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More Fairfax County homeowners are turning to rooftop solar as electricity costs, severe storms and pressure on the power grid sharpen interest in producing energy at home.

A residential system can dramatically reduce a household’s reliance on the grid. With enough panels and battery storage, homeowners may cover their own electricity needs, preserve power for outages and send excess generation back to the utility. Solar also offers a way to reduce the carbon emissions associated with fossil fuels.

The prolonged outages following the June 2012 derecho demonstrated why that independence can matter. Many residents lost electricity for days as refrigerated food approached spoilage and high summer temperatures intensified the disruption.

At the time, both solar and whole-home generators presented obstacles. Large generators required suitable placement and regular testing, while batteries could not necessarily support every system in a house. Installers also showed limited interest in smaller homes with natural-gas heat and historically low electricity use.

More than a decade later, the calculation has changed.

Falling Costs and Rising Incentives

Dominion Energy recently sought state approval for fuel and base-rate increases that would raise customer bills by about 15% over two years. The fuel-rate increase was expected to begin in July 2025, followed by higher base rates in January 2026.

Meanwhile, concerns have grown about more intense storms and the enormous electricity demand created by data centers. Some residents fear that increased demand could strain Dominion’s system and contribute to rolling outages.

Residential solar has become about 31% less expensive, according to EnergySage. A 30% federal tax credit has been available for eligible solar equipment, while Fairfax County offers a property-tax exemption tied to qualifying installations.

Battery efficiency has also improved, allowing backup systems to power more of a home. Virginia has restricted most homeowners association prohibitions on solar panels, established residential net-metering rules and created a market for Solar Renewable Energy Certificates, or SRECs.

Those changes prompted one Fairfax homeowner to begin researching systems and requesting estimates in July 2024. Installation was completed in late February 2025.

March was the home’s first month without electricity drawn from the grid. Its 5.8-kilowatt system includes 14 panels and was designed at 136% of the property’s historical consumption. It generated 577 kilowatt-hours during March and 722 kilowatt-hours for the year to that point. The system reported a carbon-dioxide reduction of 923.1 pounds, described as the equivalent of seven trees.

The homeowner also expected to begin receiving value for surplus power returned to the grid.

The Price of Energy Independence

Solar remains a significant and time-consuming investment. EnergySage estimates that a typical Virginia home system costs slightly more than $37,000, or approximately $2.84 per watt. The final price depends heavily on system size and site conditions.

Panels account for only about one-third of the expense. Inverters, mounting equipment, electrical wiring, system design and installation labor make up much of the balance.

A homeowner seeking reliable power when sunlight is unavailable will generally need battery storage in addition to net metering. One backup battery costs about $13,500 on average, according to Solar.com.

Solar is treated as a home improvement, but owners should not expect every dollar spent to translate into an equal increase in resale value. Real estate professionals estimate that solar may add roughly $8,000 to $10,000 to a home’s value, depending on its location and how visible the panels are.

Newer panels are smaller, lighter and more efficient than earlier models, making them more appealing to some buyers. Even so, recovering installation costs through electricity savings commonly takes seven to 20 years. Many installers offer financing.

How Virginia Net Metering Works

Net metering gives homeowners bill credits for surplus electricity their solar systems send to the grid. Virginia regulates the policy under state law.

Residential systems may have a capacity of up to 25 kilowatts, but Dominion’s rules generally prohibit a renewable generator from being designed to produce more than 150% of the customer’s electricity use during the previous 12 months. Homeowners must submit proposed designs to Dominion for approval.

Customers have been credited at the full retail rate for power returned to the grid, although utilities have proposed reducing that credit.

Dominion’s statewide net-metering allowance is capped at 6% of its peak load from the preceding year. Distributed solar can help the utility accommodate rising demand without immediately making some facility upgrades. It can also contribute to the Virginia Clean Economy Act’s requirement that 30% of electricity come from renewable sources by 2045 while preserving Dominion’s role as the public utility.

