Solar in Washington, D.C. pays mostly through SRECs, the credits your panels earn for every 1,000 kWh they make. When you keep and sell them, a typical owned system pays for itself in about 4 years in our example. When a contract hands them to someone else, it takes about 10 years.
Typical payback, SRECs kept by youAbout 4 years
With or without the SRECsAbout 4 to 10 years
Typical owned 9.03 kW District system at $28,986 cash (EcoGen Solar Cost Index, September 2026), Pepco credits at the 24.20¢ EIA average and SRECs priced at around $370 (the PSC’s mid-April 2026 reading). $271 a year in owner costs ($30 per kW) is our assumption. See the math.
- SREC owner: the name in the contract, and what you get if it is not yours.
- SREC price: the price the quote uses each year, against the falling legal cap.
- System size: near your yearly use; Pepco pays less for power above it.
2026 rules: home systems installed after December 31, 2025 get no federal homeowner credit (IRS). The legal cap on an SREC falls from $440 in 2026 to $420 in 2027.
How we checked this guide
The SREC price comes from the DC Public Service Commission, the price cap from the D.C. Code, the Pepco credit rules from the Commission’s rules and the electricity price from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Where we assume a number, the page says so.
The writer and checker shown above are EcoGen staff. EcoGen is paid when homeowners request quotes, which is explained beside the quote form. Read our editorial standards.
A District roof earns twice: bill credits and SRECs
District law makes electricity suppliers get 5.0% of their power from solar in 2026, rising to 15% by 2041. They prove it by buying SRECs (solar renewable energy credits). A certified system earns one for each 1,000 kWh it makes. The typical 9.03 kW system makes about 12,607 kWh a year, or about 12.6 SRECs: about $4,660 in year one at a price of around $370, as the Public Service Commission (PSC) reported for mid-April 2026, before broker fees and tax.
The law does not hand those SRECs to you; the contract does, or does not. We used to call the District America’s fastest solar payback. On power savings alone, the best case on our cost page is about 9.5 years. The speed comes from SRECs, and one clause can send them elsewhere.
Four things that decide a District answer
The sun is the same on every block. The contract, the price and the system size are not. Read each row across.
Who owns the SRECs
Worth a closer look
The contract names you as the SREC owner, so you or a broker sell them.
Pause and check
The contract assigns the SRECs to the company and shows nothing in return.
Check next: whose name follows “renewable energy credits” or “environmental attributes”.
The SREC price in the quote
Worth a closer look
The quote uses an SREC price of around $370 or less and shows the cap falling.
Pause and check
The quote uses the $440 cap, or today’s price for every year.
Check next: each year’s SREC price against that year’s cap.
System size and your use
Worth a closer look
Year-one output close to your past 12 months of use.
Pause and check
A system far larger than your use. Power above 100% of it earns the generation rate only.
Check next: your Pepco bills against the quote’s year-one kWh.
Price, roof and time in home
Worth a closer look
A cash price near the Index’s $28,986 ($3.21 per watt), an unshaded roof and plans to stay past payback.
Pause and check
Heavy shade, a roof due for work, or a move soon.
Check next: a shade report and the cash and financed totals.
Two District paybacks from one roof
Simple payback is the years your savings take to cover what you paid: net cost divided by yearly savings. A kWh (kilowatt-hour) is the unit of power your bill counts. SRECs pay for every kWh made, so we add their value to each kWh. Here is the typical owned system when you keep them.
- Cash price
- $28,986
- Confirmed incentives
- $0
- Year-one production
- 12,607 kWh
- Used at home / exported
- 40% / 60%
- Each solar kWh earns (price + SREC)
- $0.612/kWh
- Export credit
- $0.612/kWh
- Owner-cost allowance
- $271/yr
- Used-at-home value
12,607 × 40% × $0.612$3,086/yr - Export value
12,607 × 60% × $0.612$4,629/yr - Yearly savings after owner costs
$3,086 + $4,629 − $271$7,445/yr - Simple cash payback
$28,986 ÷ $7,445about 3.9 years
Inputs: the Index typical District system (9.03 kW, $28,986 cash, about 12,607 kWh a year), the 24.20¢ EIA average price (it includes fixed charges, so the rate you avoid is likely a little lower) and an SREC price of around $370, or 37¢ per kWh. Our assumptions: 40% of the solar power used at home as it is made and 60% sent to the grid (equal value under Pepco’s kWh credits) and $271 a year in owner costs ($30 per kW, including a reserve for a new inverter).
