Solar Cost Guide

Updated 9.19.2026

This page is the price list. The Incentives guide is what still cuts that price. The payback calculator on this site is the next step after you have a real number from your own bill.

Two numbers people mix up

Kilowatt (kW) is the size of the system, like horsepower. A 10 kW array is 10,000 watts of panels.

Kilowatt-hour (kWh) is the energy you actually use and buy. Your electric bill is written in kWh. A typical Central Florida house with air conditioning often uses 10,000 to 20,000 kWh in a year. Summer months are much higher than February.

Cost per watt is the clean way to compare two quotes that are not the same size. Take the total installed price, divide by the system size in watts. A $24,000 system that is 10 kW (10,000 watts) is $2.40 per watt. A cheaper-looking $22,000 quote on 8 kW is $2.75 per watt. The “cheaper” one is the worse deal.

Cost per watt is not your electric rate. Your utility rate is what you pay per kWh on the bill, often around 11 to 15 cents in this region depending on the company and extra charges that month. Those are different units. A salesperson who mixes them is either confused or hoping you are.

What a typical job costs in 2026

Marketplace averages for Orlando (EnergySage, September 2026) have been running near $2.08 per watt, with a common quoted size around 14 kW and a total near $29,000. Local contractor quotes for a normal house are often higher, in the $2.40 to $2.90 band. National lab “benchmark” costs (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) have been in the low $3 range in recent years, which is a modeled cost, not what you will be offered at the kitchen table. Treat anything under about $2.00 per watt on a small, complicated roof as a number that needs extra questions, not a prize.

Use this as a planning range, not a bid. Prices assume a purchased system, no federal credit, no battery, typical asphalt shingles, and a licensed installer handling the permit and utility application.

Your yearly use (better)	Rough system size	Installed cost at $2.20-$2.80 per watt
About 9,000 kWh / year	6-7 kW	$13,000-$20,000
About 12,000 kWh / year	8-9 kW	$18,000-$25,000
About 16,000 kWh / year	11-12 kW	$24,000-$34,000
About 20,000 kWh / year	13-15 kW	$29,000-$42,000

If you only have monthly dollars: a $150 bill is often a smaller roof (roughly 6 to 9 kW). A $250 bill is often 9 to 12 kW. A $400 bill is a large array or a large house. Those bill shortcuts are sloppy because part of every bill is a fixed customer charge that solar does not erase (about $14.35 a month on Duke Energy Florida’s residential rate in mid-2026, and a $30 minimum base bill on FPL). Size from kWh.

What is in that price

A complete installed price should include:

• Panels (the modules on the roof)
• Inverter or microinverters (the box that turns panel power into house power). A string inverter is one box for a row of panels. Microinverters are small inverters, one per panel or every couple of panels. Microinverters usually cost more and help on roofs with shade or several directions.
• Racking and flashing (the metal that holds the panels and keeps the roof watertight)
• Wiring, disconnects, and a production meter or monitoring
• Labor, permit, engineering stamp if the county wants it, and the utility interconnection application
• The new two-way meter, which Duke Energy Florida and FPL install at no extra charge under the state rule

Ask what is not included. Common extras:

• A new roof, or extra flashing on tile or metal
• A main-panel upgrade if your breaker box is full or too small
• Trenching for a ground mount
• A battery and the extra gear that lets the house run when the grid is down (an automatic transfer switch or a “gateway”)
• Tree work

Florida’s 6% state sales tax should already be off the qualifying equipment. If tax is sitting on the panel line, fix it before you sign. That is in the Incentives guide.

What actually moves the price

The roof. Simple asphalt shingles, one plane, two-story access from a driveway: cheaper. Concrete tile, metal, a steep pitch, three little roofs, a three-story, or a house that needs a crane: more. Tile is slower and easier to crack. If the roof has less than about 10 years of life left, replace it before or with the panels. Taking the array off later to reroof is a second labor bill you can avoid.

Size. Small jobs cost more per watt. The crew still rolls a truck, pulls a permit, and waits on the utility. A 6 kW job often looks “expensive” per watt next to a 12 kW job. That is overhead, not a trick, until the number is wildly out of line.

Equipment tier. Most new quotes in 2026 use a common panel type the industry calls TOPCon. You do not need the name. What you need is the model number on the quote. Higher-efficiency or “premium” brands cost more and can matter on a small or partly shaded roof where every square foot counts. They rarely double production. See the heat note on this site if someone is selling a cell type as a Florida miracle.

Inverter choice. Microinverters and power optimizers (small boxes that help each panel) add dollars. They can be worth it on mixed roofs. They are not required on a clean south plane.

The company. Two licensed quotes for the same 10 kW of named equipment can still differ by thousands. Sales cost, warranty, and how busy they are show up in the number. The lowest bid is not automatically the steal. The highest is not automatically the safer company.

