Virginia solar incentives, honestly explained

There is a lot of noise about "solar incentives." Some of it is real and stable, some of it is confusing, and some of it is marketing dressed up as a program. Here is how to tell the difference in Virginia.

Virginia net metering with Dominion

Net metering is the single most important incentive for most Virginia homeowners. It is not a payment, it is a billing arrangement. When your panels generate more than your home needs, the extra flows back onto the Dominion Energy grid. Your meter records the export. When you draw from the grid later, those credits offset what you owe.

The result: a well-sized system can zero out most of the electricity portion of your bill across a full year, even though solar does nothing at night. Net metering rules in Virginia are set by the State Corporation Commission and have shifted a few times, so we always walk through the current version when we put a proposal together.

Virginia property tax exemption

Virginia allows local governments to exempt solar from property tax. In practice, most of the Virginia counties and independent cities where we install have adopted the exemption, meaning the added home value from your solar array is not taxed. This matters because solar can raise what your home appraises for, and the exemption makes sure that does not turn into a recurring tax bill.

Whether the exemption applies depends on your specific locality. We verify for your address before quoting.

Solar Renewable Energy Credits (SRECs)

Every megawatt hour your system produces earns an SREC. Utilities and other regulated buyers need SRECs to meet Virginia clean energy compliance obligations. There is an active market, and SRECs have real dollar value, though the value moves with supply and demand.

If you buy your system outright, the SRECs belong to you. You can register and sell them through an aggregator, which turns into ongoing income over the life of the system. If you are on a Solar Lease, the SRECs belong to the financing partner who owns the system, and that SREC value is part of what makes zero-down Solar Lease payments possible.

Neither arrangement is better in the abstract. If you want to own the system and the SRECs, buy. If you want zero down and a fixed payment, the lease trades SREC ownership for a simpler setup.

PACE financing in Virginia

Property Assessed Clean Energy is a financing mechanism, not a cash incentive. Virginia law permits residential PACE, and availability varies by locality. Under PACE, the cost of the solar install is repaid through a special assessment attached to your property tax bill. It travels with the home if you sell.

PACE can be a fit for owners who do not qualify for a standard solar loan, or who want the obligation attached to the property rather than their personal credit. It is not always the right call. We will say so when it is not.

How incentives work under a Solar Lease

Under our Virginia Solar Lease, the financing partner owns the system. That means:

• The partner claims any available owner-side incentives. Your Solar Lease payment is already priced with those factored in, which is how the fixed monthly payment comes in below your Dominion bill.
• The SRECs belong to the partner, for the same reason.
• You still get the full benefit of net metering, because net metering sits at the meter level and follows whoever pays the electric bill.
• You still benefit from the Virginia property tax exemption where it applies, because the added home value is what is exempt.

How we walk through incentives with you

Solar incentives change year over year. Program funding gets added or drawn down. Utility tariffs change. SREC prices move with the market. So we do not publish a stale list and call it good.

When you ask us for a quote, we check what is actually available for your address, your utility, and your financing path at that moment. You see what applies, what does not, and how each one changes the math. No "you might qualify" hand waving.