Now let a contract give the SRECs to the company and change nothing else. Same power, same Pepco credits. Only the second income is gone.
| Scenario | Price per kWh | Savings before costs | Yearly savings | Simple payback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| You keep the SRECs | $0.612 | $7,715 | $7,445 | about 3.9 years |
| Someone else keeps them | $0.242 | $3,051 | $2,780 | about 10.4 years |
That gap is the District story: about 4 years or about 10 years for the same roof. A quote that does not say who sells the SRECs cannot tell you which number is yours.
What if the SREC price falls?
It can: the PSC shows $424 in April 2025 and $373 a year later. The law also caps it. A supplier short of SRECs pays a fee instead, and that fee drops $20 per SREC a year until 2033. Here is the same roof with every SREC sold at a later cap.
| SREC price | Each solar kWh earns | Simple payback |
|---|---|---|
| $300, the cap for 2033 through 2041 | 54.2¢ | about 4.4 years |
| $100, the cap from 2042 | 34.2¢ | about 7 years |
The cap is a ceiling, not a floor; the market already sat below it in mid-April 2026. Through 2029 the cap stays at or above $380, above the April 2026 price. An SREC can be sold for 5 years after the power is made.
Test your own District quote
The tool starts with the keep-the-SRECs case. Enter your quote’s numbers and press Calculate. For the case without SRECs, put the price per kWh alone in both rate boxes. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
Example result
about 3.9 years
simple cash payback
- Used-at-home value
- $3,086/yr
- Export value
- $4,629/yr
- Owner costs
- −$271/yr
- Yearly savings
- $7,445/yr
- Net cost
- $28,986
The rate boxes hold the average price plus the SREC value. Flat first-year values; the SREC price moves with the market and its cap falls each year.
How Pepco counts the power you send out
Pepco’s solar customers are on net metering: power you send to the grid becomes a kWh credit on a later bill, one for one. So an exported kWh earns the same as one used at home.
Used at home: 5,043 kWh. Each one replaces power you would have bought, so it saves the full variable rate ($0.612 here).
Sent to the grid: 7,564 kWh. These earn whatever your utility pays for exports ($0.612 here). Here that matches the price you pay, but check your utility’s rule.
Each December, power above 100% of your yearly use is paid at the generation rate only, without delivery charges. Credits do not cover the monthly customer charge. District homes paid an average of 24.20¢ per kWh from August 2025 to July 2026 (EIA).
Ask for the SREC line on its own
Ask each District installer to show bill savings and SREC income as two numbers, with the SREC owner named.
Solar providers that serve your area may contact you, and they pay EcoGen for the introduction. How we make money.
Own, lease or Solar for All: where the SREC money goes
Buy with cash or a loan and you can certify the system and sell the SRECs, unless the contract gives them to the installer. In a lease or power purchase agreement (PPA), a company owns the panels, and its contract decides who keeps them.
| Option | Who owns the panels | Upfront | Ongoing | Check before signing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | You | Full price | None to a lender. | That the SRECs are not assigned to the installer. |
| Loan | You | Often $0 | Loan payment, plus your remaining Pepco bill. | Cash vs financed price, and any dealer fee. |
| Lease | Solar company | Often $0 | Monthly lease payment, plus your remaining Pepco bill. | Who keeps the SRECs. If the company does, ask for their value as a lower payment. |
| PPA | Solar company | Often $0 | A price per kWh for the power the panels make. | Who keeps the SRECs, and the PPA rate against the 24.20¢ you pay now. |
Households at or below 80% of area median income can apply to Solar for All for a free rooftop system, but every application went on a waitlist in the budget year that ended September 30, 2026, and no new terms were posted when we checked. For loans, see our solar financing guide.
When a District roof is a poor bet
- The SRECs are signed away. You have solar, but the District’s main money is not yours.
- The system is never certified. Only a PSC-certified system earns SRECs, counting back to January 1 of the year it is certified, with output reported at least twice a year.
- You may qualify for Solar for All. Ask DCSEU first. A signed solar contract makes the home ineligible.
- You plan to move soon. Selling before payback hands part of the return to the next owner.
Six lines a District quote should spell out
Put two or three quotes side by side. If one cannot answer these, its payback cannot be checked.
