How Much Is Solar in Miami, FL? $2.13/W, 11.5-Yr Payback
In Miami, FL, an 8 kW system at $2.13/W produces about 1,481 kWh per kW and pays back in roughly 11.5 years at 13.71¢/kWh with the federal credit at $0.
· Source: EIA Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.A (July 2026 data) · next EIA update ~Oct 23
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- Miami production
- 1,481 kWh/kW/yr
- Florida average
- 1,475 kWh/kW/yr
- Electricity rate
- 15.0¢/kWh
- 8 kW installed cost
- ~$17,040
- 2026 federal credit
- $0
- Payback (utility math)
- 11.5 years
Why this number
A kilowatt of panels in Miami produces about 1,481 kWh a year, placing it 2 of 4 among the Florida cities modeled here. The state spans Tampa at 1,498 down to Jacksonville at 1,416, a 5.8% span, and Miami sits inside it at a payback of about 10.6 years.
An 8 kW system in Miami, priced out
| Metric | Estimate for Miami | Florida statewide |
|---|---|---|
| Production, unshaded 20° south | 1,481 kWh per kW/yr | 1,475 kWh per kW/yr |
| 8 kW output after a 10% roof derate | ~10,663 kWh/yr | ~10,620 kWh/yr |
| Average residential rate | 15.0¢/kWh (EIA) | 15.0¢/kWh |
| Installed cost, 8 kW | ~$17,040 at $2.13/watt | ~$17,040 |
| 2026 federal credit | $0 | $0 |
| Export rule | Full-retail net metering | Full-retail net metering |
| Export credit modeled | retail (15.0¢/kWh) | retail (15.0¢/kWh) |
| Annual value of that output | ~$1,603 | ~$1,596 |
| Rough payback (your utility) | 11.5 years | 10.6 years (state-average model) |
| 25-year net position | $28,462 | — |
Only the first two rows differ. Everything financial — rate, tariff, price per watt — is inherited from Florida without change, which is the point: a city page that quietly used a different electricity rate from its state page would be guessing, not measuring.
Doing nothing is not free either. Twenty-five years of the electricity an 8 kW Miami array would produce, with rates rising at 2.5% a year, comes to roughly $54,755.
If a battery is part of the plan, the battery buy vs. TPO calculator prices owning one against a lease or TPO deal.
Run it with your own bill
Shared methodology · identical on every city page
- Production figures are unshaded, south-facing, 20° PVGIS values. A real roof — its own pitch, orientation, a tree or a chimney — typically produces 10–25% less; every payback here already carries a 10% real-roof derate.
- Paybacks include $150/yr of running costs and one $2,000 inverter replacement in year 14, which is why they run longer than paybacks quoted elsewhere.
- State export rules cover investor-owned, state-regulated utilities. Municipal utilities and rural electric cooperatives are exempt in most states and set their own terms.
- Installed cost is the state-level EnergySage market figure, not a city quote; a swing of 50¢/W moves payback by roughly a year and a half either way. Get three quotes before trusting any payback — including ours.
Miami against the rest of Florida
Across the 4 Florida cities with their own modeled figures, production spans 5.8% — Jacksonville at 1,416 kWh per kW to Tampa at 1,498. Every column except production is identical down this table: same 15.0¢/kWh retail rate, same export regime, same $2.13/W installed cost. The payback differences are caused by weather and nothing else.
| Location | kWh per kW per year | 8 kW output | Annual value | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tampa | 1,498 | 10,786 kWh | $1,621 | 10.4 yrs |
| Miami (this page) | 1,481 | 10,663 kWh | $1,603 | 10.6 yrs |
| Orlando | 1,458 | 10,498 kWh | $1,578 | 10.7 yrs |
| Jacksonville | 1,416 | 10,195 kWh | $1,532 | 11.0 yrs |
| Florida state average | 1,475 | 10,620 kWh | $1,596 | 10.6 yrs |
Against the state figure, Miami runs 0.4% above Florida’s 1,475 kWh per kW — a payback 0.9 years longer than the statewide 10.6-year estimate on the same hardware at the same price.
What sets Miami apart
The reference point for Florida. Strong sun offset by afternoon convective cloud through the wet season.
Your utility, officially
Florida’s average residential rate is 15.0¢/kWh, but the bill in Miami comes from Florida Power & Light Co at 13.71¢ — 8.8% below the state figure. These are the residential figures Miami’s utility reported to the U.S. Energy Information Administration on Form EIA-861 for 2024 — computed as revenue ÷ sales from the official file, not estimated:
| Utility | EIA ID | Residential avg price | Residential customers | Net-metering (residential, self-reported) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Power & Light Co | 6452 | 13.71¢/kWh | 5,236,277 | 108585 customers / 982.763 MW |
How exports are treated matters as much as the headline price: Florida Power & Light Co is modeled here under the state’s full-retail net metering rules, and that treatment is baked into every payback figure on this page.
