Solar Company in Arlington, VA

Solar panels are a great investment if you live in Arlington, VA, and finding the right solar company is an important factor in this. The growth of solar power in Virginia over the last decade shows a trend for the future of home energy, and if you’re looking to secure your home’s energy with independence from the grid, you’ll want to choose the right partner to help you go solar. ADT Solar has a proven history and reputation for providing quality service and superior warranties, so you can feel confident in your decision to go solar. If you’re wondering why solar power is on the rise, and how solar panels can benefit you, keep reading and we’ll walk you through it.

Arlington, a county in Northern Virginia is along the Potomac River, is known to be just a river’s distance away from our capital city, Washington D.C. Arlington is the country’s smallest self-governing county and is a great place to own a home. Homeowners in Arlington are also in a great state for going solar, as the reliance on pollution-heavy fossil fuels for energy in Virginia homes is slowly coming to an end.

Freedom from fossil fuels for home energy comes in part due to legislation passed by the Commonwealth of Virginia to incentivize clean energies like solar across the state. In 2020, the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) created a first-of-its-kind Clean Energy Standard for the entire state that includes ample opportunity for renewable energy expansion across the state. The VCEA makes it easier for homeowners and businesses in Arlington to save money by going solar, take control of their energy and lead the way toward an advanced energy economy.

Reliance on fossil fuels for your home’s energy in Virginia means leaving yourself vulnerable to fluctuating energy prices. In the last two years, Virginia has seen a huge jump in electricity prices, pushing homeowners to search for alternative options for their home energy needs.

According to SEIA, Virginia is a great state to consider going solar. Virginia has some of the best incentives for solar as well as:

• Ranks 16th in the nation for solar power in 2020
• Has enough solar power installed to power over 147,000 homes
• Is projected to grow by 3,229.92 MW over the next 5 years (ranking 9th in the nation)
• Receives about 195 sun-filled days each year
• Has seen a decline in price over the last 5 years by 45%

Solar Powered Battery Storage

Reduce your reliance on the grid even more with a solar battery. You’ll be able to store your solar energy for use at night or during power outages. Power outages are becoming more common these days, but you can protect your home with a solar battery backup. Solar battery technology is pretty cool these days and it’s worth checking out to see if it makes sense for your home. Solar energy batteries, like the Tesla Powerwall, will take any extra solar power your panels produce and store it for you to use later. So even when the sun goes down, your home can run on clean, green energy.

Arlington, like the rest of Virgina, has taken great strides to bring solar energy to more homes and businesses. Maybe most significant of all is the fact that there is a state-sponsored incentive for solar for nearly any situation a homeowner faces.

Let’s go through all the incentives available to you as a homeowner in Arlington, Virginia.

Wouldn’t you like to shorten the amount of time it takes to pay for your solar panels? Well, that’s where “Solar Renewable Energy Credits” (SRECs) come in.

In Arlington, solar owners can benefit by using their panels to create valuable energy for the utility companies. As a means to avoid paying fines, utilities purchase SRECs from solar owners. The credits are based on how much solar power your system produces and how SRECs work is pretty easy to understand: for each 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity your solar PV system produces, a renewable energy certificate is created.

Selling SRECs is a valuable option for solar homeowners in Arlington. For rooftop solar power, the VCEA set specific targets that utilities are required to meet. Low-income households in Arlington are also qualified to participate in this solar benefit. VCEA laws also require utilities to purchase credits from low-income families with solar power.

A large part of the Virginia Clean Economy Act is the permitting of larger solar systems. The bill increases the total size of a solar system that can be built and installed in Arlington.

The limit for residential systems is now at 25 kW as opposed to the previous limit of 20 kW. For commercial properties, the VCEA raised the limit 1 MW to 3 MW. The goal is that by raising the cap, more homeowners and businesses will be encouraged to go solar.

The VCEA also removes many fees associated with installing larger solar systems. Prior to the act’s passage, utility companies could add fines to solar owners whose systems were greater than 10 kW. No more, the limit for fees was raised to 15 kW in Dominion territories.

A state law made effective in 2008 protects solar rights in Arlington and the entire state of Virginia. The law makes it so that neighborhood and community associations can’t keep a homeowner from installing or using solar energy on their property. There is one condition, however. A community or neighborhood association can establish some restrictions regarding the size of the solar system and placement of the panels anywhere other than the roof. And of course, restrict solar installations in common or shared areas of the community.

Like solar easement laws in other states, Virginia’s law makes it so that property owners in cities and communities like Arlington can create solar easement agreements to protect and maintain panel access to sunlight.

Passed in 1978, the law states the following:

Easements must be executed in writing and must include:

• The vertical and horizontal angles, expressed in degrees, at which the solar easement extends over the real property subject to the solar easement
• Any terms or conditions or both under which the solar easement is granted or will be terminated
• Any provisions for compensation of the owner of the property subject

Net metering is set up through your utility company provider and allows you to sell any excess electricity produced by your solar panels back to your utility company. They will then credit your account for this energy, which reduces your monthly bill, or in some cases can eliminate it completely. Excess generation of power due to your solar panels can bring large savings for your home.

Currently, Dominion Energy offers net metering. Net metering is a great incentive that helps homeowners get the most value out of their solar panel investment. Read more about net metering.

Fortunately for residents of Virginia, the state’s interconnection policies are solid, which means homeowners wanting to go solar are looking at straightforward rules to get their system ready for earning energy credits from net metering.

You can find their 5 simple steps as well as requirements on their site.

And here is an example of how net metering works, thanks to Dominion Energy.

In the state of Virginia, the purchase of a solar panel system (including battery) is completely property tax exempt. This means you will not have to pay additional property taxes, which means more value added to your home without additional taxes.

On average, solar panels add $20 of value for every $1 you save on your electric bill. So if you saved $200 a month on your electric bill with solar panels, you’d have an additional $4,000 of value added to your home.

Now that we’ve seen the local incentives for going solar, let’s take a look at the federal incentives, otherwise known as the solar investment tax credit (ITC).

The best incentive for going solar in the state of Virginia is the 30% solar tax credit (ITC) offered by the United States federal government. It is available to Virginia homeowners and allows you to potentially claim 30% of the total cost of your solar energy system, including labor and equipment, as a federal tax credit. This tax credit includes solar batteries as well. And if you don’t use all the tax credits the first year, they roll over to the next tax year.

It’s helpful to remember the three most important tips when choosing a solar panel company in your area:

1. Make sure the company you choose has warranties in place. Not only on labor, but products as well. If you follow this rule, your home and your investment will be protected in the years to come.
2. Read reviews about the company you’re choosing. While you’ll see a bad review here and there (just the nature of open reviews), make sure a large majority of the reviews aren’t negative and stating the same problems over and over. And that the company is addressing all the issues presented in the negative reviews. No matter how large the solar company, check the reviews first.
3. Choose a reputable company that’s been in the game for awhile. Again, this way you are sure to protect your investment with a company that will continue to be there for you in the years to come.

Since 2008, ADT Solar (formerly Sunpro Solar) has a proven history and reputation for providing quality service, and was ranked #2 for 2021 Solar Power World’s Top Residential Solar Installer in the United States. We are proud to offer some of the best warranties you can find in the solar industry and only use products that offer the same.

• 25 Year Labor Warranty
• 25 Year Production Guarantee
• 25 Year Solar Panel Manufacturer Warranty
• 25 Year Enphase Microinverter Warranty
• Thousands of happy homeowners
• Free Home Energy Audit
• Roof replacement experts

If you’re ready to take the next step, or even if you’re considering what it would take to get you there, contact us to discover all your options.

We install solar and roofs in Arlington and surrounding areas. Contact us today to see if we service your area and get free solar quotes for your particular needs.