Top 7 Best Solar Companies in Virginia (2024 Reviews)

In this guide on Virginia’s leading solar companies, you’ll learn:

  • What are the best solar installers in Virginia?
  • How will solar affect your property value in Virginia?
  • What qualities are most important in a solar company in Virginia?
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Virginia is an outstanding place to go solar, with the average homeowner seeing their panels pay for themselves and save an additional $30,000 over the remaining lifespan of the equipment. While it makes a lot of sense to go solar, getting to that point can be confusing, with nearly 100 installers to choose from, all offering different products and services.

In this guide, we’ll be discussing what we believe to be the best solar companies in Virginia. We’ll explain why we think each is a good option for residents in your area, and we’ll also provide some information on what factors to prioritize based on your energy needs in the state.

What Are the Best Solar Companies in Virginia?

We’ve researched all of the top providers in the Old Dominion to find out which are most likely to meet and exceed your expectations and maximize your savings. Below are what we’ve found to be the best solar companies in Virginia overall:

Compare Virginia’s Top-Rated Solar Providers

For most customers in Virginia, we believe SunPower or Blue Raven Solar will be the two best options for solar panel installation companies. The table below includes a quick look at how these two providers compared to the other top-rated solar companies in Virginia.

Solar Providers Superlative Our Score Avg Cost ($–$$$$$) Warranty Financing Options Get Quote
SunPower Best National Provider 5/5 $$$$ Varies – minimum of 25 years for equipment, workmanship and production Cash, solar loan, solar lease, PPA Get Quote
Blue Raven Solar Best Financing Options 4.5/5 $$ 25 years for equipment and performance; 10 ye Cash and solar loans Get Quote
ADT Solar Best Warranty Coverage 4/5 $$$ 25 years for equipment, workmanship and production Cash or solar loan
Tesla Best Technology 4.5 $$ 25 years for equipment and production; 10 years for workmanship Cash, solar loan, solar lease, PPA Get Quote
Solar SME Best Regional Provider 4.5/5 $$$ 25 years for equipment, production and workmanship Cash, solar loan, solar lease, PPA Get Quote
Nova Solar Best for Localized Experience 4.5 $$$ 25 years for equipment and production; 20 years for workmanship Cash, solar loan Get Quote
Virtue Solar Best Local Installer 4.5 $$$ 25 years for equipment and production; 10 years for workmanship Cash, solar loan Get Quote
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Blue Raven Solar

Best Solar Financing

Regional Service

EcoWatch rating

Average cost

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Pros

  • Industry-leading in-house financing
  • Competitive pricing
  • Excellent reputation

Cons

  • Doesn't offer solar batteries (coming 2022)
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Tesla Energy

Best Technology

Nationwide Service

EcoWatch rating

Average cost

Read full review now

Pros

  • Price-match guarantee
  • Sleek, efficient and durable solar panels
  • Best solar battery on the market

Cons

  • Some reported issues with customer service
  • Customer service varies by local dealer
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Solar SME

Outstanding Regional Installer

Regional Service

EcoWatch rating

Average cost

Pros

  • Great warranty coverage
  • Comprehensive service offerings
  • Offers products from leading manufacturers

Cons

  • Some reported communication issues
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Nova Solar

Outstanding Local Installer

Local Service

EcoWatch rating

Average cost

Pros

  • Representatives are experts on local policies
  • NABCEP-certified technicians
  • Offers products from leading manufacturers
  • Great warranty coverage

Cons

  • Limited service area
  • Slightly limited service offerings
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Virtue Solar

Outstanding Local Installer

Local Service

EcoWatch rating

Average cost

Pros

  • Educational, no-pressure sales approach
  • Representatives are experts on local policies
  • NABCEP-certified technicians

Cons

  • Relatively young company
  • Limited service area

Watch Below: Learn How You Can Profit Off Of the Extra Energy Your Solar Panels Produce

How To Save Money When Hiring A Solar Company In Virginia

virginia best solar companies

The average cost to go solar in Virginia is around $36,850 for solar equipment, or $25,795 after the federal solar investment tax credit (ITC) is considered.

These numbers are accurate if you pay the average of $3.35 per watt for PV equipment and need the average system size in VA of 11 kilowatts (kW). This system size should offset the typical monthly consumption per household of 1,095 kWh based on average solar irradiance in the state.

The typical system price in VA is well above the national average of $20,979 (after the ITC). Like most Virginia residents, you’ll likely look for ways to save money when converting to solar energy. Below, we’ll list some ways you can keep costs down in your area, and we’ll provide additional information and tips in the sections below.

