Why this matters
The 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act ended the federal residential solar tax credit (Section 25D) for any system placed in service after December 31, 2025. That single change is the most important fact in Florida solar right now, and a lot of marketing copy — on other companies' sites and in older articles that still rank on Google — has not caught up to it. If you are comparing quotes or reading about solar anywhere else, verify the numbers against what is below before you believe them.
This page is the single reference we point to from every Crownline solar page — Solar & Energy, Solar Panels, Home Battery Storage, and Solar Water Heaters — so the incentive facts stay consistent everywhere on the site.
Federal residential credit (Section 25D) — ended
The 30% Residential Clean Energy Credit does not apply to solar PV, battery storage, or solar water heating systems placed in service after December 31, 2025. If a homeowner buys a system outright in 2026, there is no federal tax credit attached to that purchase. This is a legal fact, not a negotiating position — do not let anyone's sales pitch tell you otherwise, and be skeptical of any quote that still discounts the price by an assumed 30% federal credit.
Federal commercial/business credit (Section 48E) — still active, phasing out
The 30% federal Investment Tax Credit under Section 48E is still available for commercial solar projects, and for a specific residential path worth understanding: third-party-owned systems, meaning solar leases and power purchase agreements (PPAs). In that structure, a business — not the homeowner — owns the system and can still claim the credit, which is one reason lease/PPA offers may look different from direct-purchase pricing right now.
The timing: construction must begin by July 4, 2026 to use the 4-year placed-in-service window; if construction begins after July 4, 2026, the system must be placed in service by December 31, 2027. For a commercial roof, or for a homeowner evaluating a lease/PPA instead of a direct purchase, this is the live incentive conversation to have in 2026.
Florida property tax exemption — active
Florida law excludes the added value of a qualifying renewable-energy device — solar PV, solar water heating, and battery storage installed as part of a system — from property tax reassessment: 100% for residential property, 80% for nonresidential. In plain terms, adding solar should not increase your property tax bill the way a comparable home addition would. [verify current statute citation — Fla. Stat. §193.624 — against the live Florida Statutes site before publish; some older sources still cite the repealed §196.175]
Florida sales tax exemption — active
Qualifying solar equipment is exempt from Florida's 6% state sales tax under Fla. Stat. §212.08(7)(hh). This applies at the point of purchase/installation and is separate from, and stacks with, the property tax exemption above.
Net metering — active statewide, but worth monitoring
Florida currently has full retail-rate net metering statewide under Florida Public Service Commission rules, covering FPL, Duke Energy Florida, and TECO customers. This means excess solar production you send back to the grid is credited at the retail electricity rate, not a lower wholesale rate. A 2022 legislative attempt to repeal statewide net metering (HB 741) was vetoed, and no subsequent law has changed this as of mid-2026 — but this is a politically contested topic in Florida energy policy, not a permanently settled one. It is worth re-checking before you sign a contract and periodically after your system is installed.
Battery storage — no federal credit for a direct purchase
Because the federal residential credit (25D) has ended, there is no federal tax credit for a homeowner buying battery storage outright in 2026, the same as solar PV. Manufacturer-specific rebate programs are a separate thing — they are not government tax credits, they change frequently, and they may or may not exist at any given time. [confirm current manufacturer rebate programs before quoting specific numbers] The Florida property and sales tax exemptions above still apply to battery storage installed as part of a qualifying system.
Solar water heaters — same expiration applies
Solar water heaters fall under the same Section 25D federal credit that expired December 31, 2025 — there is no separate, surviving federal credit for solar thermal water heating in 2026. The Florida property and sales tax exemptions above apply the same way they do to solar PV and battery systems.
How to use this page
Treat this as the accuracy check for any solar, battery, or water heater conversation you have this year — with Crownline or with anyone else. If a quote or an article assumes a federal tax credit on a direct-purchase residential system in 2026, that assumption is wrong and the math built on top of it needs to be redone. The state property and sales tax exemptions, and net metering, are the real, currently-active incentives for a direct-purchase Florida system; the 48E commercial/lease-PPA credit is the real incentive path for businesses and lease/PPA structures.
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