Sunshine State's Solar Tax Credits: Florida Incentives To Go Solar in 2025

Florida the Sunshine State, is an ideal location for harnessing solar energy. With abundant sunlight and a growing focus on renewable energy, switching to a solar energy system in Florida is becoming increasingly attractive.

However, the high upfront costs can be a major barrier, making the transition to depend on solar power a bit more challenging. To encourage residents and businesses to make the switch, Florida has implemented several solar incentives, tax credits, and rebates that make adopting solar more affordable!

Although the average cost of solar panels in Florida ranges around $18,604 to $30,666, it can vary depending on where you live, system size, type of solar panels, and energy needs. So, let’s explore the various solar tax credits Florida has that make going green more accessible than ever.

While exploring Florida's solar incentives, rebates, and tax credits, you might have come across frequent mentions of the Federal Solar Tax Credit (ITC). Federal solar tax credit commonly called investment tax credit (ITC) is a non-refundable tax credit that deducts 30% of your solar installation costs .

In simple terms, ITC is a one-time credit that helps homeowners regain a percentage of the total investment made while installing solar panels. For solar panel systems installed between 2022 and 2032, the credit is 30% of the total installation cost. However, the credit might reduce to 26% in 2033 and 22% in 2034.

Florida Solar Sales Tax Exemption program is a great incentive that provides relief from sales tax so you don't have to pay the 6% sales tax while buying any solar equipment. It completely ignores the sales tax on solar panel energy systems that covers both new installations and upgrades to existing systems.

The sales tax exemption applies to solar energy systems and solar equipment certified by the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), including solar collectors, PV equipment, and accessories. So if you want to install solar pool heating systems, solar space heaters, or solar water heaters, they will qualify only if their components are FSEC-certified.

When you install renewable sources of energy systems like a solar photovoltaic system they can increase your property’s value. Normally, this would lead to higher property taxes. However, Florida's Property Tax Exemption ensures that renewable energy improvements won’t result in higher property taxes for the property owners.

In Florida, residential homeowners will receive a 100% property tax exemption for the added value of renewable energy systems. For commercial and non-residential buildings 80% of the added value from these systems is exempted from property taxes.

The upfront cost can be a major hurdle when planning to install solar energy systems. Luckily, Florida provides loan programs that offer low-interest rates and flexible repayment terms! Programs such as the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loan program and the Solar Energy Loan Fund (SELF) make solar energy more accessible to homeowners.

Let's discuss these programs in detail-

PACE loan programs allow property owners to finance energy-efficient upgrades like solar panels without checking their credit score or requiring upfront costs. Residents can apply for PACE loans through local governments and repay them over several years through property taxes, making it a convenient option for solar installations.

With the PACE program homeowners can get benefits like no immediate financial burden as repayment is spread over time, increased property value while reducing energy costs, and accessibility even to those with limited credit history.

For low-income families, SELF is a non-profit organization that provides affordable financing options for energy-efficient and renewable energy improvements. With no income limits and no credit score, SELF provides loans ranging from $3,000 to $25,000 . These loans have fixed interest rates between 7.99% and 8.25% with repayment terms of 3 to 10 years.

Unlike PACE, SELF provides a direct loan option that does not impact property taxes. This program not only makes renewable energy upgrades affordable but also supports a wide variety of energy-saving home improvements.

Apart from federal and state-level incentives, many Florida counties and utility companies offer additional incentives to encourage residents to switch to solar energy. Some of these incentives are:

Boynton Beach Energy Edge program helps to encourage the installation of solar systems for residents of Boynton Beach by providing a $1500 rebate to at least a 17.5% efficient system.

Keys Energy Solar Water Heater Rebate program provides approximately $450 rebate for solar water heater installations to residential homeowners, making it affordable to switch to renewable energy for water heating.

The Dunedin Solar Energy Grant Program helps home and business owners in Dunedin, Florida, by offering financial assistance of 25 cents per watt . This local initiative reduces the cost of installing solar energy systems.

Many local governments and utility companies across Florida provide different rebates or incentives for solar energy installations. So make sure you research about the available options in your city.

Net metering is a program developed by utility companies for homeowners with solar panels. This program allows homeowners who generate their own electricity through solar panels to sell excess energy back to the grid .

This means that when your solar panels generate more energy than your household needs, the extra energy will be sent to the grid and you will receive credits on your account. These credits help reduce your electricity bills, and depending on the season, you may even earn money through it!

There are multiple local electric providers in Florida, like:

Make sure you are contacting your nearest electric provider for more information.

Solar installations in Florida have a lot of benefits like lower energy bills, increased property value, energy independence, saving money on your taxes, earning from excess energy production, and many more. With various incentives and rebate programs available in Florida, it is now more affordable than ever to go green with the help of solar energy.

So, start exploring your options for installing solar panels in Florida today!