Check the Roof Before Calling an Installer

Online solar calculators and mapping services can offer an initial estimate of a property’s generation potential based on roof orientation, shading and hours of sunlight. South-facing roofs are generally preferred, but east- and west-facing surfaces can also work.

The roof itself should be evaluated before installation. Panels may remain in service for 25 to 30 years, so installing them over a roof that will soon need replacement could create the added expense of removing and reinstalling the system.

Trimming or removing trees may improve production, as can placing panels selectively across the available roof area. Installers typically conduct virtual and on-site inspections to assess shade, structural integrity and electrical capacity.

A home’s main electrical panel generally needs a capacity of at least 200 amps. An older or undersized panel may have to be upgraded or supplemented.

Choosing an Installer

Selecting the contractor is one of the project’s most consequential decisions. Installers can purchase equipment, prepare permit applications and, in some cases, file for county tax exemptions.

Homeowners should obtain multiple estimates and determine whether they need a contractor that installs batteries as well as panels. Proposals may vary substantially in panel layout, total capacity, equipment brands and battery options because installers often favor particular manufacturers.

Solar organizations and government agencies provide educational materials that can help residents compare those designs and understand contractors’ recommendations.

The industry suggests allowing about six months for a typical project. After the homeowner and installer settle on a design, the utility must provide initial approval. A county building permit is required before construction, followed by an inspection and final utility authorization before the system can be switched on.

Installers commonly collect portions of the project price at several milestones.

The Fairfax homeowner’s project took seven months. Delays included multiple approval processes, a decision to avoid putting crews on a steep roof during extreme summer heat, an interruption in battery supplies and several weather postponements caused by ice.

Solar Certificates Offer Another Revenue Stream

Virginia’s SREC program creates a separate way for solar owners to receive money for their generation. Each certificate documents 1,000 kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity produced.

Owners generally work through an aggregator or broker that trades the certificates. Energy suppliers may buy SRECs to satisfy requirements that a portion of their electricity come from solar generation.

Virginia certificates traded at about $40 during the six-month period cited in the source material. A 10-kilowatt system was estimated to generate approximately 12 SRECs per year.

The certificates are sold separately from the electricity itself, so owners may participate in the SREC market while also using or exporting the power their panels produce.

Fairfax Programs Aim to Lower the Barrier

Fairfax County supports residential solar through Switch Together and Solarize Virginia. The programs have offered free assessments, group discounts and access to an installer selected through a reverse-auction process. Residents can compare those group offers with estimates obtained independently.

At the time described, registration was scheduled to close June 4 for Switch Together and July 15 for Solarize Virginia.

The county’s Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination said Solarize Virginia had supported 450 Fairfax County installations since 2014, including 23 in 2024.

County tax officials reported that 1,057 property owners were receiving the real-property tax exemption for solar installations. Because the benefit lasts five years and is based on installation cost, those systems entered service during the preceding five years. The active credits represented $36.7 million in assessed value.

Office director John Morrill said every additional residential installation can lower utility expenses, reduce pressure on the grid and move Fairfax County toward its goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050.

Residents unable or unwilling to make the larger investment in solar can pursue less expensive conservation measures through the Sustain Fairfax Challenge, which provides suggested actions, rebate information and how-to resources.

Monitoring Power From a Phone

Once a system begins operating, equipment apps can track household use, solar production and battery storage. That information can make residents more aware of when and how they consume electricity.

Homeowners with batteries can also decide how much power to store and how much to return to the grid. Keeping a larger reserve may provide added preparation for cloudy weather or storm-related outages.

Modern residential solar builds on technology with a much longer history than many consumers realize. Hungarian American inventor Maria Telkes, known as the “Sun Queen,” conducted pioneering work in solar heating, ovens and solar-powered water distillation. She helped create the Dover Sun House, an experimental solar-heated home built in the 1940s, and was later inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.