Solar subscription in Florida: the 2 programs, who qualifies and when to skip it

A solar subscription is a contract where you pay a monthly fee for the energy of a system you don’t own: the provider installs it at no upfront cost, insures it and maintains it. Today there are two programs, and together they cover all of Florida. One runs 3 or 5 years with savings guaranteed in writing in the center of the state; the other runs 10 years, with a battery included and a free exit from year 3, statewide. Neither takes your bill to $0.

What exactly is a solar subscription?

You pay for the service, not the equipment, like internet or a membership. The provider owns the system for the whole contract. You pay a monthly fee and keep getting a lower bill from your utility.

It is not a loan: there is no debt in your name and no lien on your home. It is not a 20- or 25-year lease either. It is a shorter commitment, and the provider handles repairs, insurance and monitoring.

You are right to distrust anything that sounds like “free solar panels.” Read the free solar panels myth. This is not free. It is a monthly payment in exchange for saving without buying the system and without a 25-year commitment.

What are the two programs?

The two programs differ in term, in whether savings are guaranteed and in where they operate.

We confirm the statewide program’s requirements with your address before you sign. You don’t pick blind: we look at it with your bill in the diagnosis.

How does the 30% guarantee work in the Central Florida program?

The price is set so your total annual cost (subscription + whatever you still pay the utility, including the minimum charge) is at least 30% lower than your cost with the utility alone, based on your last 12 months of usage.

You will have two payments a month: the subscription and whatever is left of your electric bill. With FPL, for example, there is a $30 monthly minimum charge that solar does not remove, per FPL’s net metering FAQs. Savings are measured by adding both payments. How the credit for energy you send to the grid works is in net metering in Florida.

Heads up: the 30% is based on your baseline usage. If after signing you add an EV charger, a pool heater or a hot tub, that new usage is outside the guarantee. And while the payment is fixed during the term, at renewal it is recalculated with the utility rates at that time.

What changes in the statewide program?

It is a 10-year contract, but from year 3 you can exit without a penalty. It is not “cancel whenever you want”: the first 3 years are the minimum commitment.

• A fixed, predictable 1.9% yearly adjustment. You know from day one what you will pay each year. Your utility’s rate has no cap: it moves with fuel costs and rate cases. And 1.9% sits at the low end of the typical lease and PPA escalator (1% to 5%). Ask for the year-by-year table before you sign.
• Exiting from year 3 takes notice. 90 days in writing, and you must be current on payments.
• It renews on its own. After the 10 years, the contract continues in 12-month periods unless you give notice first. There is no option to buy the system.
• It includes 40 kWh of battery at no extra cost. It is one of the largest home batteries and is built for hurricanes and outages: enough for a home’s essentials for days, and the panels recharge it by day. In the Central Florida program and in most leases the battery costs extra. How long it lasts depends on what you run, and since the provider manages it (and also uses it in grid programs), the contract does not guarantee an exact backup level.
• They check your credit. The provider pulls your credit report to approve the contract.
• Replacing the roof extends the term. They remove and reinstall the system, but the contract is extended 36 months.
• Savings are an estimate. Around 30%, but not guaranteed by contract. They depend on your usage and on utility rates.
• It reaches where the other one doesn’t. South Florida, Jacksonville, Tampa Bay outside the Orlando radius, and municipal and co-op utilities.

What happens when you sell the house or the contract ends?

Selling the house. In both programs the contract can be transferred to the buyer. In the Central Florida program, if the buyer declines in writing, it is canceled at no cost and the system is removed. Read selling a home with solar.

End of contract in the Central Florida program. If you don’t renew, they remove the system at their cost, leave the roof sealed and guarantee the roof and structural repairs for 10 years after removal.

New roof during the contract. In the Central Florida program there is one free removal and reinstall per term. The 30% guarantee is suspended during the roof replacement.

Tax credit. The provider, as the system owner, is the one who accesses the federal 48E credit for third-party systems. You don’t claim it. Confirm your situation with your tax preparer.

When a subscription does NOT make sense

• When your bill is high, your roof has many years left and you have good credit or cash. An owned system can save more in total over 10 or 15 years because you don’t pay anyone for the energy. We tell you at the appointment when that is the case.
• When you want to own an asset on your home. Here you never do.
• When you are about to add a lot of usage (an EV, a pool) and leave it out of the numbers.
• When you need to exit before year 3 in the statewide program, or before the term ends in the Central Florida program.

Compare every option in ways to get solar compared or on the solar subscription page.

What to check before deciding

• Your last 12 bills: they are the baseline for the savings.
• Whether your program’s savings are guaranteed in writing or estimated.
• In the statewide program, what you will pay each year with the 1.9% increase.
• Your roof’s remaining life and type.
• A traditional solar proposal for the same roof. If buying wins, we tell you.