How many solar panels do you need in Florida?
Florida figures from our estimate engine · tariffs and prices reviewed November 1, 2026
A typical Florida home, 1,100 kWh a month with central air and a heat pump, needs 20 to 24 solar panels (7.9 to 9.3 kW) to make as much electricity in a year as it uses. Your electricity use, how much sun your part of Florida gets, and the wattage of the panels set the count. The size of the house does not.
Your address gives the exact count, drawn on your roof.
Panels by monthly electricity use
Your monthly use is printed on your bill in kWh. Each row runs from Key West, the sunniest of our 70 reference cities, to Sanford, the cloudiest.
| Monthly use | Panels (400 W) | System size | Installed cost (cash) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 500 kWh | 9 to 11 | 3.6 to 4.2 kW | $10,980 to $12,642 |
| 750 kWh | 14 to 16 | 5.4 to 6.3 kW | $15,066 to $16,783 |
| 1,000 kWh | 18 to 21 | 7.2 to 8.4 kW | $18,432 to $20,563 |
| 1,250 kWh | 23 to 27 | 9 to 10.5 kW | $21,600 to $24,176 |
| 1,500 kWh | 27 to 32 | 10.8 to 12.6 kW | $24,689 to $27,594 |
| 2,000 kWh | 36 to 43 | 14.4 to 16.9 kW | $30,461 to $35,256 |
Sized to make 100% of annual use (net zero). Florida cash prices with the state sales-tax exemption already in them, 400 W panels. Tariffs and prices reviewed November 1, 2026.
Panels by city, for a 1,100 kWh home
Florida’s spread is small. Sanford needs 24 panels for the home that needs 20 in Key West. The Keys and the Gulf coast do best, inland central Florida and the northeast a little worse, and summer afternoon clouds keep the gap narrow. The bigger cities are shown; the rest are in the list under the table.
| City | Sunlight (kWh per kW per year) | Panels | System size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Key West | 1,661 | 20 | 7.9 kW |
| Fort Myers | 1,539 | 22 | 8.6 kW |
| Miami | 1,524 | 22 | 8.7 kW |
| St. Petersburg | 1,524 | 22 | 8.7 kW |
| Pensacola | 1,523 | 22 | 8.7 kW |
| Tallahassee | 1,507 | 22 | 8.8 kW |
| Tampa | 1,507 | 22 | 8.8 kW |
| Jacksonville | 1,474 | 23 | 9 kW |
| Gainesville | 1,453 | 23 | 9.1 kW |
| Orlando | 1,440 | 23 | 9.2 kW |
| Sanford | 1,424 | 24 | 9.3 kW |
All 70 Florida cities
| City | Sunlight (kWh per kW per year) | Panels | System size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bradenton | 1,598 | 21 | 8.3 kW |
| Naples | 1,598 | 21 | 8.3 kW |
| Sarasota | 1,598 | 21 | 8.3 kW |
| Homestead | 1,584 | 21 | 8.3 kW |
| Clearwater | 1,571 | 21 | 8.4 kW |
| Panama City | 1,570 | 21 | 8.4 kW |
| Largo | 1,561 | 22 | 8.5 kW |
| Punta Gorda | 1,556 | 22 | 8.5 kW |
| North Port | 1,552 | 22 | 8.5 kW |
| Cape Coral | 1,547 | 22 | 8.5 kW |
| Miami Gardens | 1,535 | 22 | 8.6 kW |
| Fort Walton Beach | 1,527 | 22 | 8.6 kW |
| North Miami | 1,525 | 22 | 8.7 kW |
| Miami Beach | 1,523 | 22 | 8.7 kW |
| Hialeah | 1,520 | 22 | 8.7 kW |
| St. Augustine | 1,519 | 22 | 8.7 kW |
| Miramar | 1,514 | 22 | 8.7 kW |
| Doral | 1,513 | 22 | 8.7 kW |
| Palm Bay | 1,504 | 22 | 8.8 kW |
| Brandon | 1,502 | 22 | 8.8 kW |
| Melbourne | 1,498 | 22 | 8.8 kW |
| Spring Hill | 1,497 | 22 | 8.8 kW |
| Vero Beach | 1,494 | 22 | 8.8 kW |
| Palm Coast | 1,493 | 22 | 8.8 kW |
| Fort Lauderdale | 1,490 | 23 | 8.9 kW |
| Pompano Beach | 1,490 | 23 | 8.9 kW |
| Lauderhill | 1,488 | 23 | 8.9 kW |
| Plantation | 1,488 | 23 | 8.9 kW |
| Tamarac | 1,486 | 23 | 8.9 kW |
| Port St. Lucie | 1,483 | 23 | 8.9 kW |
| Crestview | 1,480 | 23 | 8.9 kW |
| Hollywood | 1,480 | 23 | 8.9 kW |
| Sebring | 1,480 | 23 | 8.9 kW |
| Lakeland | 1,478 | 23 | 8.9 kW |
| Jupiter | 1,475 | 23 | 8.9 kW |
| Davie | 1,470 | 23 | 9 kW |
| Pembroke Pines | 1,469 | 23 | 9 kW |
| Sunrise | 1,468 | 23 | 9 kW |
| Ocala | 1,466 | 23 | 9 kW |
| Palm Beach Gardens | 1,466 | 23 | 9 kW |
| Delray Beach | 1,464 | 23 | 9 kW |
| Marianna | 1,464 | 23 | 9 kW |
| Boca Raton | 1,463 | 23 | 9 kW |
| West Palm Beach | 1,462 | 23 | 9 kW |
| Weston | 1,462 | 23 | 9 kW |
| The Villages | 1,460 | 23 | 9 kW |
| Winter Haven | 1,460 | 23 | 9 kW |
| Deerfield Beach | 1,459 | 23 | 9 kW |
