Honest numbers · Glen Allen, VA

How much do solar panels cost in Glen Allen, VA?

Solar panel cost in Glen Allen runs about $2.90 per watt installed in 2026: a 9.5 kW system is about $27,550, and makes about 12,560 kWh a year here.

The short answer · as of August 2026

Solar in the Glen Allen area costs about $2.90 per watt installed before incentives as of August 2026. A system near our ~9.5 kW average runs roughly $27,550 gross, which is also the net figure because Virginia has no residential solar income-tax credit. Payback depends on your Dominion Energy Virginia rate and on how much production you use on site, so we model it from your own bill rather than publishing a market average.

Looking for a solar company in Glen Allen? See solar companies in Glen Allen: our local team, costs and a free assessment.

Written by , Owner & Sales Director Reviewed by Steve Morse, Owner & CEO Updated August 2026

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Local pricing reality

What drives price in Glen Allen

Glen Allen prices like the rest of the Richmond metro, which is to say the utility side is settled before we start. All Dominion, retail net metering, no cooperative rider to obtain. What is worth a homeowner’s attention here is a piece of paperwork confusion that has followed Henrico around.

Some published lists of Virginia localities offering a solar property-tax exemption include Henrico and others do not, which looks like a real ambiguity and is not. The Weldon Cooper Center found that some localities answering yes were describing the statutory mandate rather than an adopted ordinance, which is why the tables disagree with each other.

For a typical rooftop system it does not matter either way, because SB 686 made the exemption mandatory statewide for systems of 25 kW or less from January 2023. Above that capacity the county’s own position governs and is worth a call to the commissioner of the revenue rather than a look at a table.

Written for Glen Allen specifically.

The numbers

What a system costs in Glen Allen, by size

Priced at the local $2.90 per watt benchmark (August 2026) and shown with no state credit subtracted, because Virginia has none. These are worked examples to set expectations, not a quote, and not a promise of savings.

Illustrative installed cost in Glen Allen, VA at $2.90 per watt (August 2026). Virginia has no residential solar income-tax credit, so the net column equals the installed price.
System size Cost before incentives State credit Net after credit
6 kW $17,400 No state credit available $17,400
9.5 kW Closest to our ~9.5 kW average system $27,550 No state credit available $27,550
12 kW $34,800 No state credit available $34,800
15 kW $43,500 No state credit available $43,500

Note the third column carefully. Virginia has no state income tax credit for residential solar, and the federal residential credit expired for systems placed in service on or after 1 January 2026. If a quote you are comparing subtracts a tax credit from the price, ask in writing which credit it means. See what does apply in Glen Allen.

Sizing

Why online calculators oversize Glen Allen systems

Calculators assume a national-average system of 14.48 kW; our average is about 9.5 kW, which makes about 12,560 kWh a year here. Sizing past your own use earns only Dominion Energy's export rate.

The part competitors leave out

Your utility sets your payback more than your panels do

Most Glen Allen homes are served by Dominion Energy Virginia , though Dominion Energy Virginia serves the Richmond metro; cooperative territory begins outside it. Virginia still credits exported power one-for-one at retail against your annual usage; the State Corporation Commission preserved that for Dominion Energy Virginia customers in its 30 April 2026 NEM 2.0 ruling. That makes an array sized to your annual usage the natural design here, and a national payback figure for Glen Allen still only a starting point.

About these rates in Glen Allen

One-for-one retail net metering applies here, which is the opposite of the position in South Carolina and Georgia and it changes how a system should be designed: an array sized to offset your own annual consumption captures close to full value without needing storage to do it. The State Corporation Commission ruled on Dominion Energy Virginia’s NEM 2.0 filing on 30 April 2026 and preserved retail crediting, customer ownership of renewable energy certificates and free interconnection; customers connecting under NEM 2.0 pay roughly a dollar a month, and generation beyond your own annual use is cashed out at a lower rate at year end. There is no Virginia state tax credit and the federal residential credit expired for systems placed in service on or after 1 January 2026, so the export credit is the whole case. One caveat worth raising before anyone designs above 15 kW AC: HB 1255 raised the standby-charge threshold to 20 kW AC with effect from 1 July 2026, but a utility tariff update does not follow a statutory date automatically, and Dominion had not updated its residential schedule at the time of writing. Get the position in writing at the point you interconnect.

The mechanic is simple. Power you consume the moment you generate it offsets electricity you would have bought at the applicable residential retail rate, confirmed against your own bill. Power you export earns only credited one-for-one at retail against your own annual usage, and net energy metering under §56-594 also carries a rider of about $1 a month for customers connecting under NEM 2.0 plus a true-up in November that settles leftover credits at an avoided-cost rate. Daytime use is what pays here.

How a battery changes this maths in Glen Allen

2026 incentives

What reduces this price this year

Virginia has no residential solar income-tax credit, so the net column above is the installed price. 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.

The 30% federal credit expired for systems placed in service on or after 1 January 2026. If a quote you are comparing still applies it, that quote is wrong by thousands.

Dominion Energy Virginia runs no upfront residential rebate, so there is nothing to stack in Glen Allen.

Incentives specific to Glen Allen · statewide mechanics and worked examples · financing

Line items

What moves a Glen Allen solar quote

In Glen Allen the swings come from roof age (the median Glen Allen home was built in 1992), structural review and roof access, the 5 approvals Henrico County requires, and whether Dominion Energy's export terms favour a smaller system.

