently above roughly $150 a month across the year
- Your roof gets decent sun for most of the day, with limited shade
- You expect to stay put for at least several more years
- Your roof will not need replacing in the near future
It is worth pausing when
- Your roof is nearing the end of its life. Replacing it after panels go on costs far more than doing it first
- Heavy shade covers the roof for much of the day
- Your bill is high because of a fixable inefficiency rather than genuine need
- You may move within a couple of years, since the payback period is longer than that
One thing worth being clear about: solar does not remove your electric bill. Your utility's fixed connection charge stays whatever happens, and most systems are sized to cover most of your usage rather than every kilowatt-hour. Expect a small bill to remain.
How we work these numbers out
Each row above comes from the same arithmetic:
- Subtract the fixed monthly charge from your bill, then divide by your utility's rate per kWh. That gives the energy you bought.
- Scale that to a year. Florida usage swings a lot between summer and winter, so a single month is adjusted rather than simply multiplied by twelve.
- Divide yearly usage by about 1,450 kWh, which is what one kilowatt of panels produces annually on a typical Florida roof. To turn kilowatts into panels, divide by one panel's rating in kilowatts: with 400-watt panels, a 10 kW system is 25 panels.
- Apply a 75 to 95 percent offset, the range installers normally design to.
The 25-year figures assume electricity prices keep rising at a moderate rate and panel output fades about half a percent a year. They are a projection, not a promise, and rate cases can change them. Our Florida incentives guide covers what is currently available, and the financing guide covers how people pay for it.
Your estimate in three steps
- Enter your billYour ZIP, utility and last month's bill.
- See your estimateA yearly savings range for your home.
- Choose what's nextAsk for a quote call, or just keep the number.
See what solar could save you
No site visit, no commitment and no sales call needed to see your number.
Common questions
How much solar do I need for a $300 electric bill in Florida?
Around 12.7 to 16 kW, which is roughly 30 to 38 panels depending on the wattage your installer uses. That covers about 24,500 kWh a year, which is what a $300 monthly bill works out to at Florida's average residential rate.
Does my utility change how much solar I need?
Yes. The same bill buys more electricity from a cheaper utility, so it takes a bigger system to cover it. A $400 monthly bill works out to roughly 16 to 20 kW at Duke Energy Florida (15.5 cents per kWh) but 18 to 23 kW at Lee County Electric Cooperative (13.5 cents). Where exported power is credited at the full retail rate, as it is at FPL, Duke and TECO, yearly savings in dollars stay about the same, because the bill already reflects the rate.
How much solar do I need for a $500 electric bill?
Roughly 21.4 to 27.1 kW. A bill that size means about 41,400 kWh a year, and on a Florida roof each kilowatt of solar produces around 1,450 kWh annually.
Is solar worth it if my electric bill is $300 a month?
For most Florida homes at that level, yes, provided you own the home, plan to stay several years, and your roof gets decent sun. The savings are meaningful, but the system cost and your roof's condition decide the actual payback, and only an installer can price those.
Will solar eliminate my electric bill completely?
No. Your utility's fixed monthly connection charge stays on the bill no matter how large the system is, and most systems are sized to cover 75 to 95 percent of usage rather than everything.
Does a bigger bill always mean solar is a better deal?
Usually, but not always. A very high bill can point to an inefficiency, like an aging air conditioner or a pool heater running longer than needed. Fixing that first can be cheaper than sizing a system around wasted energy.