  • Take advantage of state tax credits in Virginia
  • Choose the best solar panel brand for the sunlight availability in Virginia
  • Choose a company with robust warranty coverage
  • Get multiple quotes

Take Advantage of Virginia Solar Incentives

Virginia has long been a solar-friendly state, in part because it provides a handful of helpful incentives to help keep solar panel costs down and maximize upfront savings for customers. Taking advantage of as many solar tax credits and incentives as possible will help reduce your effective system cost and your panel payback period.

Some of the most helpful Virginia solar incentives available are listed below:

Solar Incentives in Virginia Description
Federal Tax Credit The federal solar tax investment credits 30% of your total system cost to your tax liability for the year you install your panels. This can be rolled over for up to five years.
Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs) SRECs are credits you earn for solar power production. If you opt into SRECs, you can sell each credit for a profit on the local market, which helps you pay off your system more quickly.
Property Tax Exemption Depending on which city you live in, you might automatically get this perk or have to file for it. This solar incentive prevents your property taxes from increasing due to the value added by your PV system.
Net Metering Most electric companies — like Dominion Energy — automatically opt you into net energy metering (NEM), but you might need to request enrollment. This program lets you overproduce when solar energy is readily available and banks credits for use when the sun isn’t shining — like on cloudy days or at night.
Local Incentives Some municipalities in Virginia offer local incentives, like a special net metering program in Danville, and potential perks from Arlington County’s Green Building Incentive Program.

All of the major panel manufacturers in Virginia come with a different efficiency rating, which determines how much of the available sunlight can be harnessed for power generation. Since Virginia receives around the average number of sunny days per year, most brands will be suitable for meeting local energy needs.2

However, since the per-watt price of solar equipment in Virginia is above the national average, it’s sometimes a better idea to pick a brand with a leading efficiency rating — like Maxeon panels from SunPower. This can help reduce the number of panels you need, which can often lead to a lower overall system cost.

Choose a Company With Good Warranty Coverage

As we mentioned above, Virginia residents experience their fair share of extreme weather, from hurricanes and tropical storms to tornadoes and strong winds during thunderstorms.

Choosing an installer that provides robust warranty coverage can not only provide you with peace of mind that your large investment into clean energy is protected, but it can also help you avoid costly repairs and replacement fees.

Damage to your panels, malfunctioning equipment and faulty installation can all lead you to replace your system or pieces of it before you pay it off. Robust warranty coverage means you’ll be protected from these costs.

It’s also worth choosing a company that has a reputation for good customer service, as an installer’s warranty coverage is only ever as good as the service and response times it provides.

Get Multiple Quotes

Finally, we always recommend getting multiple quotes. When you get competing offers, you can usually find one that provides more value than the others. Solar contractors often offer specials or discounts on equipment that they may have a surplus of — in short, you never know where you might get a deal unless you ask around.

Some companies may even lower their prices if they know that you have offers from their competitors. As a homeowner looking to go solar in Virginia, there are a number of companies competing for your business.

Read Also: Calculate How Much You Can Save By Going Solar

Will Solar Increase Your Home Value In Virginia?

Going solar will increase the value of your home – research from Zillow suggests you can expect it to rise by around 4% after solar conversion.3 In Virginia, where the average sale price is around $373,000, that’s an expected increase of around $15,000. This added value alone is often enough to effectively offset your system costs and make your solar investment in Virginia worth it.

Plus, property values in Virginia have risen an incredible 10.5% over the last year, while solar equipment prices have dropped by around 50% over the past ten years.4,5 Not only does solar boost your property value but the value increase is expected to become even more pronounced in the future.

best solar company virginia
Credit: nattanan23 / Pixabay

Since the expected value increase is a function of your existing value, the boost to value is most appealing in major cities in Virginia, where property values are already high. If you live in the high-rent cities below, you’ll see the biggest bump in value:

  • Fairfax
  • Alexandria
  • Falls Church
  • Fredericksburg
  • Charlottesville
  • Waterford
  • High View
  • Hamilton
  • Richmond
  • Clifton

Should Virginia Residents Hire a Professional Solar Installer Or DIY?

If you’ve been doing research on DIY solar conversion as opposed to hiring a professional, you’ve likely found that the cost of doing the work yourself is significantly cheaper. However, there are a few reasons we’d strongly recommend that you go with a professional instead. We’ll discuss each of these below.

Better Warranty Coverage

First and foremost, going the DIY route usually means you’ll only get a short warranty period on the equipment and the efficiency. Most DIY panel brands provide coverage for between five and ten years, while professional installers offer coverage for up to 30 years.

