All tools · Solar Contract Check FL

If I lease solar panels, do I still get the tax credit?

Use the free tool — Solar Contract Check FL

The short answer

If you lease the solar panels, or sign a power-purchase agreement (PPA), the solar company owns the system — not you. The federal residential clean energy credit belongs to whoever owns the system. So on a lease or a PPA, the company keeps the credit, not you.

Purchase, loan, lease, PPA, PACE — who owns it changes everything

• Cash purchase — you own it, you get the credit.
• Loan — you own it, you get the credit, but the financed price often includes a dealer fee of 10–30% that the salesperson doesn't mention. Ask for the cash price and the financed price separately.
• Lease — the company owns it. You pay a fixed monthly amount that often rises each year. No credit for you. There's usually a UCC fixture filing on your home, and transferring the lease to a buyer needs the company's approval.
• PPA — the company owns it. You pay per kWh produced, with a yearly increase built in. Same transfer problem as a lease. No credit for you.
• PACE — repaid through your property tax bill, as a senior lien, under Florida's authorizing statute, Fla. Stat. 163.08. This can block a refinance or a sale. Of all these structures, PACE is the highest-risk one for a homeowner.

Even if you own it, the credit might not help you

The residential clean energy credit is non-refundable. It only offsets taxes you actually owe. A retiree with little tax liability may get little or no benefit from it, even as the legal owner. Check the IRS Residential Clean Energy Credit page for the current rate and the dates it applies, and confirm with a tax preparer before you count on it.

Watch for "your bill goes to zero"

Under Florida's net-metering rule, extra power you send to the grid is credited at the retail rate month to month, but any leftover surplus at year's end is paid at a much lower wholesale rate — and fixed customer charges keep appearing on the bill regardless. A bill going all the way to zero is not what the rule describes. If your utility is a municipal or co-op, ask them for their own net-metering tariff, since it can be different. See the Florida PSC net-metering rule (25-6.065).

Before you sign anything

• Ask whether the deal is a purchase, loan, lease, PPA, or PACE — get it in writing.
• If it's a lease or PPA, ask for the exact yearly escalator percentage.
• Verify the installer's Florida license at the DBPR license search.
• If you signed at your home, you generally have three business days to cancel in writing under the FTC Cooling-Off Rule; the seller must give you a cancellation form.
• Ask for a written production estimate in kWh per year and a production guarantee, and compare it to your last 12 months of bills.

What to do next

The free tool reads your own proposal or contract — the system size, the price, the financing terms, the claims — and tells you which deal type it actually is, what Florida's rules say, and what's missing before you sign. Nothing you paste is stored. This is not legal, financial, tax, or engineering advice — confirm with a professional before signing.

Solar Contract Check FL explains solar contract structures and Florida and federal rules in plain language from official sources; it can be wrong, and it is not legal, financial, tax or engineering advice. Rules and credits change — the linked sources control. Nothing you paste is stored.