Solar Equipment Certification

Under the Solar Energy Standards Act of 1976, the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) is responsible for certifying all solar equipment sold in Florida, unless the equipment has been otherwise certified by a licensed engineer to meet the standards in Florida's most recent building code. 

A manufacturer who wishes to have their solar equipment certified first contacts FSEC for an application and requests that FSEC test samples of the product at random. Equipment is then subjected to a series of tests in order to be approved or denied certification. Standards and applications procedures for specific technologies are available on the FSEC website.

Periodically, FSEC will retest solar equipment to maintain quality control, and FSEC will make facility inspections every two to four years, where feasible. For more details about the testing methodology for both PV collectors and thermal equipment, see the program web site above.