Buying a solar company in Florida

A solar company designs and installs solar panel systems, mostly on the roofs of homes, sometimes larger systems for businesses, and often battery storage alongside them. Some also install solar water heating or solar pool heating. Most revenue is one-time project work: a sale, a design, a permit, an installation and a connection approved by the utility. There's little repeat revenue, mainly monitoring, cleaning, repairs and service on systems the company or others installed.

How customers pay shapes the business. Some pay cash or take a loan; others lease a system or sign an agreement through an outside financing company, which can set pricing rules and hold back part of the payment until milestones are met. A typical small installer has one or two salespeople or a network of outside dealers, a designer who handles permits and utility paperwork, two or three installation crews, an electrician, and the owner.

• Sales that held up after the federal homeowner tax credit ended. A company that grew only on the credit may shrink without it.
• Its own installation crews and a licensed electrician on staff, rather than everything subcontracted.
• A service and repair business for existing systems, including ones whose original installers are gone. Florida has many systems that need someone to call when an inverter fails.
• Battery storage experience, since storm outages give Florida homeowners a reason to want backup power.
• Commercial customers, whose decisions rest on electricity bills as well as tax credits.
• A clean record with utilities and permit offices: connections approved promptly, few failed inspections.
• Honest selling: few cancellations, complaints or chargebacks (money financing companies take back).
• Roof work done carefully, with few leak callbacks around panel mounts.

The Construction Industry Licensing Board at the Florida DBPR licenses solar installers as certified solar contractors (license numbers starting with CVC) or registered solar contractors. The license covers solar water heating, pool heating and photovoltaic (electric) systems. Electricians and other licensed contractors can also do solar work within their own licenses.

The line between solar and electrical work is narrow. On a home system, a solar contractor may run the wiring between the solar panels and the inverter (including battery circuits) and do roofing within 18 inches of each mount. Connecting to the house wiring, adding or changing circuits, and any work on the electrical panel must be done by a licensed electrical contractor (rule 61G4-15.021). That allowance covers residential systems only. So a solar company needs an electrical contractor, as a qualifier or a subcontractor, on nearly every job connected to the grid. Confirm the details with the DBPR.

You don't need a license to own the company, but it must be qualified by a licensed person, and the license stays with that person. If the only qualifier leaves, the company has 60 days to hire another but can't contract in the meantime, apart from finishing existing jobs with the board's permission.

• Revenue before and after December 31, 2025. The federal residential clean energy credit isn't available for systems placed in service after that date. Leases and power purchase agreements rely on business tax credits, which end for solar placed in service after 2027 unless construction began by July 4, 2026. Ask an accountant how these rules affect the jobs the company has lined up.
• Financing partner agreements: fees, payments held back until milestones, and money taken back if a customer cancels or a system underperforms.
• Workmanship warranties promised, often for many years, and what honoring them has cost.
• Complaints and chargebacks, and the sales practices behind them.
• Dependence on one panel or inverter maker, and what happens if that maker stops supporting its products.
• Signed jobs waiting on permits or utility approval.
• Who holds the license, and whether they're staying.

• How did your sales change after the homeowner tax credit ended?
• How do your customers pay, and which financing companies do you work with?
• What workmanship warranty do you give, and how many warranty calls do you get?
• Do you use your own crews or subcontractors for installations and electrical work?
• Whose license does the company work under, and will they stay?
• What service work do you do on systems you didn't install?
• How many jobs are signed but not yet installed?