If you're considering FPL solar (rooftop solar with Florida Power & Light) in 2026, Florida still has a fairly homeowner-friendly net-metering setup. Net metering gives you credit for extra solar power you send to the grid. Under current FPL rules:
- Solar electricity offsets electricity your home would otherwise buy.
- Excess solar rolls forward as kWh credits during the calendar year.
- Any unused kWh left at year-end are converted to a bill credit at a lower rate.
- FPL generally requires the system to be designed to produce less than 115% of your annual electricity use.
That 115% rule matters. It leaves some room for future loads without turning net metering into a program for selling power back to the utility.
How Does FPL Net Metering Work?
- Solar powers your home first.
- If the home needs more electricity, FPL supplies it.
- If solar produces more than the home needs, the excess flows to FPL's grid.
- Those excess kWh are applied against your usage later in the year.
So FPL isn't paying a low export rate every time a kWh leaves your house. The first layer of value is energy netting.
Is FPL Net Metering 1-for-1?
During normal monthly billing, excess kWh offset your usage. Florida Public Service Commission Rule 25-6.065 sets the rules for investor-owned utilities. They must measure electricity both ways and carry extra generation forward to the next month. Credits can build up for up to 12 months.
Within that yearly period, Florida's setup works much more like traditional net metering than the net-billing systems in states like Arizona or Michigan. (Net billing credits exported power at a separate, usually lower, rate.)
What Happens If I Produce More Than I Use in a Month?
The extra kWh carry forward. Say your home uses 900 kWh in May and your panels bank an extra 250 kWh. In June, when AC pushes usage to 1,400 kWh, those 250 banked kWh help cover it. That seasonal flexibility is especially useful in Florida, where solar output shifts through the year and AC loads can spike.
What Happens to Unused Credits at Year-End?
This is where the value changes. Any unused kWh left when the meter is read in December become a bill credit. That credit uses FPL's annual average as-available (COG-1) energy rate, its avoided cost (what FPL saves by not producing that power). That's well below the retail value of electricity.
Why Oversizing Can Hurt
Suppose your home uses 18,000 kWh a year. You install a system expected to produce 24,000 kWh. During the year, much of that production offsets usage at full value. But a big surplus left at year-end falls to the lower avoided-cost credit.
The goal should be to offset the home's realistic electricity needs, not to maximize exports.
What Is FPL's 115% Sizing Rule?
Under FPL's net-metering guidelines, a renewable system must be estimated to produce less than 115% of the customer's annual kWh use. The extra room can cover expected growth, like a new EV, pool, heat pump water heater, added cooling or a home addition.
For example, a home using 15,000 kWh a year might fit a system producing around 17,000 kWh, subject to FPL's actual review.
But 115% Is a Ceiling, Not a Target
A salesperson shouldn't automatically design every project to 114.9%. Suppose a home uses 21,000 kWh a year because of a 15-year-old AC, leaky ducts and weak attic insulation. After an HVAC upgrade, 16,000 kWh may be the real future load. Installing solar around the old 21,000 kWh would make the project unnecessarily expensive.
Florida HVAC Is the First Solar Sizing Question
In most of FPL territory, cooling is one of the largest home electricity loads. Before sizing solar, look at HVAC age and efficiency (SEER2 rating), run time, humidity control, duct leakage, attic insulation and pool pump load. A home that needs fewer kWh needs fewer panels. FPL also offers instant rebates on qualifying high-efficiency AC systems and ceiling insulation through participating contractors.
What Are FPL's Interconnection Tiers?
FPL follows Florida's three-tier structure:
- Tier 1: 10 kW or less
- Tier 2: more than 10 kW up to 100 kW
- Tier 3: more than 100 kW up to 2 MW
Most home systems are Tier 1 or Tier 2. Tier 1 systems get faster handling and can't be charged an application fee beyond normal customer charges. Larger systems can involve application fees, insurance requirements and more technical review. Under the state rule, the utility generally has 30 days to sign the interconnection agreement after a complete application.
Apply Before You Install
FPL tells customers to start the net-metering application before buying and installing the system. The usual order is:
- Apply and get approval.