Miami solar math starts with a correction. The city page above models Florida’s statewide average rate, but nearly every home in Miami-Dade is billed by Florida Power & Light, and FPL’s own 2024 EIA-861 figure is 13.71¢/kWh — about a cent and a half below the state average. FPL is the largest utility in our entire dataset, with 5,236,277 residential customers, and its scale is exactly why its average price runs low. For a solar buyer that cuts both ways: your bills are easier to live with than the Florida headline suggests, and every kilowatt-hour your panels offset is worth 13.71¢, not 15.2¢. Plug FPL’s number into the calculator above and watch the payback stretch accordingly.
Because FPL is investor-owned and regulated by the Florida Public Service Commission, the state’s full-retail net-metering rule (FAC Rule 25-6.065, in force since 2008) binds it directly — unlike the municipal utilities in Jacksonville and Orlando, which answer to no such rule. FPL describes its interconnection and net-metering process at fpl.com/clean-energy/net-metering.html , and exported energy is credited against your usage at retail. That rule has been contested: the Legislature passed a phase-down in 2022 and the governor vetoed it, so full retail survives, but it is a statute-adjacent commission rule, not a constitutional guarantee. Worth knowing before you sign a 25-year deal.
FPL’s residential pricing is not one number. The bill assembles a base rate with fuel and other adjustment clauses, and what you pay per kilowatt-hour depends on your tariff and how much you use; the current schedules are published at fpl.com/rates.html and are worth reading before you size a system, because full-retail crediting means your export is worth whatever your marginal rate is.
The adoption picture: FPL reported 108,585 residential net-metering customers and 982.763 MW to EIA for 2024. That is a big absolute number — the third-largest residential fleet in our dataset — but against 5.2 million customers it is roughly one home in fifty. Compare Nevada Power, where it is one in eight. The average FPL system works out to about 9.0 kW, larger than almost any other utility we track, which fits Miami: big air-conditioning loads, big roofs, and a full-retail credit that rewards building to cover the whole bill rather than stopping at daytime self-consumption.
Source: EIA Form EIA-861, 2024 final release , accessed 2026-09-02. Average price is total residential revenue divided by total residential sales for the year — your own rate depends on your tariff and usage tier.
Who else serves the metro
Florida Power & Light bills most of the Miami area, though its 43-county EIA-861 territory also contains cooperatives such as Peace River Electric Cooperative at 12.3¢, Clay Electric Cooperative at 13.1¢, and Lee County Electric Cooperative at 13.5¢, plus Duke Energy Florida at 16.6¢. Set against FPL’s 13.71¢, the spread runs about 1.4¢ down to Peace River and 2.9¢ up to Duke — enough that the export credit and rate a solar payback depends on can shift if the address is on a cooperative’s lines instead. Florida’s July 2026 state average, 15.03¢, is a later figure drawn differently than these 2024 numbers. It’s the ZIP code that decides which utility serves a given roof.
| Utility (EIA-861, same service counties) | 2024 avg residential price | Residential customers |
|---|---|---|
| Duke Energy Florida, LLC | 16.6¢/kWh | 1,793,067 |
| Clay Electric Cooperative, Inc - (FL) | 13.1¢/kWh | 171,179 |
| Peace River Electric Coop, Inc | 12.3¢/kWh | 57,589 |
| Lee County Electric Coop, Inc - (FL) | 13.5¢/kWh | 231,142 |
The exact answer is a ZIP question, not a city question: look up your utility by ZIP . Candidates: utilities EIA-861 lists in 43 service counties of the metro’s main utility; prices are 2024 revenue ÷ sales from the official file.
Miami against the rest of Florida
Same rate, same export rule, same installed price per watt — only the sunshine changes:
| City | kWh per kW | Payback |
|---|---|---|
| Tampa | 1,498 | 10.4 years |
| Miami | 1,481 | 10.6 years |
| Orlando | 1,458 | 10.7 years |
| Jacksonville | 1,416 | 11.0 years |
A 5.8% production span across one state is the reason a single statewide number is only ever a starting point.
What Florida pays Miami for exported power
Florida credits exported power at the retail rate under FAC Rule 25-6.065 , in force since 2008, so a kilowatt-hour a Miami array sends to the grid is worth the same as one you buy. That is the best case for solar economics and it is why the payback above is what it is.
