FPL Solar Guide for Homeowners

Florida Power & Light Company is one of the investor-owned electric companies whose tariffs the Florida Public Service Commission publishes.⁷ That means the statewide Commission rule on interconnection and net metering of customer-owned renewable generation applies,⁶ and the specific agreement you sign is a filed tariff document rather than a company brochure.⁴

If a city utility or an electric cooperative serves your home instead, none of this page applies to you. Start with Florida utilities and solar to confirm who sets the rules where you live.

FPL states plainly that all interconnection applications must be approved prior to installation and operation of the renewable energy system.² Its net metering page repeats the same sequence for homeowners: apply first, and FPL replaces the existing meter with one that measures energy flowing in both directions.¹

This is the single most common source of friction in a residential project, because installation crews are scheduled around panel deliveries rather than around utility review. Ask which comes first in writing.

Two limits in FPL's published guidelines shape what can be approved:

• The system must be estimated to produce less than 115% of your annual kWh consumption.
• Customer generation is limited to 90 percent of the FPL service capacity, and systems exceeding that may incur additional expense, with FPL upsizing facilities at the customer's expense.

Both statements come directly from FPL's guidelines.² A proposal built on optimistic future usage — a pool, an addition, an electric vehicle you have not bought yet — can collide with the first limit. Your actual twelve months of usage is the reference point, which is also why understanding your current bill matters before sizing anything.

FPL states that the gross power rating, or AC rating, is the array's DC rating multiplied by 0.85, and that this AC rating determines the tier.² The same definition appears in FPL's filed interconnection agreements.⁴

Those fees and sheet numbers come from FPL's Section 9 tariff, each sheet carrying a date effective of January 1, 2026.⁴ Nearly every single-family rooftop system falls in the first row. FPL also states that any net metering system of 50 kW or greater must interconnect on three-phase service, which is a commercial-scale consideration rather than a residential one.²

FPL's guidelines set out what the installation itself must include and what has to be documented:

• A utility-interactive inverter or other certified device that automatically isolates the generation during a grid outage.
• For Tier 2 and Tier 3 systems, a manual disconnect switch of the visible load break type, mounted separate from but adjacent to the FPL meter socket, accessible at all times, and capable of being locked open with a single FPL padlock.
• A completed application and interconnection agreement, a building permit, and — for the larger tiers — proof of insurance and the application fee.
• After construction, a copy of the approved permit showing the electrical and mechanical inspection signed off by the local inspector, the description of work, the address, the permit number, and the building department name.

All four points are stated in FPL's published guidelines.² FPL adds that operation of the system, except for testing and inspection, prior to installation of a new bi-directional meter is strictly prohibited, and warns that doing so can produce an inaccurate reading that increases the bill.²

FPL publishes a separate policy for behind-the-meter battery storage. Equipment must be certified by a nationally recognized testing laboratory to the current UL 1741 safety standard, with a permanent placard on the meter enclosure stating that battery storage is used at the facility.²

Two further points are worth knowing before you sign. FPL states that energy stored in a battery paired with renewable generation is for the customer's use and, at this time, may not be exported to the grid. It also states that stand-alone battery storage is not included in the definition of renewable energy under the Commission rule, and that output from such systems is not net metered.^2,6 Whether a battery earns its place is a separate question, covered in do I need a battery.

This is an orientation to getting a system approved, installed, and metered. How surplus production is credited month to month, and what happens to anything left over at the end of the year, is a separate topic with its own filed provision — see FPL net metering for those mechanics, and net metering in Florida for the statewide framework behind them.

Tariff sheets, fees, and guidelines change through filings we do not control. Confirm current numbers against FPL's published tariff and net metering pages before signing anything.^1,4