Warranty coverage is an important consideration in areas like Virginia, where extreme weather is common. Long warranties protecting your investment are the primary reason we suggest hiring a professional for your solar conversion project.

Access to High-Efficiency Panels

Finally, Virginia receives around the average number of sunny days per year, but the monthly energy consumption per household is well above the national average.6 In some cases, DIY panels won’t be efficient enough to cover consumption, especially since there’s a limit to how many panels your home can support.

Since Virginians use more electricity than most Americans and pay more for electricity each month — $153.08 as compared to the national average of $139.06 — a higher efficiency panel that generates more power is going to provide greater savings in the long run.

It’s often a better idea in Virginia to opt for high-efficiency panels to guarantee that your system can provide the energy you need. This helps minimize the cost you pay for your system, shorten the payback period and provide the most savings on your electricity bills.

Above-Average Rainfall

Virginia residents see around 44 inches of rain each year, which is well above the national average.7 One of the most common problems property owners see with rooftop solar installations is roof leaks.

If you install your solar panels yourself, you’ll have nothing to fall back on for coverage if your roof penetrations lead to leaking. If instead, you hire a professional, there’s a chance the roof issue will be covered by the warranty.

What Should Virginians Look For in a Solar Installer?

solar installers virginia
Source: Dimitrisvetsikas1969 / Pixabay

Picking an installer is one of the most important decisions you’ll need to make when converting to solar in Virginia. There are a few things you should consider when deciding to make sure you get a company that can provide equipment suitable for your home and maintain good customer service throughout the installation process.

We’ll list some of the most important factors to consider below, and we’ll explain why each of these is so important in the following sections.

  • Warranty Coverage
  • Pricing and Payment Options
  • Brands of Equipment Offered
  • Size of the Company
  • Year Founded
  • Industry Affiliations

Warranty Coverage

Solar photovoltaic (PV) systems are costly, which makes a reliable warranty even more important to have — especially in states like Virginia, where severe weather conditions are possible.

Solar providers almost always provide some kind of warranty to cover either equipment, labor or both. Workmanship warranties, or “labor warranties,” cover faulty installation or roof damage, while equipment warranties cover physical damage and energy production.

While nearly all solar installation companies offer warranties, we recommend companies that offer above-average warranties.

Pricing and Payment Options

As we mentioned previously, solar equipment is a bit more costly on a per-watt basis in VA, and most homeowners need above-average system sizes to offset energy bills. That means the typical cost of going solar in the area — around $36,850 — is prohibitively expensive for many residents.

As such, it’s worth considering the relative cost of your installer, as well as the payment options made available by the company. You can get free quotes to compare prices. Those with below-average pricing or a wealth of payment options are more likely to be accessible to you.

Brands of Equipment Offered

Every company offers different equipment brands that you can install, from panels and inverters to batteries. It’s challenging to quantify all of the specifications of a particular brand, but in VA, it’s often a good idea to prioritize the below specs:

  • Efficiency Rating:A high efficiency rating means greater production to offset high energy consumption in Virginia. Anything above 20% is considered high efficiency.
  • Warranty: Most panels include a manufacturer’s warranty for defects and damage. Longer included warranty coverage means your equipment is more likely to stand up to VA’s harsh weather.
  • Cost: Each panel brand also comes with a different average cost per watt. With above-average system costs as it is, choosing a relatively low-cost but high-quality brand is often wise in Virginia.

Size of the Company

The SEIA reports that Virginia is home to over 70 solar companies.8 While there are solar companies both big and small that can take care of all your solar needs, the size of the company you choose to work with can greatly impact your solar conversion experience.

Larger solar companies often have better deals than their local competition because they can buy their solar equipment in bulk and often have more resources at hand. However, they tend to lack when it comes to customer care and local knowledge about incentives and rebates in Virginia.

On the other side, a smaller solar company might be more expensive and could take more time to complete the installation process. But local installers are also more likely to deliver top-notch customer care and expedite your connection to the power grid for things like net metering if they have relationships with local utility companies.

Year Founded

Virginia is one of the leading states for solar energy, with more than 22,000 solar conversions throughout the state.9 While that’s great news for clean energy efforts, it could also mean there are a lot of new, unreliable solar panel companies popping up.

Some of these companies are just trying to capitalize on the hot solar market and may not make it for the long haul, which also means their warranties hold little weight.

We typically recommend companies with a proven track record of great solar conversion. While some newer installers did make our top solar companies in Virginia list, we do factor in the year each company was founded when it comes to grading these solar companies.

Industry Affiliations

Not all of the top solar companies have industry affiliations, but it is a nice bonus. Connections with companies like the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), Grid Alternatives and other similar organizations typically tell us that an installer is serious about making clean energy more accessible and isn’t just trying to make a profit.

