Free solar panels in Florida: what you're really being offered

Nobody gives away solar panels. When an ad says “free panels” or “Florida program to go solar at no cost,” what sits behind it is a lease, a PPA or a loan: someone puts a system on your roof and collects on it for 20-25 years, with your electric bill as collateral. It can be a good deal or a bad one; what it never is, is free.

Why does the industry use the word “free”?

Because it works. You are right to be suspicious: the word is designed to make you call before you understand what is being sold. What is technically true is that many contracts have $0 down. What gets left out is that the system is paid in full through monthly payments, that those payments can rise every year, and that the owner of the system for two decades is not you.

“Government program” and “state program” get used too. There is no Florida or federal program that installs panels at no cost on private homes. What exists are tax incentives, and the main one for buyers has already ended.

What are you really being offered?

One of these three things, or a variant. Each has a different owner, payment and exit.

Lease. You rent the system. You pay a fixed amount that usually carries an annual escalator; Solar.com reports 2.9% is common and that at that pace the payment nearly doubles over 25 years. The company maintains and repairs.

PPA (Power Purchase Agreement). You do not rent the equipment: you buy the electricity it produces at an agreed price per kWh, also with a possible escalator. If the system produces little, you pay little; if it produces a lot, you pay a lot even if you do not use it all.

Loan. The panels are yours from day one. “Free” here means “$0 down.” The system price usually includes a lender fee that EnergySage describes as variable with no industry standard; that is why the financed price per watt runs higher than cash.

There is a fourth option that does not fit “free” but also requires nothing down: the solar subscription, with a short term (3 or 5 years), a fixed payment with no escalator, and no debt or lien. We describe it in solar subscription: how it works. The full comparison of all four is in ways to get solar compared.

What about the 30% federal credit?

For buyers, it ended. The IRS confirms the 25D credit does not apply to expenditures after December 31, 2025, and that the expenditure counts when installation is completed. If a salesperson tells you in 2026 that “the government gives you 30% back,” they are out of date or lying.

For third-party-owned systems (lease, PPA), the owning company can claim the 48E credit, currently available through the end of 2027 under the code. That credit is theirs, not yours. It should show up as a lower monthly price; if the payment does not reflect it, the credit stayed with the company. Confirm any figure with your tax preparer. More in federal solar tax credit 2026.

Heads up: the line “you pay nothing, you just change who you pay for electricity” hides a difference: you pay the utility month to month and can leave whenever you want; a 25-year lease with an escalator means you owe 300 payments, and if the system produces less than promised, the contract decides who is responsible. Read that clause before any other.

Red flags before you sign

• “Free,” “government program,” “the state pays for it.” None is true. It is the first sign the salesperson would rather you not understand.
• They won’t say who owns the system. If they can’t answer in one sentence, it is a lease or PPA.
• The proposal shows 25-year savings but not the year-by-year payment. The escalator hides in the projection.
• They deduct the 30% federal credit on a 2026 purchase. It no longer exists for buyers.
• Pressure to sign today. A 25-year contract does not change price if you read it for a week.
• No estimated monthly production. Without that number you cannot check whether the payment makes sense (see how to read a solar proposal).
• They want you to sign on the tablet before sending the PDF. Ask for the full document in writing.

When it does NOT make sense

• When the lease or PPA payment, plus your utility’s minimum charge, equals or exceeds your current energy line: you save nothing, you just change creditors.
• When you plan to sell the home in a few years: Fannie Mae treats leased or PPA panels as the third party’s personal property, so they add nothing to the appraisal and the contract has to pass to the buyer. We cover it in selling a home with solar.
• When the escalator is steep and your bill is not that high: the last years of the contract can cost more than the electricity.
• When you have the cash or access to cheap credit: for high bills on a good roof, buying usually saves more long-term than any “free.”

What to check before you decide

• Ask whose panels they are at the end of the contract and write down the answer.
• Request the year-by-year payment table with the escalator applied, and compare it against today’s energy line.
• Confirm what happens if the system produces less than estimated: who pays the difference and how you claim it.
• Ask what happens if you sell the home before the contract ends and what it costs to exit.
• Verify the proposal does not deduct a federal credit that no longer applies to buyers in 2026.