How big should it be

Add 12 months of kWh. That is the target, not “cover the summer.” Spring production that you bank for August is how Duke Energy Florida and FPL 1-for-1 credits work inside the calendar year. Leftover kWh in December cash out at a cheap wholesale-style rate, so a system that makes far more than you use all year is usually a gift to the utility.

FPL: published guidelines say estimated production must be under 115% of your yearly kWh. They also describe system size for paperwork as the direct-current (DC) panel rating times 0.85 to get an alternating-current (AC) number for the tier. Most houses are still “Tier 1” (10 kW AC or less) or a modest Tier 2.

Duke Energy Florida: same statewide tiers (10 kW, 100 kW, 2 megawatts). There is no FPL-style 115% slogan. The year-end cheap payout is still a reason not to overbuild.

OUC: after October 31, 2026, power you send out on a new account is paid at a much lower rate (about 4.6 cents, then about 3.8 cents). Power you use in the house while the panels are making it still avoids the full retail price. A smaller array that matches daytime use, or a battery that holds afternoon power for evening air conditioning, beats a huge system that sells leftover power cheap. Do not copy a neighbor’s FPL-sized roof onto an OUC meter.

New construction is usually cheaper than a retrofit because the electrician can run conduit while the walls are open. If you are building, that is a separate note on this site. Most Central Florida jobs are retrofits and they work. Just do not pretend a finished attic is a free wiring chase.

How people pay for it

Cash. Lowest lifetime cost. You own the system. Florida’s property-tax rule (the extra value stays off the tax roll) is aimed at an owned device.

A solar loan. You still own the system. Interest is extra cost. A $26,000 job at 7% for 15 years is not a $26,000 job. Ask for the annual percentage rate (APR), the term, whether the loan is secured against the house, and the total of payments. Compare that total to cash, not the monthly number to your current electric bill. The electric bill still has a customer charge after solar.

A lease or a power purchase agreement (PPA). A company owns the panels on your roof. You pay a monthly lease, or you pay per kWh they make (the PPA). You do not own the gear. Selling the house means a transfer the company has to approve. The federal 30% credit for homeowners is gone. The company may still use a commercial credit on their side if they met the timing rules. That is their tax file. Ask what you actually pay, what happens at sale, and who pays if a panel fails. Cheaper monthly is not the same as cheaper over 25 years, and it is not the same as owning an asset.

Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE). The payment is added to your property-tax bill. No typical bank credit check. It is a lien on the house. That can block or slow a sale or a new mortgage. It is financing, not a rebate.

Solar and Energy Loan Fund (SELF). A Florida nonprofit lender for people who do not qualify for a regular solar loan. Interest still exists. It is a loan.

None of those last three is “free solar.” If the pitch is that the government is paying for your roof, that is a sales story Florida’s Attorney General has already gone after. See the installer guide.

Batteries are a second price tag

A single home battery in Florida in 2026 often costs about $10,000 to $16,000 installed for something in the 10 to 14 kWh class (EnergySage’s Florida storage average in September 2026 was about $12,100 for 13 kWh). Two units for longer backup cost more. There is no federal 30% credit on a battery you buy for the house this year.

On Duke Energy Florida and FPL, 1-for-1 credits already move extra daytime power into the evening on paper. A battery does not usually pay for itself on the bill. It pays for lights, the fridge, and the internet when the grid is down. That is a hurricane product, not a way to beat the electric rate.

On new OUC service after the October 2026 grace period, a battery can also be a bill tool: store the afternoon, use it at night, instead of selling that kWh for a few cents. OUC also offers a battery rebate up to $2,000, but taking it means you give up full-retail export credits. That trade is in the Incentives guide. Run the numbers before you grab the check.

A battery that can run the house when the grid is down needs extra equipment and a correct setup. A battery that only “optimizes” bills may not keep the air conditioner on in an outage. Ask which job you are buying.

How to read three quotes

1. Same kW, or convert each to cost per watt.
2. Panel brand and model, inverter brand and model, in writing. “Premium” is not a model number.
3. What is included: permit, utility application, roof work, panel upgrade, monitoring, bird mesh, extra flashing.
4. Three warranties: panel product, inverter, and the installer’s workmanship. What happens if the installer is gone in five years. That is a separate note on this site.
5. Florida license: Certified Solar Contractor (CV) or Electrical Contractor (EC) that covers this work. Look it up on the state site before you sign.
6. Utility named on the proposal. A quote that does not know if you are Duke Energy Florida, FPL, or OUC is a template.
7. Sales tax line on the equipment is zero.
8. Monthly payment last, total cost first. A 25-year loan can make a $30,000 array look like a $140 electric bill.

Get at least two quotes, three if the first two are far apart. The quote workbook on this site is a checklist, not a contract.

A fair Central Florida price in 2026 is a named system, a cost per watt you can explain, a size that matches a year of kWh, and a utility that matches the house. Everything else is extra charges, the roof, or a story.