Cape Coral Solar Service: Frequently Asked Questions

Diagnostic visit $150 to $350, detach and reset $200 to $400 per panel, string inverter replacement $1,500 to $3,500 installed, microinverter or optimizer swap $300 to $600 each, panel replacement $400 to $900 per panel, wiring and connector repair $250 to $900, monitoring gateway $300 to $800, cleaning $10 to $20 per panel. Permit and interconnection paperwork runs $200 to $500. The full table with what moves each number is on the pricing page.

A licensed solar or electrical contractor, not the roofer. Florida Statute 489.105 assigns the installation, alteration, repair, and relocation of photovoltaic systems to solar contractors, and electrical contractors carry the same scope; roofers are not licensed for it. We detach 1 to 3 days before tear-off, store the panels on site, and reset them on the new roof with new flashed attachments once the roofer is done. Coordinate it before the roofing contract is signed.

Yes. Inside city limits the City of Cape Coral Building Division permits roofing, electrical, and solar work through the EnerGov Citizen Self Service portal. In unincorporated Lee County, the Solar-Photovoltaic permit guide requires a permit to add or modify any photovoltaic system, with signed and sealed wind-load documentation for the roof zone where the panels sit. The reinstall permit is pulled by the solar or electrical contractor, separate from the roofer's re-roof permit.

Two reasons. Hurricane Ian impacted 52,514 Lee County structures on September 28, 2022, with 5,369 destroyed and 14,245 with major damage, by the National Hurricane Center's count, and Milton's tornadoes added roof damage across Fort Myers and North Fort Myers on October 9, 2024. Then Florida Statute 627.7011(5), from the May 2022 special session, lets insurers require replacement of a roof 15 years or older unless an inspection shows at least five years of useful life. Roofs with solar on them are no exception.

A string inverter shows a red or fault light, an error code, or a blank display, and production reads zero; the first sign for many owners is a utility bill that jumped. A single failed Enphase microinverter or SolarEdge optimizer shows one panel dark in the app while the rest produce. If the app shows nothing at all, the monitoring gateway may have lost its connection rather than the system failing. A screenshot tells us which.

String inverters (SMA, SolarEdge, Fronius, ABB or FIMER) typically last 10 to 15 years, and the heat in a garage or on a west wall in Cape Coral is on the short end of that. Microinverters and optimizers carry 25-year manufacturer warranties, but individual units fail along the way. Standard inverter warranties are shorter: SolarEdge inverters carry 12 years and SMA 10, per the manufacturers' published terms.

Your net-metering interconnection agreement lists the inverter, and both utilities require the local building official's inspection certificate before a system is placed in service. FPL's Tier 1 agreement requires a new application and interconnection agreement at least 30 calendar days before any modification that raises the system's rated output. A like-for-like swap is documented on the permit; a different model or a larger unit gets a fresh application. We file it.

Cape Coral, North Fort Myers, Pine Island, Sanibel, Captiva, and Lehigh Acres are LCEC, a cooperative founded in 1940 in North Fort Myers that serves more than 250,000 customers. Fort Myers, Bonita Springs, Estero, and Punta Gorda are FPL. Your bill says which, and it matters because the interconnection paperwork differs.

Part of it. Manufacturer warranties on panels, inverters, and microinverters are tied to the equipment and usually survive: Enphase publishes 25 years on microinverters, SolarEdge 25 on optimizers and 12 on inverters. The installer's workmanship warranty, roof-leak warranty, and any production guarantee died with the company. Manufacturers ship parts, not crews, and Enphase's current U.S. warranty excludes labor, so a service contractor does the roof work at published rates.

The big ones affecting Florida: Pink Energy (Power Home Solar) filed Chapter 7 on October 7, 2022; Vision Solar filed Chapter 7 on December 28, 2023 while facing a Florida Attorney General suit; ADT announced its exit from residential solar on January 24, 2024; Titan Solar Power closed on June 13, 2024 and filed Chapter 7 in Arizona; SunPower filed Chapter 11 in Delaware in August 2024. Dozens of smaller local dealers closed alongside them. If your installer is on that list or simply stopped answering, see the orphaned system page.

Yes. The company that bought SunPower's assets out of bankruptcy has said it is not responsible for systems installed on or before September 30, 2024, but the panels and the Enphase microinverters most SunPower systems use carry their own manufacturer warranties. A takeover visit documents the system, restores monitoring on a new account where needed, and files any open claims. Repairs are at published rates.

A diagnostic visit, $150 to $350, for a system whose installer is gone. The technician documents every component with serial numbers, checks production against expected output, restores monitoring access, identifies open manufacturer warranties, and writes a findings report with any repair quotes. From then on you have a service contractor of record for the system.

Sometimes. A single cracked panel can be swapped for a matching or electrically compatible module at $400 to $900 installed. The problem is that panels are discontinued within a few years, and a mismatched replacement in a string affects the whole string. If a storm damaged several panels on one roof face, an insurance claim for that face is often the right path, and we document it for the adjuster.

Solar and electrical work arranged through this site is performed by Florida-licensed, insured solar and electrical contractors. Florida licenses this trade at the state level through the DBPR, and roof attachments can also fall under a roofing contractor's license, which is why re-roof resets are coordinated in writing between the roofer and the solar crew. This site does not hold or claim a license number of its own; ask the crew for theirs and verify it.

Yes. Estero alone has some 35 gated communities, and most HOAs require advance notice for contractor access and some require architectural approval for any change to a roof, including the array going back on after a re-roof. We work with the roofer's schedule and the HOA's process, and the panels go back in the same layout unless the new roof requires a change.

Quotes come back from photos within a day. Diagnostics are scheduled within the week in most of the service area. Re-roof detach dates are set to the roofer's tear-off date, which means the earlier you loop us in, the fewer days your roof waits. After a named storm, expect longer lead times and get your inspection done before June.

Through the quote form on this site. Include the array from the ground (each roof face with panels), the inverter or combiner label with the model number, and a screenshot of your monitoring app if you have one. For a re-roof, add the roofer's name and the tear-off date. For an orphaned system, add the installer's name and the year it was installed.