Solar panels in St. Johns County, FL

• St. Johns County posted a photovoltaic energy checklist for solar permits in February 2026.
• During Hurricane Milton in October 2024, about 28% of FPL's St. Johns County accounts lost power at one point, per the Public Service Commission. Parts of the county are served by JEA or Beaches Energy, so check your utility.
• FPL's storm protection plan lists storm surge and flood mitigation at its Lewis substation (completed 2025) and St. Augustine substation (completed 2023).
• FPL's 2025 report to the Public Service Commission lists 3,198 customer-owned solar systems on its lines in St. Johns County, 414 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:

• Butler Beach: Butler Beach is named for Frank B. Butler, a Black businessman who began buying land on Anastasia Island in 1927 and opened the beach to Black residents shut out of St. Johns County's segregated beaches; it was reported to be the only beach open to them between Jacksonville and Daytona Beach.
• Crescent Beach: Crescent Beach is unincorporated, so St. Johns County issues solar permits. The county's photovoltaic checklist asks for a structural engineering letter for roof-mounted systems and a recorded Notice of Commencement before the first inspection.
• South Ponte Vedra Beach: FPL's service area starts at about Mickler's Landing: the state-approved boundary follows Mickler's Landing Road to the ocean, so South Ponte Vedra Beach is on FPL while the Ponte Vedra Beach core to the north is served by Beaches Energy. Check your bill if you're near the line.
• St. Augustine: Since January 2025, St. Augustine requires zoning, historic, archaeology, public works and utilities reviews to be finished before you apply for a building permit, except for simple over-the-counter permits. Ask whether your solar project needs those reviews first.
• St. Augustine Beach: St. Augustine Beach runs its own building department and accepts digital plan review for plans that don't need the St. Johns County Fire Marshal's approval, with inspections booked online.
• St. Augustine Shores: St. Augustine Shores is unincorporated, so St. Johns County Building Services handles solar permits. Its photovoltaic checklist asks for a building permit application, two copies of the system specifications and a one-line diagram.
• Vilano Beach: The Army Corps of Engineers rebuilt the beach along Vilano from August 2023 to March 2024 in a $20.2 million federally funded project, after a 2021 nor'easter and Hurricanes Ian and Nicole stripped the dunes.

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 St. Johns 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.