Solar panel installation in Manassas, VA

Manassas is served by City of Manassas Utilities, a municipal electric system that is not regulated by the State Corporation Commission and sets its own net metering terms locally under a policy its Utility Commission adopted in 2015. Dominion’s position does not apply inside the city. Addresses just outside fall to NOVEC. We confirm which serves you from your bill.

The one whose licence checks out with Virginia DPOR (Board for Contractors), whose quote names City of Manassas Utilities and states about 12,080 kWh a year for 9.5 kW, and who services what it installs. Ours does all three, with a lifetime full-system warranty.

At the $2.90 per watt benchmark, a 6 kW system is about $17,400 installed and a 9.5 kW system about $27,550. Virginia has no state solar tax credit, so there is nothing to subtract. In Manassas that 9.5 kW system makes about 12,080 kWh a year unshaded; your quote depends on roof, shade and usage.

City of Manassas Utilities is a municipal utility that sets its own export credit, which we confirm against your account before modelling anything. City of Manassas Utilities households paid about 11.6¢ per kWh on average in 2024, so every kWh you use at home is worth more than one you export, and we size to your usage rather than to fill the roof.

Residential solar of 25 kW or less is exempt from state and local property tax under §58.1-3661 as amended by SB 686, and many localities have adopted further exemptions by ordinance. Check with the City of Manassas assessor.

72% of Manassas homes are owner-occupied, and for owners the choice is real. Buying, with cash or a loan, means you own the system and add an asset to the house. With a lease or power purchase agreement the provider owns the panels and a buyer of your home has to take over the agreement.

Under SB 504 a Virginia association may impose only reasonable restrictions on rooftop solar, and the statute gives bright-line tests: a restriction is unreasonable if it raises project cost by more than 5% or cuts generation by more than 10%. That turns the usual argument about street-facing panels into a numerical question rather than a matter of taste. We prepare the review packet as part of every install.

A building permit and a separate electrical permit from the City of Manassas; An interconnection application under the city’s own net metering policy, not under a Dominion or SCC process; HOA architectural review where the community has one, subject to the SB 504 limits; An additional electrical permit where battery storage is included. We pull every one through City of Manassas and book the inspections.

The city’s net metering terms turn out not to support the size you had in mind. On a municipal utility there is no Commission tariff to fall back on, so we establish this before designing. You are outside the city on NOVEC and were quoted against city terms, or the reverse. Mature canopy near the historic centre shades your best roof planes for much of the day.