Solar panels in Orange County, FL

• Orange County handles permits electronically through its Fast Track website and publishes a solar submittal checklist for residential rooftop systems.
• Orange County has run group solar purchases with the nonprofit Solar United Neighbors; the most recent, Solar Switch, included optional batteries and closed in February 2025.
• On the afternoon after Hurricane Milton in October 2024, about 91,700 of Duke Energy's 434,700 Orange County accounts (21%) were without power, per the Public Service Commission.

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

• Apopka: Apopka issues its own building permits through its Building Safety division at City Hall, with applications handled online.
• Dr. Phillips: Duke Energy Florida serves most of Dr. Phillips, including Bay Hill: in the territorial agreement between Duke and the Orlando Utilities Commission, OUC's service area runs along the west side of Turkey Lake Road and takes in the area to the east, so homes near that line should check their bill.
• Gotha: Gotha has been protected as a rural settlement for decades and has been an Orange County historic preservation district since 1995.
• Horizon West: Horizon West is unincorporated, so Orange County issues solar permits electronically through its Fast Track system. The county uses a dedicated "Sun" permit for residential rooftop solar and requires structural details signed and sealed by a Florida engineer.
• Maitland: In 2026 Duke Energy Florida began installing underground power connections under Horatio Avenue near Maitland Avenue, a City of Maitland project to replace overhead lines and wooden poles alongside the North Independence Lane extension.
• Oakland: Oakland is a Tree City USA community: the town installed about 500 new trees in 2022 and requires developers to replace trees removed during construction. Shade from mature trees cuts solar output, so ask your installer for a shade analysis.
• Ocoee: Ocoee has its own Building Division at City Hall with online permitting; the city's solar checklist files a system as a building permit first, followed by a separate electrical sub-permit.
• Windermere: During Hurricane Ian in 2022, damage to two of Windermere's main trunk lines, at Sixth Avenue and at Lake Butler Boulevard and Main Street, took out power to almost the entire town, and Duke crews worked two to three days to repair them.
• Winter Garden: In 2023 Winter Garden renewed its Duke Energy Florida franchise (Ordinance 23-12) for 10 years, replacing a 30-year agreement that expired in December 2022. The franchise fee stayed at 6%.

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 Orange County Property Appraiser.

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

Duke Energy 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 Duke Energy).

See the full Duke Energy solar guide.

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