Solar Panels in Jacksonville, FL: 2026 Cost, JEA Net Metering & Savings

Jacksonville and the bill

JEA serves Jacksonville. Beaches communities and St. Johns County addresses are often on a different utility, including Florida Power & Light in much of southern Duval's neighbors. 'Jacksonville solar' on a bill that says FPL is a different project. Jacksonville is the least 'South Florida' big city in the state. The solar resource is still good and a bit lower than Miami's. Winters are cooler, summers are still air-conditioning season, and the city is large enough that a north-side roof and a beach roof do not see the same wind or the same trees. JEA's programs and credits are municipal decisions. They have changed before. Quote the current document, not a forum post. The 2025 EIA residential average for Florida was 15.21 cents per kWh. That statewide figure is what our calculator uses. It is not the JEA tariff. A rounded solar resource for this metro is about 4.9 peak sun hours a day.

Export credits and any SREC or REC

JEA serves Jacksonville, and Florida does not have one export credit for the state. Florida Power & Light, Duke Energy Florida, Tampa Electric, and municipal utilities such as OUC, JEA, Lakeland Electric, and the City of Tallahassee each publish their own rider. A neighboring city can be a different company. There is no Florida SREC price to put next to the bill. The proposal has to name the rider. Wind design follows the Florida Building Code and is stricter on exposed coasts than inland. An array is not a storm shelter and it is not an insurance promise.

Roofs, climate, permits, and HOAs

The city covers a huge land area. Ranch houses, two-story suburban homes, and older neighborhoods under pines all show up in bids. Pine shade is a Jacksonville-specific version of the shade question: the trees are tall and the shadows move. A roof that looks open at noon can be shaded at 4 p.m. A Jacksonville permit comes from the local building department, not from JEA. An HOA can add its own review. This page does not quote a FL permit fee or an approval, because both depend on the address. Ask whether the proposal is using JEA's current export or consumption rules. Ask for a shade reading if pines are within a lot or two. Insurance questions are quieter than in Miami but not absent. Hurricane design still applies.

Estimated cost range

Estimated cost range for Jacksonville, labeled as an estimate and not a local quote: Berkeley Lab's August 2026 update put 2025 host-owned residential systems at about $3.60 per watt before incentives, about $3.00 per watt in the cash subset, and about $4.50 per watt in the loan subset. The median size in that set was 7.7 kW. Jacksonville is about 4.9 peak sun hours a day, against about 5.2 statewide. The federal residential credit under 26 U.S.C. § 25D ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025. The IRS treats that expenditure as made when the original installation is completed.

• Cash

  $3.00/W

  $23,100

  Subset classified as cash

• Middle published case

  $3.60/W

  $27,720

  All host-owned systems

• Loan

  $4.50/W

  $34,650

  Financed subset, before interest

Before incentives. A loan price here excludes interest. The federal residential credit under section 25D ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025. Berkeley Lab, U.S. Distributed Solar and Storage, August 2026 data update.