State solar profile · #7 of 51

Solar in Florida: fast modeled payback

Florida clears a modeled 12-yr break-even (#14 of 51) at 14.5¢/kWh and 5.6 kWh/m²/day, with 4 DSIRE programs in the stack.

5.6
kWh/m²/day irradiance
14.5¢
avg electricity rate
12 yr
payback (#14)
4
incentive programs
47 Moderate
Subscribe (RSS)

EIA Form 860 nameplate strip

Nameplate FL · Florida score #7/51

Florida | 47/100 | 12 yr payback | 11.0 GW

  • BOOK 47/100
  • VS-AVG #7/51
  • GW 5.6 kWh
  • IRR 14.5c/kWh
  • STRIP 12 yr
  • FORM860 11.0 GW
  • MW 4 programs
  • SCORE near Colorado

Stamps derive from this state's NREL irradiance, EIA Form 860 / Electric Power Monthly nameplate, and DSIRE incentive row (score, rank, sun, rate, payback, capacity, programs, peer), not a quote or site assessment. Modeled figures use a typical 6 kW system; your roof, shading, and utility tariff decide the real return. See our disclaimer. Verify with EIA Form 860 → · Read with methodology → · Net-metering guide → · Personalized estimate → · All state rows → · States ranked → · Payback vs U.S. avg (14.2 yr): 2.2 yr faster

Modeled 6 kW payback · Florida and nearest peers

Shorter bars = faster simple payback on the NREL/EIA model

years

What this shows Florida sits at 12 years among nearest payback peers (2.2 yr faster vs the 14.2-yr U.S. average).

Source PlainSolarData model · NREL irradiance + EIA rates As of 2024

Fast-band 25-year ROI · Florida

$17,100

system cost

$1,423/yr

modeled savings

12 yr

break-even

+$18,475

25-year net

At $17,100 and $1,423/yr, Florida is already in the faster third of modeled paybacks. Roof, shading, and tariff still move the real number. Run a personalized estimate →

Installed solar capacity in Florida, 2009–2024

Total solar nameplate capacity in Florida reported to the EIA, utility-scale and reported distributed systems. The number of reporting facilities grew 193x (1 to 193) between 2009 and 2024, and the average site size grew from 25 MW to 57 MW per site, a shift toward larger utility-scale installations.

0 MW5.0 GW10.0 GW15.0 GW 200920112013201520172019202120232024 11.0 GW
Florida now has about 11.0 GW of installed solar capacity across 193 reported facilities.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, installed solar nameplate capacity As of 2024

Florida on the sun-and-speed corner

Irradiance 5.6 kWh/m²/day (at/above the 4.8 national mean) vs 12-yr payback (fast band vs 14.2-yr mean). Crosshairs mark those means.

Modest sun · fast payback (high rates)Sun + speedModest sun · slowSunny but slow (cheap power)3.24.15.05.86.74.1 yr10.0 yr15.9 yr21.8 yr27.7 yrSolar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →← Faster payback (years)HI, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 5.9 · ← Faster payback (years): 5.2 yrCA, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 5.8 · ← Faster payback (years): 6.3 yrAZ, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 6.5 · ← Faster payback (years): 10.3 yrNM, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 6.4 · ← Faster payback (years): 10.3 yrNV, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 6.2 · ← Faster payback (years): 11.9 yrTX, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 5.7 · ← Faster payback (years): 11.8 yrFL, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 5.6 · ← Faster payback (years): 12 yrCO, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 5.5 · ← Faster payback (years): 12.3 yrCT, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.1 · ← Faster payback (years): 8.9 yrMA, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.2 · ← Faster payback (years): 9.2 yrUT, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 5.9 · ← Faster payback (years): 14.5 yrNY, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.4 · ← Faster payback (years): 11.1 yrRI, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.2 · ← Faster payback (years): 9.7 yrME, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.3 · ← Faster payback (years): 9.3 yrNH, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.2 · ← Faster payback (years): 9.8 yrNJ, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.5 · ← Faster payback (years): 12.8 yrSC, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 5.2 · ← Faster payback (years): 14 yrNC, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 5.2 · ← Faster payback (years): 14.4 yrKS, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 5.2 · ← Faster payback (years): 13.7 yrDC, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.4 · ← Faster payback (years): 13 yrGA, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 5.3 · ← Faster payback (years): 14.5 yrVT, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.1 · ← Faster payback (years): 11.5 yrMD, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.5 · ← Faster payback (years): 14.3 yrMT, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 5 · ← Faster payback (years): 16.3 yrOK, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 5.3 · ← Faster payback (years): 15.5 yrIL, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.3 · ← Faster payback (years): 14 yrWY, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 5.5 · ← Faster payback (years): 15.3 yrLA, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 5.1 · ← Faster payback (years): 17.8 yrVA, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.8 · ← Faster payback (years): 15 yrMN, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.4 · ← Faster payback (years): 15.9 yrTN, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.9 · ← Faster payback (years): 16.7 yrAL, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.9 · ← Faster payback (years): 14.4 yrAR, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.8 · ← Faster payback (years): 17.2 yrDE, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.5 · ← Faster payback (years): 15.4 yrMO, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.8 · ← Faster payback (years): 15.6 yrND, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.8 · ← Faster payback (years): 18.2 yrOR, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.5 · ← Faster payback (years): 16.9 yrPA, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.3 · ← Faster payback (years): 14.2 yrWI, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.3 · ← Faster payback (years): 14.2 yrMS, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 5 · ← Faster payback (years): 15.7 yrNE, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 5 · ← Faster payback (years): 16.4 yrSD, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 5 · ← Faster payback (years): 17.1 yrIA, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.5 · ← Faster payback (years): 16.7 yrKY, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.5 · ← Faster payback (years): 17.7 yrID, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.7 · ← Faster payback (years): 20 yrMI, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4 · ← Faster payback (years): 14.4 yrOH, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.2 · ← Faster payback (years): 16.3 yrWV, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.2 · ← Faster payback (years): 19.4 yrIN, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 4.4 · ← Faster payback (years): 15.8 yrWA, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 3.5 · ← Faster payback (years): 26.6 yrAK, Solar irradiance (kWh/m²/day) →: 3.4 · ← Faster payback (years): 17 yr
Florida (highlighted): 5.6 kWh/m²/day, 12-yr modeled payback - faster than the national average.

Source: PlainSolarData model, NREL irradiance + EIA rates As of 2024

Solar & grid details

Net-metering policy
full
Renewable portfolio standard
Voluntary (40% by 2030)
Installed cost / watt
$2.85/W
Annual production (6 kW)
9,811 kWh
Installed capacity (EIA 2024)
11.0 GW
Notable programs
FPL SolarTogether, Duke Energy Solar Choice

All Florida solar incentives (4)

Other fast-payback peers for Florida

Two non-geographic peer sets for Florida: composite score neighbors and payback-year neighbors (deduped so each row links a distinct comparison).

Similar composite solar score

Nearest nationwide matches on the NREL/EIA/DSIRE blend (47/100 here).

Similar modeled payback

Nearest payback-year peers nationwide (12 yr modeled here).

Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on published composite scores and modeled 6 kW payback years; rankings above use the same fields but sort the full corpus.

Solar resource from NREL; electricity rates and installed capacity from the U.S. EIA; incentive programs from DSIRE. See our methodology.