COMMERCIAL SOLAR INCENTIVES

30% Federal Tax Credit

Under current federal law, commercial entities may qualify for a federal tax credit worth up to 30% for a qualified solar energy system (often referred to as the Investment Tax Credit). This applies to the installation of Solar Electric (PV) and/or Solar Hot Water systems, and remains available under the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill, provided projects meet applicable requirements and timelines. In general, commercial projects must begin construction by mid-2026 and be placed in service within the required federal timeframe to qualify for the credit at the 30% level, including compliance with prevailing wage and apprenticeship rules where applicable.

For example, if you have a $40,000 system installed, your federal tax credit may be 30% of the system cost, or $12,000.

A tax credit offers significantly more financial savings than a tax deduction. A tax deduction is subtracted from income before tax liability is computed. A tax credit is subtracted directly from total tax liability, meaning it generally provides more value than a deduction.

Net Metering

Net metering allows you to draw on utility power when it is needed and to sell power to the utility company when your solar electric system produces a surplus. Net metering legislation states that the utility company must credit you at retail rates (the same rate they would have charged you). Therefore, you will be credited for power fed back to the utility company from your solar power / photovoltaic system at the same kilowatt hour rate that the power company charges you. At the end of a twelve-month period your utility company will true up (reconcile) your power bill as to the amount of power you used vs. the amount of power you produced during this timeframe. If you used more power than you produced, you will owe a payment for the difference. If you produced more electricity than you used the utility will pay you for the excess amount.

Solar Energy System Sales Tax Exemption

Florida Law exempts solar energy systems and all components of such systems from sales and use tax. The term "solar energy system" means the equipment and requisite hardware that provide and are used for collecting, transferring, converting, storing, or using incidental solar energy for water heating, space heating and cooling, or other applications that would otherwise require the use of a conventional source of energy such as petroleum products, natural gas, manufactured gas, or electricity. This includes solar power/photovoltaic systems, solar water heaters, solar pool heaters and solar lighting.

Accelerated Depreciation

A Solar Power System can usually qualify for accelerated depreciation tax advantages which can greatly reduce the overall system cost and increase your return on investment.

Assessment of Commercial Real Property

This Florida Law prohibits adding 80% of the value of solar electric and solar hot water installations to the assessed value of commercial property. This rule applies to the installation of a renewable energy device installed on new or existing commercial real property on or after January 1, 2018.