Virginia Solar Incentives (2026): One-for-One Bill Credits, With a Year-End Catch

What does Virginia actually give a solar home in 2026?

Four things are real. None of them is a check for buying panels.

The federal tax credit is not in this table. It ended for home systems finished after December 31, 2025.

How do bill credits work at Dominion, Appalachian Power and the co-ops?

With net metering, power you send out is taken off the power you buy, kWh for kWh. If you send out more than you buy in a month, the extra kWh roll to the next month.

The count closes every 12 months. What happens to extra power at that point is where the utilities differ. In most cases you get paid only if you have a power purchase agreement: a contract in which the utility agrees to buy your year-end extra power. You must ask for it in writing, before the 12 months start.

Example: 100 kWh left over at year end earn about $6 from Dominion or $5.66 from Appalachian Power with an agreement, and nothing without one. The same 100 kWh used to cancel power you buy are worth $16.19 at the average Virginia price.

Old Dominion Power serves far southwest Virginia. City utilities such as Danville Utilities set their own rules. Danville pays nothing for year-end extra power.

Watch out: Net metering is first come, first served, up to a cap at each utility. On June 1, 2026 every co-op listed by its state association still had room for homes. Ask your utility about its cap before you sign.

What changes for Dominion customers on May 1, 2027?

The one-for-one credit stays. Three things around it change. The date that counts is the day Dominion approves your application, not the day you sign a contract.

• A new way of counting: power in and power out are compared in blocks of 30 minutes, not over the whole month. Extra power in a block still cancels power you buy later, kWh for kWh, and still rolls from month to month.
• A monthly charge: $1 a month, or $12 a year. Dominion may ask the Commission to change it.
• Automatic pay at year end: extra power left after 12 months is paid at 5.829 cents per kWh with no request needed. Example: 100 kWh earn about $5.83.
• Who is moved to the new rules: homes approved on or after May 1, 2027. Also current solar homes that add panels or a battery after that date, and buyers who take over a home with an existing system after that date.
• Who can choose: customers who meet the law’s low-income definition may pick the old terms or the new ones.

Watch out: Homes approved before May 1, 2027 keep the current terms unless they choose to switch. Planning to add a battery later? Ask Dominion in writing how that affects your terms.

Is home solar exempt from property tax everywhere in Virginia?

Yes. Since January 1, 2023, state law has exempted a solar system of 25 kW or less on a home, or on residential or farm land, from state and local property tax. The law is Va. Code § 58.1-3661, subsection A. It applies in every city and county and has no end date.

How you claim it is local. Ask your commissioner of the revenue (the city or county tax office) or your assessor. Some localities, such as Loudoun County, want an application after the system passes its permits, and start the exemption the next tax year.

• Systems over 25 kW: the statewide rule does not cover them. A city, county or town may exempt them fully or partly by its own ordinance.
• Batteries: subsection A does not mention them. A battery can qualify only where a local ordinance covers it. Ask before you count on it.

Watch out: Older guides describe this exemption as a county choice. That was the rule before January 1, 2023.

What are Virginia renewable energy certificates worth to a homeowner?

A renewable energy certificate (REC, often called an SREC for solar) is proof that 1,000 kWh of power came from a renewable source. Utilities buy them to meet state clean energy targets. Your system earns one for every 1,000 kWh it makes. A typical 9.03 kW system earns about 12 a year.

Virginia has no state-run SREC program and no fixed price. You have two ways to sell.

• On the open market: register your system in PJM-GATS, the tracking system for the regional grid, yourself or through a broker. Virginia Energy says owners generally get $10 to $75 per certificate. No state agency publishes a current price.
• To Dominion: when you sign a purchase agreement for year-end extra power, you have a one-time option to sell Dominion all your certificates. Dominion’s page puts its rate at $10 each. For the typical system that is about $120 a year.

Watch out: With a lease, the contract usually gives the certificates to the company that owns the panels. Check who keeps them before you sign.

Shared solar, association rules and batteries: what else applies in Virginia?

• Dominion shared solar: you subscribe to part of a solar project in Dominion’s area and get a bill credit of 13.232 cents per kWh for your share. Example: 100 kWh earn $13.23. From that you pay the project company’s fee. You also owe a minimum bill unless your household income is at or below 80% of area median income (the middle income where you live). You cannot combine it with net metering, and savings depend on the offer.
• Appalachian Power shared solar: the approved rate sheet shows a credit of 17.093 cents per kWh. The Commission can reset the credit and the minimum bill. Ask Appalachian Power which projects are open and what the current credit is.
• Homeowner associations: an association cannot ban solar on your own property unless its recorded declaration already does. A rule on size or placement is unreasonable if it raises your cost by 5% or cuts output by 10%.
• Plug-in solar: from January 1, 2027, state law lets you use a certified plug-in solar device of up to 1,200 watts after you notify your utility. It earns no bill credit for power it sends out.
• Home batteries: no battery payment is open today. The Commission approved a Dominion battery pilot on August 3, 2026, and Dominion expects to start it in the first quarter of 2027. Payment amounts are not published. Do not count on it in a quote.

Where a Virginia solar quote counts money you will not get

• The system is sized above your own use. Extra power at year end earns 6.003 cents per kWh at Dominion and 5.66 cents per kWh at Appalachian Power, and only with a purchase agreement you asked for ahead of time. Appalachian Power and the co-ops do not allow a system above your expected yearly use at all.
• Dominion approves your application on or after May 1, 2027. Then the new rules apply, with the charge of $1 a month. A quote made today may still show the old terms.
• The quote shows a tax credit or a rebate. The federal credit ended for systems finished after December 31, 2025. If a quote counts a Virginia credit or rebate, ask the installer to name it and show where it comes from, and check a tax credit with a tax preparer. We found no state rebate.
• You lease the panels and expect the certificate income. The certificates usually belong to the company that owns the system.
• Your co-op system is over 10 kW. You then pay a monthly standby charge that a quote may leave out. At Dominion the same applies over 20 kW.

From utility notice to local tax office: the Virginia steps in order

1. Before you sign: compare the system size with your last year of bills. Ask the installer to show your yearly use next to the system’s yearly output.You, with your installer.
2. Before the install: the utility notice. Your installer sends your utility its net metering notification form. At Dominion this is an online form. You need the utility’s approval before the system is installed. That approval is called interconnection: permission to connect to the grid.Your installer files. The utility approves.
3. Before your first 12 months begin: decide on the purchase agreement. If you expect extra power at year end, ask your utility in writing for the agreement. An agreement asked for later does not cover a period that has already started.You.
4. After the permits are closed: the property tax exemption. Ask your commissioner of the revenue or assessor if an application is needed and when it is due.You.
5. After switch-on: register for certificates, if you want to sell them. Register the system in PJM-GATS or hire a broker to do it.You or a broker.

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