Solar panels in Manatee County, FL

• The morning after Hurricane Milton in October 2024, about 165,900 of FPL's 214,800 Manatee County customers (77%) were without power, per the Public Service Commission.
• In unincorporated Manatee County, work on a home in a flood zone is subject to the FEMA 50% rule; homes that cross it must meet base flood elevation plus 1 foot or the design flood elevation, whichever is higher.
• FPL's 2025 report to the Public Service Commission lists 4,330 customer-owned solar systems on its lines in Manatee County, 500 of them connected in 2025, by our count. See Florida solar by county.

Permits and zoning rules are set town by town. Highlights from each town's own rules:

• Anna Maria: Anna Maria moved up to Class 5 in FEMA's Community Rating System, earning flood insurance policyholders an extra 5% discount. The city requires the supports for a home's first elevated floor to be 12 feet above sea level.
• Bradenton: Hurricane Helene did more than $41 million in damage in Bradenton in September 2024, by the city's preliminary count, including 294 homes with major damage and 194 with minor damage.
• Bradenton Beach: After Hurricane Helene in 2024, a state assessment team found that 90% to 95% of Bradenton Beach had been destroyed by flooding, with about 1,000 structures damaged in preliminary counts.
• Holmes Beach: After Hurricanes Helene and Milton, assessment teams checked 3,331 structures in Holmes Beach: 4 were destroyed, 243 had major damage and 217 had minor damage, with residential damage estimated at about $334 million.
• Lakewood Ranch: Lakewood Ranch has two utilities. On the Sarasota County side, FPL serves almost everyone: during Hurricane Milton the Public Service Commission counted only 38 co-op accounts in the whole county. In Manatee County, Peace River Electric Cooperative serves some villages, including Del Webb and Star Farms, so check your bill before you size a system.
• Palmetto: After flooding hit some Palmetto homes in the 2024 hurricane season, the city began a flood adaptation plan, paid for through the state's Resilient Florida program, that looks at seawall heights and green infrastructure.

Each town page has the full details and sources.

No. Under Florida law (s. 193.624), the value a solar system adds to a home isn't counted in its assessed value. If you're unsure whether anything needs to be filed, ask the Manatee County Property Appraiser.

Solar equipment is also exempt from Florida sales tax, so it's already left out of the installed price.

FPL credits the solar you send to the grid as a kWh credit at the full retail rate. Unused credits roll forward for up to 12 months, and anything left at year-end is paid out at only a few cents per kWh, so systems are sized to cover a year of use. Solar can't take a bill below the monthly minimum ($30 at FPL).

See the full FPL solar guide.

Choosing a company? Check each installer's Florida license, compare at least two quotes and run them through our solar quote checker.