Virginia solar rebates and incentives: 2026 guide

Going solar in Virginia is more affordable than most people realize. While your state may not have the flashiest incentive programs in the country, there are still meaningful ways to reduce your system costs—and more importantly, solar's real value comes from decades of electricity savings, not just upfront rebates.

Virginia homeowners have access to some incentives that can help offset installation costs. But the biggest financial advantage of going solar? Dramatically lowering your electric bills for 25-30 years, especially as utility rates keep climbing. Here's what you need to know about solar incentives in Virginia.

Virginia offers some solar incentives, which can help lower the price. Here are the ones to know about:

Solar renewable energy credits (SRECs)

The Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) set a renewable portfolio standard that requires utilities to generate a certain amount of renewable energy. Under this program, you can earn one SREC for each megawatt-hour (MWh) of clean electricity your panels produce, which can then be sold to utilities to count towards their renewable generation.

SREC prices vary based on market demand. As of 2026, you can expect to earn about $17 per SREC. To start selling SRECs, register your system through your utility company. From there, an aggregator or broker will handle the purchase and sale of your SRECs with the utility.

In addition to the great rebates and incentives above, Virginia also offers a solar property tax exemption, meaning you don't need to pay a higher property tax for adding solar panels to your house.

If you connect your solar panel system to the grid, you can benefit from net metering, one of the best solar panel incentives available in Virginia. 

With net metering, you earn credits when you send excess electricity from your solar panels to the grid. When the sun isn't shining and you need to pull electricity from the grid, your utility will apply the credits to your bill. Net metering makes it so you will owe very little, or even nothing, on your electric bills with solar panels.

Both of Virginia's main utilities—Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power Company—offer net metering at the full retail rate of electricity, which is a one-to-one transaction. Here are a few nuances to keep in mind:

• You can roll over credits month to month. Then, at the end of your 12-month billing cycle, you can either choose to roll over your remaining credits into the next cycle or receive payment at the avoided-cost rate.

• To participate in net metering, your solar panel system must be under 25 kW and cannot exceed 100% of your expected annual energy consumption based on your previous 12-month billing history.

• Net metering is available on a first-come, first-served basis, capped at 6% of the prior year's peak-load forecast, with 1% reserved for low-income customers.

Both utilities recently faced proposals to reduce net metering compensation — and both were rejected. The SCC issued its final ruling on Dominion Energy's proposal on April 30, 2026, preserving the 1:1 credit structure. New Dominion customers will pay a $1/month administrative fee and receive $0.05829/kWh for any surplus generation beyond their annual consumption at year-end — but the core credit value is unchanged. Existing Dominion customers are fully grandfathered. APCo's proposal was rejected in September 2025, with full retail credit, annual credit banking, and no new grid fees preserved for all customers.

Virginia doesn't offer any state-specific battery incentives, but you can also use your battery to boost your energy independence and provide backup power during an outage.

If you're looking for solar installers in Virginia, here are some popular suggestions: