Free Solar Panels in Virginia (2026): $0-Down by Utility

Key takeaways

Virginia has no free solar program for homes today. Its federal Solar for All grant (more than $156 million) was cut in 2025 before paying any household.
“Free” means a zero-down contract: a loan, a lease, or a PPA (power sold to you by the kWh), allowed only through a pilot.
Your utility sets the value. Extra power left at year end earns 6.003 cents per kWh at Dominion and 5.66 cents per kWh at Appalachian Power, and only if you sign a purchase agreement.
Dominion changes the rules on May 1, 2027. Applications approved from then on get NEM 2.0: netting every 30 minutes and a $1 a month charge.
One break applies statewide: home systems up to 25 kW are exempt from property tax.

About this review

Net metering rules, tariffs and tax points were read on the sources below on September 29 and 30, 2026. Solar for All, the PPA pilot and leasing were rechecked on October 5, 2026, when Virginia state websites did not load for us; two items rest on archived or copied statute text. This is not tax, legal or financial advice.

How we choose sources and correct errors: editorial process and content standards.

Virginia has no free solar program. What it has is one statewide net metering law with utility-specific fine print. Dominion, Appalachian Power and the member-owned cooperatives each run their own version, and a $0-down payment that made sense on one utility’s numbers can quietly fail on another’s.

Nobody hands out panels here. The question is what the contract you would sign is worth where your meter is.

Is There a No-Cost Solar Program in Virginia?

Not one you can join today. The state has no solar rebate, and the federal home credit does not cover systems installed after December 31, 2025. The closest thing to a free program was federal.

Virginia Solar for All: awarded, cut, now in court

In April 2024, EPA picked the Virginia Department of Energy (Virginia Energy) to receive more than $156 million for solar for lower-income homes.

Status on October 5, 2026: EPA ended Solar for All grants in August 2025, before Virginia’s program paid any household. Courts ruled that unlawful on September 18, 2026 (Rhode Island) and September 22, 2026 (District of Columbia); EPA was weighing an appeal as of October 1. On October 5, 2026 we found no notice that Virginia Energy had reopened it, though its website did not load for us that day. No installer can enroll you in it.

Two smaller doors:

Shared solar at Dominion. You subscribe to part of a local solar farm and get a bill credit of 13.232 cents per kWh for your share. Households at or below 80% of area median income skip the program’s minimum bill. Compare the subscription fee with the credit.
A low-income utility pilot. A 2026 law tells Dominion and Appalachian Power to ask regulators by December 31, 2026 to approve solar, battery and efficiency pilots for low-income, elderly and disabled customers. Nothing is open yet.

Zero-Down Solar in Virginia: Loan, Lease, or a Pilot PPA

Three contracts sit behind the word “free.” In a loan you own the panels and the debt. In a lease a company owns them and you pay rent. In a PPA you buy their power at a price per kilowatt-hour (kWh, the unit on your bill).

Zero-down solar contracts in Virginia and what each one hands to the company
Contract	Legal footing here	Who holds the certificates (RECs)	What to get in writing
Zero-down solar loan	Open everywhere; you are the owner	You	The cash price beside the financed total
Pros and cons in Virginia: zero-down loan Pros The property tax exemption and any certificate income stay with you. A system approved by Dominion before May 1, 2027 keeps today’s netting rules. Cons No federal credit for a 2026 install, so the loan carries the full price. Can fit if: the payment sits below your savings at your own utility’s rules, from the first month.
Solar lease	Allowed at investor-owned utilities; up to each co-op	Usually the company, under the lease	The escalator, the buyout price and the transfer rule
Pros and cons in Virginia: lease Pros No upfront cost and no loan approval. Cons An escalator (a built-in yearly payment increase) keeps rising while the value of your power may not. At Dominion, a new owner taking over the system moves the account to NEM 2.0, which can complicate a home sale. Can fit if: the year-15 payment, not the year-1 payment, still beats your bill.
Power purchase agreement (PPA)	Only through the state’s PPA pilot	Usually the company	The pilot notice and the yearly price increase
Pros and cons in Virginia: PPA Pros You pay only for the kWh the panels make. Cons A contract outside the pilot’s rules is not valid under the statute. Sunrun, a national seller, does not list Virginia, so ask for completed Virginia projects. Can fit if: your utility confirms the pilot notice and the per-kWh price stays below its rates.

Why we do not compare a lease and a PPA side by side here

Virginia allows a company to sell you the power from panels on your roof only through a State Corporation Commission pilot in investor-owned utility territories (Va. Code § 56-594.02), after written notice to the Commission and your utility. Until 2026 a pilot system had to be at least 50 kilowatts (kW) unless the customer was low-income or tax-exempt, which shut out most homes; a 2026 law (HB 628 and SB 175) removed that minimum. DSIRE’s May 2026 map calls Virginia PPAs “limited to certain utilities and customer types.” Leases are on firmer ground: Va. Code § 56-594 says a lease by which a third party owns the system on your property is not a sale of electricity. At a co-op, Virginia Energy says residential leases are up to each co-op. For most homes the real choice is a loan or a lease.

To compare loan terms, APRs and lifetime cost, use our solar financing guide.

What $0-Down Is Worth, Utility by Utility

Every large Virginia utility credits power you send out kWh for kWh against power you buy, settled over 12 months. The differences sit in the leftovers, the size cap and your approval date.

How Virginia utilities treat home solar, and what 100 kWh of year-end surplus earns
If your meter is with	Size limit and charges	Surplus left at year end	100 kWh of that surplus earns
Dominion EnergyApproved before May 1, 2027	25 kW, and 150% of past use	6.003 cents per kWh, only with a purchase agreement	about $6
Dominion Energy, NEM 2.0Approved on or after May 1, 2027	Netting every 30 minutes; $1 a month charge	5.829 cents per kWh, paid automatically	about $5.83
Appalachian PowerRider N.M.S. II, requests after November 27, 2025	25 kW, and 100% of expected use	5.66 cents per kWh, only with a purchase agreement	$5.66
Electric cooperativeVa. Code § 56-594.01	20 kW; standby charge above 10 kW	Co-op’s own rate; Rappahannock pays about 30% to 40% of its retail energy rate	Ask your co-op
Old Dominion PowerRider NMS	25 kW	Its own purchase rate	Ask in writing
City-owned utilities	Set locally	Set locally	Ask in writing

For scale: 100 kWh you use at home instead of buying is worth about $16.48 at the 16.48 cents per kWh statewide average. Surplus earns far less, so size the system to your use.

A proposal that never names your utility is a statewide average wearing a bow. Dominion homes with systems over 20 kW pay a monthly standby charge. The May 1, 2027 date also reaches roofs that already have panels: under the filed NEM 2.0 terms, adding panels or a battery after it, or a new owner taking over the system, moves the account to NEM 2.0. Low-income customers may choose either rules.

Three Virginia-Specific Traps

The statewide-average model

The 16.48 cents per kWh average is ranking context, not any utility’s price. A savings estimate built on it is wrong for almost everyone.

Tree shade optimism

A lease payment keeps rising on schedule while a shaded roof’s output does not. Ask for a shade study of your own roof, not a ZIP-code estimate.

A vague contractor license

Look the company up on the Virginia DPOR license lookup and confirm its license covers solar work at your project’s size.

Who Gets the Tax Break and the Certificates?

Property tax. Under Va. Code § 58.1-3661, a home or farm system up to 25 kW has been exempt from state and local property tax since January 1, 2023, with no end date.
Renewable energy certificates (RECs). A typical 9.42 kW system earns about 13 a year, one per 1,000 kWh. Owners generally get $10 to $75 each, per Virginia Energy; Dominion pays $10 under a purchase agreement, or about $130 a year. In a lease, check who keeps them.
Federal credits. The home credit ended for systems installed after December 31, 2025. In a lease, any tax benefit belongs to the company.

Full details by utility: Virginia solar incentives.

You Likely Will Not Get Anything Free If

You expect a government giveaway. Virginia does not run one for home rooftops today.
Your usage is low. A fixed payment against a small bill is arithmetic working against you.
You may sell within the contract’s early years. Transfers and buyouts complicate closings, and at Dominion a new owner lands on NEM 2.0.
Your co-op’s surplus value is low. The weaker it is, the harder a third-party deal has to work to break even.

Seven Questions to Put to Any Virginia $0-Down Offer

Which utility and which net metering rules did you model?
A national model is wrong here.
Will Dominion approve my application before May 1, 2027?
If not, ask for the estimate rerun under NEM 2.0.
How much surplus do you expect at year end, and at what rate?
Base it on your last year of bills.
Is it a loan, lease or PPA, and if a PPA, under which pilot notice?
Your utility can confirm whether it received one.
What is the escalator, and what is the year-15 payment?
Get the transfer rule and buyout price too. See solar lease exit options.
Who keeps the RECs?
If the company does, the payment should show it.
Does my HOA allow panels?
Virginia calls an association rule unreasonable if it raises the cost by 5% or cuts output by 10%, but a ban written into the recorded declaration can still apply.

Pause if a seller calls it a state program, will not name your utility, or pushes you to sign today.

Read the solar scam warning signs and compare bidders in our Virginia solar companies guide.

Hold a $0-Down Offer Up to Virginia Quotes

Ask each installer for the cash price, the loan payment, the lease payment in year 1 and year 15, and the utility rules it used.

Enter your ZIP code to line up Virginia cash, loan and lease quotes

This is a commercial quote request, not an application for Solar for All, shared solar or any utility pilot.

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More Virginia Solar Guides

Frequently Asked Questions

Are solar panels free in Virginia?

No. Offers of free panels are leases, PPAs or $0-down loans, and their value depends on which utility serves you.

Can I get zero-down solar in Virginia?

Yes. Zero-down loans are open everywhere, leases are allowed at the investor-owned utilities, and PPAs run only through the state’s pilot. Compare any payment with the cash price.

Is there a no-cost solar program in Virginia?

Not today. Virginia’s Solar for All grant was cut in 2025 before it paid any household. Courts ruled the cut unlawful in September 2026, but on October 5, 2026 we found no reopening.

Does Virginia allow solar leases and PPAs?

Leases, yes, at the investor-owned utilities; co-ops decide for themselves. PPAs only through the Commission’s pilot, which a 2026 law opened to small home systems.

Who gets the tax benefits in a Virginia solar lease?

The owner, which is the company. Any benefit it claims helps you only if the payment shows it.

Why does my utility matter so much for free solar in Virginia?

Savings are the gap between your payment and the value of your power, and each utility sets that value differently.

What should I check before signing a $0-down deal in Virginia?

The named utility and rules, a shade study of your roof, the contractor’s license on DPOR, the escalator and transfer clauses, who keeps the RECs, and the cash price of the same system.

Sources and review

Checked between September 29 and October 5, 2026. Net metering rates reset; your utility’s current tariff always wins.

Read our editorial standards.

Free Solar Panels in Virginia? Zero-Down Offers Judged by Your Utility (2026)

Is There a No-Cost Solar Program in Virginia?

Virginia Solar for All: awarded, cut, now in court

Zero-Down Solar in Virginia: Loan, Lease, or a Pilot PPA

Why we do not compare a lease and a PPA side by side here

What $0-Down Is Worth, Utility by Utility