We also look for certification from the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP), which suggests that a company’s technicians can perform a professional and safe installation.

Both Nova Solar and Virtue Solar guarantee a NABCEP-certified employee on every solar conversion job, which is part of the reason why we ranked these two companies as some of the best solar installers in Virginia.

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The cost information presented in this article is derived from a comprehensive analysis, incorporating data from multiple industry sources. The average cost per watt per state was calculated based on figures from Consumer Affairs, Energy Sage, and Berkeley Lab’s Electricity Markets & Policy Department. Additionally, monthly energy consumption and the average monthly cost of electricity were sourced from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, ensuring a well-rounded and accurate representation of the information presented.

Methodology: How We Reviewed the Best Solar Companies in Virginia

In order to find the best solar companies in Virginia that we felt comfortable recommending, we researched dozens of providers throughout the state and assessed them based on six main criteria. We weighted these factors based on how crucial we believed they were to your experience and the quality of the system you had installed. We’ll explain these factors and why we think they’re so important in VA below.

  • Local reputation and reviews (20%): Virginia is home to nearly 100 installers, and while it’s great to have so many options, the high demand in the area does mean that there are a lot of companies that are less reputable and have entered the market just to take advantage of the demand. We look at company ratings and reviews on sites like BBB, Google Reviews, TrustPilot and more to assess how likely a company is to be reliable and provide good service.
  • Warranty coverage (20%): Virginians experience hurricanes, tropical storms, other severe weather and above-average annual rainfall, all of which can put rooftop solar systems at risk of damage and leaking. We look at the warranty coverage each provider offers and specifically the workmanship warranty. We prefer installers that cover their labor for a decade or, ideally, more, as this helps provide peace of mind that your system won’t get damaged due to poor installation technique. Production warranties are also helpful, as they help ensure your system will continue producing sufficient energy to offset the above-average electricity demands in Virginia.
  • Pricing and financing (20%): The typical cost to go solar in Virginia is around $6,000 higher than the national average, in large part due to the above-average energy demands, which require larger and costlier systems. We prioritize companies that maintain average or below-average pricing, as well as those that improve accessibility by accepting all of the primary solar payment options.
  • Services offered (20%): Many Virginia solar customers look for small solar batteries to provide backup power through the relatively common power outages in the area, as well as EV chargers to help improve savings and home energy efficiency. We prefer companies that have robust service offerings, as they will naturally appeal to more homeowners in the state.
  • Company experience (10%): Virginia is home to a lot of young solar companies that have cropped up to take advantage of the budding demand for clean energy. Companies that have fewer than ten years of experience aren’t necessarily bad, but longevity in the industry suggests that your installer is less likely to go out of business and void your warranty coverage in the meantime.
  • Brand quality (10%): Finally, we look at the solar panel brands each company carries. We like to see installers offering a range of products from affordable with a lower efficiency rating to more expensive with high efficiency ratings. This helps the provider appeal to more customers, including those that are looking to prioritize minimizing the upfront cost and those looking for maximum savings with higher production rates.

FAQ: Best Solar Companies in Virginia

Below, we’ll provide our responses to some of the most common questions we get about solar providers in VA.

Blog author image
Article author
Dan Simms is an experienced writer with a passion for renewable energy. As a solar and EV advocate, much of his work has focused on the potential of solar power and deregulated energy, but he also writes on related topics, like real estate and economics. In his free time — when he's not checking his own home's solar production — he enjoys outdoor activities like hiking, mountain biking, skiing and rock climbing.
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Expert reviewer
Tom Peters is a commercial renewable energy developer and financial planner. He was a successful commercial real estate developer for 30 years before starting a solar development subsidiary for a Northeast regional roofing company in 2010. He has written white papers for the USDA on the creative use of renewable energy tax incentives and participated on the Steering Committee of the White House Rural Council to introduce Cross Laminated Timber manufacturing to the U.S. Tom enjoys sculpting, reading and writing on the subjects of environmental justice and spiritual evolution.

Comparing authorized solar partners

EcoWatch rating
Average cost
Pros
Cons
BBB Rating
Year founded
Service Area
Brands of Solar Equipment Offered
Warranty Coverage
  • 4.5
    • Industry-leading in-house financing
    • Competitive pricing
    • Excellent reputation
    • Doesn't offer solar batteries (coming 2022)
    A+
    Best Solar Financing
    2014
    Trina Solar, Canadian Solar, SolarEdge, Silfab, SunPower
    25-year manufacturer warranty; 10-year workmanship warranty, 2-year production guarantee

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