Re-roof first, then solar: why a new roof permit is Florida's best solar sales trigger

Ask a Florida installer what kills a good solar deal and the roof comes up fast. The homeowner is interested, the numbers work, then someone looks up: the shingles are 20 years old. Now it's a roof replacement first, a second contractor, a second loan conversation, and often no deal at all.

Turn that around and you get the best moment to sell solar in Florida: the weeks right after a homeowner puts on a new roof.

Why the new-roof moment works

• The roof objection is gone. Panels go on a roof that will outlast them, with no rip-and-replace to price in.
• The homeowner is already investing in the house. They just spent five figures and are thinking about the next 20 years there.
• It's on the public record. Every Florida re-roof needs a building permit, so you can see where they happen, which week, and for how much.

What 90 days of re-roof permits show

We looked at every re-roof permit filed on single-family and duplex homes in Miami-Dade County (including the City of Miami) and Orlando in the 90 days to October 4, 2026, using public records.

Three things stand out:

• Volume is real. In Miami-Dade alone, about 31 homes a weekday get a new roof.
• Almost none of them have solar. Nearly every re-roofed home is still an open opportunity. (Our Miami-Dade County solar records go back to October 2024; City of Miami and Orlando records go back to 2016.)
• A big share aren't buyers. A third of Miami-Dade re-roofs, and more than half in Orlando, are on rentals or investor-owned homes. A renter can't sign a solar contract. Filtering to owner-occupied homes is the difference between a useful list and a wasted route.

97% of the homes in our data that got a new roof were built before 2006, which matches what installers see at the door: Florida's older housing stock is reaching the end of its first or second roof, and hurricane seasons speed that up.

How to work the trigger

1. Get the list weekly or daily, not monthly. The window is short. Roofers and their solar partners are already in the conversation.
2. Filter hard: single-family or duplex, owner-occupied, no existing solar. That removes about 4 in 10 permit leads before anyone spends a stamp.
3. Lead with the roof. "Your new roof is good for 25 years. So are panels. This is the cheapest time you'll ever have to add them." Mail first, then knock a short, pre-qualified route.
4. Track every house. Mark mailed, knocked, appointment, won, so your reps never work the same address twice.

See it for your ZIP codes

PermitScoop turns these permits into a short list every weekday at 7am: owner-occupied homes that just filed a re-roof, panel upgrade or battery permit, with homes that already have solar removed. Browse the live numbers for Miami-Dade, Miami and Orlando, or get a free sample for your ZIP.