- SREC owner in writing. Your name, or the company’s and what you get for them.
- SREC price by year. The price used for each year, never above that year’s cap ($440 in 2026, $420 in 2027).
- Two savings lines. Bill savings and SREC income shown apart, and not also taken off the price.
- Size against your use. Year-one kWh next to your past 12 months of use.
- Paperwork owner. Who certifies the system with the PSC, who reports output and the fee per SREC sold.
Compare Washington, D.C. solar quotes
Ask each installer who keeps the SRECs. Enter your ZIP code to request quotes from solar providers that serve your area.
How EcoGen is paid
EcoGen America does not sell or install solar. When you request quotes, we pass your request to solar providers serving your area, and they pay us for the introduction. Providers can include installers, solar marketplaces and lead exchanges, and more than one may contact you. You never pay us. This is not an application to DC Solar for All.
More Washington, D.C. solar guides
- Washington, D.C. solar incentives: SRECs, the price cap and Pepco credits
- What solar costs in Washington, D.C.
- Free solar panels in Washington, D.C.: Solar for All vs zero-down offers
- Are solar panels worth it? The national guide and payback calculator
All 51 state guides
Washington, D.C. solar payback questions
How long does solar take to pay for itself in Washington, D.C.?
In our example, about 4 years for a typical owned 9.03 kW system at $28,986 when you keep and sell the SRECs, and about 10 years when someone else keeps them. At the $300 cap it would be about 4.4 years. Shade, a dealer fee or an oversized system stretch it.
Why does solar pay back faster in D.C. than in most places?
District law makes electricity suppliers get 5.0% of their power from solar in 2026, rising to 15% by 2041. They buy SRECs to prove it, or pay a fee. That puts a price on every 1,000 kWh your panels make, on top of the bill savings.
Is a solar lease worth it in Washington, D.C.?
Only if the contract prices what you give up. Under a lease or PPA the company owns the panels, and its contract decides who keeps the SRECs: about $4,660 in year one for a typical system. If the company keeps them, ask for that value as a lower payment.
How much is a D.C. SREC worth in 2026?
The Public Service Commission reported a price of around $370 as of mid-April 2026, down from $424 in April 2025. The legal cap is $440 for 2026 and $420 for 2027. It is a ceiling, not a promise, so ask for today’s price before you sign.
Does Pepco pay for the extra solar power I send to the grid?
Yes, in kWh. Extra power comes off a later bill one for one, and credits carry over. Each December, power above 100% of your yearly use is paid at the generation rate only, and Pepco refunds a credit of more than $25.
Is solar worth it in D.C. without the federal tax credit?
It can be. The homeowner credit does not apply to systems installed after December 31, 2025, and the District offers no solar tax credit of its own. SREC income now carries most of the case. Without it, the typical system takes about 10 years in our example.
Sources, method and corrections
The example uses the EcoGen Solar Cost Index typical District system (September 2026), the EIA average price and the PSC’s mid-April 2026 SREC price. Our assumptions: a 40/60 home/grid split (40% of the solar power used at home as it is made) and $271 a year in owner costs ($30 per kW, including a reserve for a new inverter). Simple payback uses flat first-year values, with no price changes, panel wear, broker fee or tax. We removed the earlier claim of America’s fastest solar payback: it rests on SREC income a contract or the market can take away. The calculator sends nothing.
Updated October 2026: 40% home use and 60% exports, and owner costs of $30 per kW a year. The rounded paybacks, about 4 and about 10 years, did not change.
Spotted an error? Tell us through our corrections and feedback process.
- DC PSC: 2026 Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard report (SREC price; checked September 30, 2026)
- D.C. Code 34-1434: compliance fee for the solar requirement (the yearly SREC price cap)
- D.C. Code 34-1432: renewable energy portfolio standard (the solar requirement)
- DC PSC rules, 15 DCMR Chapter 29: certification and SRECs
- DC PSC rules, 15 DCMR Chapter 9: net energy metering
- DCSEU: Apply for Affordable Home Electrification and Solar for All (rooftop waitlist; checked October 1, 2026)
- DC Department of Energy and Environment: Solar in the District
- U.S. EIA: average residential electricity price by state (August 2025 to July 2026)
- IRS: Residential Clean Energy Credit
- EcoGen Solar Cost Index, September 2026: what solar costs in Washington, D.C. (system size, price and output)