| Apopka | 1,453 | 23 | 9.1 kW |
| Boynton Beach | 1,453 | 23 | 9.1 kW |
| Lake City | 1,451 | 23 | 9.1 kW |
| Live Oak | 1,451 | 23 | 9.1 kW |
| St. Cloud | 1,437 | 23 | 9.2 kW |
| Daytona Beach | 1,435 | 23 | 9.2 kW |
| Wellington | 1,435 | 23 | 9.2 kW |
| Kissimmee | 1,434 | 23 | 9.2 kW |
| Coral Springs | 1,432 | 23 | 9.2 kW |
| Port Orange | 1,429 | 23 | 9.2 kW |
| Deltona | 1,426 | 24 | 9.3 kW |
South-facing roof at a 30° pitch after our shading and soiling allowance, from the PVGIS-ERA5 reference the estimator runs. Florida’s low-pitch roofs lose little facing east or west: about a tenth more panels. Each city links to its own page.
The formula, so you can check our work
Panels = annual kWh ÷ sunlight (kWh per kW per year) × 1,000 ÷ panel watts
Tampa, 1,100 kWh a month: 13,200 kWh ÷ 1,507 = 8.76 kW, which we round to 8.8 kW. 8,800 W ÷ 400 W = 22, so 22 panels. The sunlight figure is the one most online calculators get wrong, because they use a national average instead of your city.
What changes the count
- Panel wattage. Most 2026 quotes use 400 to 450 W panels. At 440 W the Tampa home needs 20 panels instead of 22. Fewer panels, same system size, same production.
- Roof direction and shade. We place panels on your roof’s sunniest faces from aerial imagery. A north-facing roof never gets panels from us.
- Air conditioning. An August bill can be nearly double a February bill, so we annualize a single bill with Florida’s load shape before sizing. A 12-month total is better. Bring one if you have it.
- How your utility credits exports. FPL, Duke, TECO and most municipals bank your surplus at the retail rate. Several co-ops and a few cities pay an avoided-cost rate for exports, and there a system sized below full use pays back faster than net zero. Payback by utility shows which is which.
- Pool pumps and EVs. A pool pump adds 2,000 to 3,500 kWh a year, an EV 3,000 to 4,500: 4 to 8 more panels each.
How much roof that takes
About 20 square feet per panel. A 24-panel array needs 500 to 600 square feet of roof after setbacks. The Florida Building Code requires racking engineered for your wind zone, stricter in the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone of Miami-Dade and Broward. That is the installer’s job, and it does not change the count.
Questions Florida homeowners ask
- How many solar panels does a 2,000 square foot house need in Florida?
- Use sets it, not size. A typical Florida home uses about 1,100 kWh a month and needs 20 to 24 panels. Add a pool pump and an EV and it can be 35.
- How many panels does it take to run a house completely?
- Enough to make the full year's use, which is the net-zero size in the tables. Under FPL, Duke and TECO net metering the summer surplus is banked at retail against the rest of the year.
- What size solar system do I need in Florida?
- About 1 kW for every 1,424 to 1,661 kWh you use in a year, depending on the city. The first table gives it by monthly use.
- Do summer clouds and storm season change the number?
- They are already in the sunlight figures. In Tampa, March is the strongest month and June the weakest, a spread of only 1.3 to 1, and we size on the whole year.
- Can I add panels later?
- Yes, if the inverter and the interconnection agreement have headroom. A second installation costs more per panel than the first, so ask for the full size and a smaller option up front.
Sources
Sunlight: PVGIS-ERA5 reference yields for 70 Florida cities (30° tilt, due south, 14% system losses) with our shading and soiling allowance; see the methodology. Installed cost: the Florida cash-price ladder, October 2026. Utility rules: each utility’s own schedule, reviewed November 1, 2026, on its page. Figures are estimates for a typical home, not a quote; a state-licensed Florida solar contractor confirms roof, equipment and price. What it costs: solar panel prices in Florida.
Your address, your numbers
About a minute. We read your roof, take your real usage and apply your utility’s rules, and we ask for no contact details.