It is also the assumption most likely to change. Twenty-two states have already moved to net billing. If Florida did the same on typical terms, this system would take about 18.8 years instead of 11.5 — 7.3 years’ difference from a policy change, with no change to the hardware and none to Miami’s weather.
Sources and method
- Production: modeled with PVGIS v5.2 PVcalc (European Commission JRC) using the PVGIS-NSRDB radiation database — the same NREL satellite dataset PVWatts draws on for the Americas. Assumptions: 4 kWp, standard c-Si, 14% system loss, roof mounting, 20-degree tilt, due south, horizon shading on. The 1,481 kWh per kW figure for Miami is a modeled location point, not an interpolation from the Florida average. PVGIS is free to use with JRC attribution requested; the underlying NSRDB is public domain (NREL/DOE).
- Real-roof derate: a separate 10% deduction for azimuth, pitch and shading, applied in the shared model rather than folded into the production data — so you can adjust it if your roof is genuinely unobstructed.
- Electricity rate: U.S. Energy Information Administration, average price by state . This is Florida’s residential average; EIA does not publish a Miami figure, so the state rate is used and labeled as such.
- Export rules: FAC Rule 25-6.065 , from our Florida state page and the shared export-rules dataset behind it.
- State average rate: EIA Table 5.6.A, July 2026 data (released Sep 2026), used for every state-average comparison on this page.
- Payback model: shared with the solar savings calculator and the state pages — 2.5%/yr utility inflation, 0.5%/yr degradation, $150/yr running costs, one $2,000 inverter replacement in year 14, federal credit $0. The rest of the toolset — battery, sizing, financing — is under all calculators .
- Incentives: DSIRE . City and utility programs change more often than state ones — check yours directly.
Electricity rate, export regime, production figure and installed cost on this page were last verified on 30 August 2026. Export credits reset on annual tariff cycles and incentive budgets run out mid-year, so treat every figure as a snapshot at that date and confirm current terms before acting. Nothing here is tax or financial advice.
Frequently asked questions
How much do solar panels cost in Miami in 2026?
About $17,040 for a typical 8 kW system at $2.13 per watt, before any incentive. With the federal credit at $0 in 2026 that is close to your net cost. Note that the price per watt is a Florida market average — there is no reliable city-level cost data, so treat it as a starting point and get three quotes.
What is the solar payback in Miami?
Roughly 11.5 years on this model, using Miami’s own production figure of 1,481 kWh per kW and its own utility tariff (13.71¢/kWh) with each utility’s real export treatment. That includes $150 a year of running costs and one inverter replacement, which many published paybacks leave out.
Is Miami better or worse for solar than the rest of Florida?
Against the state figure, Miami runs 0.4% above Florida’s 1,475 kWh per kW — a payback 0.9 years longer than the statewide 10.6-year estimate on the same hardware at the same price.
Is solar worth it in Miami in 2026?
At 15.03¢/kWh and 1,481 kWh per kW, an 8 kW system in Miami pays back in about 10.6 years on this model. Treat that as a starting point for reading real quotes rather than as a quote: your roof’s orientation, its shading and the price you are actually offered will move it more than your city does.
How we calculated this
Year-1 saving = production (kW × the city’s modeled kWh per kW) × the blended kWh value (retail rate for self-use, the state export rule for exports). Payback = net cost ÷ year-1 saving, with the federal credit at $0 for 2026 purchases and cost per watt from the state’s installed-price band. Production is modeled from PVGIS/NSRDB irradiance for the city.Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) electricity rates · DSIRE incentive records · public IRS/OBBBA guidance. Figures are modeled estimates, not quotes or tax advice. See our methodology.
Compare with the rest of Florida
- Solar panel cost in Florida — The statewide picture: Florida’s rate, incentives, export rules and the 1,475 kWh per kW average this page corrects.
- Solar panel cost in Tampa — 1,498 kWh per kW and a 10.4-year payback — better than Miami on identical hardware.
- Solar panel cost in Orlando — 1,458 kWh per kW and a 10.7-year payback — worse than Miami on identical hardware.
- Solar panel cost in Jacksonville — 1,416 kWh per kW and a 11.0-year payback — worse than Miami on identical hardware.
- Solar panel cost in Corpus Christi — 1,479 kWh per kW in Texas — the closest production match to Miami in our data.
- Solar panel cost in Salt Lake City — 1,486 kWh per kW in Utah — the closest production match to Miami in our data.
- All city solar figures — The 66 US cities with their own modeled production data, and the spreads between them.