- Sign the interconnection agreement.
- Install the system and pass the local inspection.
- Submit final permit documents.
- Complete FPL's meter and interconnection process.
- Then begin approved operation.
Don't let a contractor treat interconnection as paperwork to sort out after the roof is finished.
Can a System Be Too Big for Your Electric Service?
Yes. FPL warns that systems larger than 90% of your existing service capacity may involve extra cost. That's a separate issue from the 115% rule: one is about annual energy production, the other about your electrical service capacity.
Who Pays for the Net Meter?
Florida's rule requires the utility to install the net-metering equipment at no additional cost to the customer. The meter tracks what flows between your home and FPL's grid, not every kWh your panels produce.
Can Solar Eliminate Every FPL Charge?
Not necessarily. Florida's rule says net-metered customers still pay applicable customer charges (and demand charges, where they apply). FPL's standard home rate includes a $10.52 monthly base charge with a $30 minimum base bill. On top of that are usage-based energy, fuel, capacity, conservation, environmental and storm protection charges.
Solar reduces the usage-based charges by cutting your grid purchases. It doesn't make every fixed charge disappear. Be careful with “$0 electric bill forever” sales language.
What About FPL Time-of-Use Pricing?
FPL offers an optional residential time-of-use rider. Some households can combine solar, load shifting and time-based pricing to lower their total cost. But the value depends on your actual hourly usage. Don't pick a TOU plan just because you own solar. FPL offers a rate analysis before you switch.
What About Battery Storage?
FPL's rules contain an important restriction: for a battery connected with your solar system, battery energy is for your own use and can't be exported back to FPL under net metering. So a battery can store daytime solar, power the home in the evening and provide backup. But it shouldn't be modeled as something that charges up and sells power to FPL.
Can I Install a Battery Without Solar?
Yes. FPL treats different setups differently. A backup-only battery that never runs in parallel with the grid may not need a normal interconnection agreement. A grid-connected standalone battery needs notification and possibly interconnection review. Either way, standalone battery output isn't net-metered generation.
Does a Battery Improve FPL Solar Economics?
Maybe. But because Florida's monthly net metering already credits most solar well, you usually don't need a battery just to rescue low-value exports. For many Florida households, the stronger case is resilience: hurricane backup, critical cooling, medical equipment, well pumps, the refrigerator and internet.
Solar Alone Doesn't Keep the Lights On in an Outage
FPL requires grid-connected solar to automatically shut off if the grid loses power. So a normal system turns off during an FPL outage. Backup generally requires a battery, a backup-capable inverter, transfer equipment and the right electrical design. That matters a lot in hurricane country.
What About the Federal 30% Solar Credit?
A new 2026 project shouldn't include it. The federal Residential Clean Energy Credit doesn't apply to expenditures made after December 31, 2025. Any 2026 FPL solar proposal should use current federal law, not the old 30% assumption.
Is Solar Still Worth It With FPL?
Potentially. Florida combines excellent solar production, big cooling loads and traditional monthly net metering. FPL's published rate path also projects a typical 1,000-kWh bill rising from $136.64 in 2026 to about $148 by late 2029. But losing the federal credit makes system cost, financing and HVAC efficiency more important. A good project should make sense on the home's actual numbers.
Which FPL Homes Are Better Candidates?
Often stronger: high electricity use, good roof exposure, little shade, efficient HVAC, a long ownership horizon and reasonable installation cost.
Often weaker: major AC problems, a roof near replacement, heavy shade, very low usage or expensive financing.
The Ashborn Approach
Before recommending equipment, Ashborn Partners looks at your FPL usage, HVAC, pool load, future EV plans and roof. We also weigh the 115% sizing rule, solar and battery storage.
Florida has good net metering. That's a reason to size solar intelligently, not a reason to oversize it.
FPL currently requires qualifying net-metered renewable systems to be estimated to produce less than 115% of the customer’s annual consumption. Florida net-metering credits carry forward during the calendar year, and unused credits at year-end are paid at the utility’s as-available (COG-1) rate. Verify current utility rules before signing a solar agreement.