Solar Bear
Statewide coverage from Tampa and Jacksonville bases. Serving OUC customers across Hillsborough, Pinellas, Duval, Orange, Polk.
4.6 on Google · battery and backup
Verify their Florida licence yourself at the state register before you sign anything.
Systems interconnected before 30 June 2025 keep the full retail rate, reported at 10.7 cents, all the way through 2045. Applications from 1 July 2025 onward move to the community solar rate of roughly 4.6 cents for five years.
Battery backup is mandatory
in OUC territory.
Systems interconnected before 30 June 2025 keep the full retail rate, reported at 10.7 cents, all the way through 2045. Applications from 1 July 2025 onward move to the community solar rate of roughly 4.6 cents for five years.
That makes selling power to the grid close to pointless here. The entire return has to come from using your own production instead of exporting it, and after dark the only way to do that is to have stored it. That is what a battery does.
So we treat it as a requirement, not an upgrade. We will not refer you for a panels-only system in OUC territory, and you should be sceptical of anyone who quotes you one without raising storage first.
Our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement
Why this is worth an afternoon
The credit is the whole return
Panels only pay for themselves if the power you overproduce at midday comes back to you after dark. That exchange is net metering, and it is what turns a roof into an asset instead of an expense.
Rates only move one way
Florida electricity prices have climbed steadily for a decade. A fixed solar payment against a rising utility rate is the actual bet, and every year of waiting is a year of the old price you cannot get back.
The federal credit is real money
A residential clean energy credit is available on your federal return, and battery storage can qualify alongside the panels. Your installer will tell you what your system qualifies for. Confirm it with your tax preparer.
Backup is the part people actually feel
Panels alone shut off in an outage. Paired with a battery the house keeps running through hurricane season, which in Florida is the benefit that gets talked about over the fence.
We are a referral service, not an installer, and we are not affiliated with Orlando Utilities Commission. Solar Bear does not pay us for placement. Savings depend on your roof, your usage, and your utility’s current tariff. Nobody can quote you a real number without looking at your bill.
Request your consultation
We will call you to go through your bill and set up your consultation with Solar Bear. Nobody else receives your details.