Cash, Loan, Lease, or PACE: Comparing Solar Financing Options in Florida

Our Cost Guide covers financing briefly, but this is where a lot of the real decision making actually happens, and where the tradeoffs are easy to miss if you’re just comparing monthly payment numbers against each other.

Short version: Cash and conventional solar loans keep you as the owner, which means you keep Florida’s property tax exemption and full control of the system. PACE financing ties the loan to your property instead of you personally, with no credit check, but places a lien that can complicate selling or refinancing later. SELF offers accessible loans for homeowners who don’t qualify elsewhere, at a real interest rate cost. Leases and PPAs need the least money upfront but mean you never own the system, which affects both your incentives and your home’s resale value.

Cash purchase

The simplest option. No interest, no ongoing payment, maximum lifetime savings, and full access to Florida’s property tax exemption covered in our Incentives guide. The only downside is needing the full amount upfront.

Conventional solar loan

Rates typically run in the 3 to 6 percent range for borrowers with solid credit. You own the system from day one, so the same property tax exemption applies as with a cash purchase. The tradeoff is interest cost over the loan term, though this still tends to come out ahead of a lease or PPA over the system’s lifetime.

PACE financing

PACE, Property Assessed Clean Energy, was created in Florida in 2010 through House Bill 7179, codified as Florida Statute 163.08. Instead of borrowing against your own credit, the loan attaches to the property itself and gets repaid through your property tax bill, typically over 15 to 20 years at a fixed rate, currently averaging around 6 to 8 percent.

The appeal is real: no money down, no credit check, and funded through private capital rather than taxpayer money. Eligibility mainly comes down to being current on your property taxes and mortgage, with no other liens against the property. For residential PACE specifically, your mortgage lender’s consent generally isn’t required unless the financed amount exceeds 20 percent of your property’s assessed value, according to Florida’s official PACE program.

Here’s the part worth taking seriously before signing: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which back most conventional mortgages, will not refinance or approve a new mortgage on a property with an existing PACE lien unless it’s paid off first, since PACE assessments legally take priority over the mortgage itself. In practice, this means selling or refinancing your home later may require paying off the remaining PACE balance first, according to Monroe County’s official PACE FAQ. PACE isn’t available in every Florida county either, so check with your local government or the Florida PACE Funding Agency directly.

This connects directly to how long you plan to stay put, covered in our Is Solar Worth It guide. PACE tends to work best for homeowners confident they’ll stay through the full loan term, and carries more risk for anyone who might sell or refinance sooner.

SELF loans

The Solar and Energy Loan Fund (SELF) is a Florida nonprofit lender that fills a specific gap: homeowners who don’t qualify for conventional solar financing. SELF loans go up to $50,000, with rates generally higher than a conventional solar loan, since they’re built to serve borrowers a traditional lender would turn down. SELF also runs a crowdfunding option through KIVA specifically for female homeowners and veterans, with no minimum credit score required for that path.

Lease or PPA

Leases and Power Purchase Agreements need little to no money upfront, but a third party owns the equipment, not you. That means no property tax exemption benefit on your end, and per our Home Value guide, a leased system generally doesn’t add resale value to your home the way an owned one does. Watch specifically for escalator clauses, many agreements raise your payment 2 to 3 percent annually, and it’s worth asking directly about a fixed rate before signing anything.

One sizing rule worth knowing regardless of financing

Florida utilities generally require residential systems to be sized no larger than 115 percent of your annual household electricity consumption. This caps how big, and how expensive, a system can get regardless of which financing option you choose.

Which one actually fits

Cash or a conventional loan makes sense if you qualify normally and plan to stay long term. PACE fits if you need financing without a credit check and are confident about staying through the loan term. SELF fills the gap if conventional financing isn’t available to you. A lease or PPA only makes sense if minimizing upfront cost matters more to you than long-term savings or your home’s resale value.

This page is general information, not financial advice. Terms, rates, and county availability change, confirm current details directly with a specific lender or PACE provider before committing.

Sources:
https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2012/163.08
https://floridapace.gov/frequently-asked-questions/
https://www.monroecounty-fl.gov/Faq.aspx?QID=194
https://solarunitedneighbors.org/resources/solar-incentives-and-financing-in-florida/