Solar Panel Installation in Orlando, FL

Going solar in Orlando

Orlando is served by the Orlando Utilities Commission, a municipal utility, and that separates a solar decision here from one in most of Florida. Municipal utilities set their own interconnection requirements and their own terms for crediting exported energy, calculated against their own rates. OUC's own site advises checking the address against its coverage map, because some annexed edges of the city fall under Duke Energy Florida instead.

So the estimate starts with the meter, not the roof. We confirm which utility bills the address, pull the rate schedule and build the numbers on the rules that actually apply. In a city with more than thirty ZIP codes and decades of annexation, that verification is not a formality. Two homes a mile apart can sit on different sides of the line and end up with different credit terms for the same array.

The housing tells a similar story of layers. Bungalows near Lake Eola Park and the older downtown streets sit under heavy oak canopy on small lots. Southeast toward the newer subdivisions, roof planes are large and open and architectural rules are tighter. Roof age, framing and shade have to be assessed house by house, and a design that fits one Orlando neighborhood is often wrong two neighborhoods over.

We keep a crew based in Orlando, so the site visit, the installation and the inspection follow-up run out of the same city. Permits go to the City of Orlando or to Orange County depending on the parcel. Central Florida also records more lightning than anywhere else in the country, so grounding, bonding and surge protection get deliberate attention rather than a default treatment.