Paying for it

Cash, loan, and the Virginia trap

On a 9.5 kW system at $27,550, ask for the cash and financed price side by side; a low loan rate often hides a dealer fee in the price.

The Virginia-specific trap: there is no state credit here to arrive at all. Any loan structured around a large first-year tax payment is built on money that is not coming, and that is a question to put to the lender in writing before you sign.

Financing in detail

The honest part

When solar is not worth it in Glen Allen

We would rather tell you now than after you have paid for a design

  • Mature canopy shades your best roof planes for much of the day, which is common across the established neighbourhoods here.
  • Your roof needs replacing within about five years.
  • You are likely to move within five years.
  • You need more than 15 kW AC and cannot get written confirmation that the standby threshold has moved to 20 kW on your tariff yet.

If two or more of these describe your home, we will say so during the assessment and we will not design a system to talk you past them. That is the whole point of a free, no-pressure assessment. If circumstances change, we will still be here.

Our work

What we have built, and what it means for Glen Allen

Our pricing comes from ~450 combined experienced installs and a ~9.5 kW average system, priced for Henrico County permitting.

Permits and approvals

What approval takes in Glen Allen

5 approvals for a Glen Allen system. We file every one.

  1. 01A building permit and a separate electrical permit from Henrico County
  2. 02An interconnection application to Dominion Energy Virginia on its own forms
  3. 03Written confirmation of the standby-charge position for any system above 15 kW AC
  4. 04HOA architectural review where the community has one, subject to the SB 504 limits
  5. 05An additional electrical permit where battery storage is included

Your utility decides payback

Solar panel cost in Glen Allen depends on your utility

Your utility sets what exported power is worth, which shapes the right system size more than any panel choice.

Dominion Energy Virginia

Average home rate (2024)
14.09¢/kWh
Paid for exported solar
credited one-for-one at retail against your own annual usage
Net-metered home solar, utility-wide
53,368

For comparison: Virginia average 14.41¢ · U.S. average 16.48¢. Virginia had 69,553 net-metered home solar systems at the end of 2024.

Rates: US EIA Form EIA-861, 2024 averages incl. fixed charges, not tariffs. Export terms as of August 2026.

Glen Allen sun, month by month

Solar panel cost in Glen Allen: what the system makes

About 12,560 kWh a year from a south-facing roof with no shade. July is the strongest month at about 1,251 kWh and December the weakest at about 713 kWh.

Your roof will differ. A mix of established wooded streets and newer open subdivisions, decided street by street rather than across the whole area.

Estimate: NASA POWER sun data for Glen Allen, PVWatts model, south-facing, no shade.

  1. 861 Jan
  2. 948 Feb
  3. 1,091 Mar
  4. 1,108 Apr
  5. 1,228 May
  6. 1,241 Jun
  7. 1,251 Jul
  8. 1,160 Aug
  9. 1,076 Sep
  10. 982 Oct
  11. 898 Nov
  12. 713 Dec
Estimated kWh per month, 9.5 kW system in Glen Allen

Homes in Glen Allen

Glen Allen homes and the cost of solar on an older roof

  • 4,975owner-occupied homes (76% of 6,512)
  • 1992median year homes were built
  • 72%of homes are single-family detached
  • $338kmedian owner-occupied home value
  • Half of Glen Allen homes are more than 34 years old, so the roof check matters here: a roof with under ten years left should be replaced before solar goes on, or at the same time.
  • 72% of homes are single-family detached, the usual rooftop candidate, and HOA review is the main approval to plan for.
  • 4,975 Glen Allen households own their home, the ones who can install and claim the system as an asset.
  • A 9.5 kW system at about $27,550 is roughly 8% of the median $338k Glen Allen home value.

Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2023 5-year estimates for Glen Allen CDP. Estimates, rounded.

Our work

Real systems our crews have installed

Our own job photos, not stock or renders. Inland Piedmont.

  • Neatly aligned black solar panels on a residential shingle roof; solar panel cost and installation by Sunburst Solar's own crews
    ResidentialClean rooftop layoutBlack-framed panels
  • Top-down aerial view of solar panels across a green metal roof in the woods; solar panel cost and installation by Sunburst Solar's own crews
    ResidentialMulti-facet metal roofWooded aerial view
  • Single-story home with a full black-on-black rooftop solar array beside a pool; solar panel cost and installation by Sunburst Solar's own crews
    ResidentialFull black-on-blackPoolside single-story home
  • Aerial view of solar panels on a green standing-seam metal roof by a lake; solar panel cost and installation by Sunburst Solar's own crews
    ResidentialStanding-seam metal roofLakeside multi-facet install
  • Black solar panels on the roof of a modern farmhouse detached garage; solar panel cost and installation by Sunburst Solar's own crews
    ResidentialDetached garage arrayFarmhouse-style home
  • Solar panels on an asphalt-shingle roof under a clear blue sky; solar panel cost and installation by Sunburst Solar's own crews
    ResidentialShingle rooftop arrayBackyard-facing slope

Photo locations are not published.

Free assessment · Glen Allen, VA

Get a straight answer for your Glen Allen roof

We read your bill, confirm your Dominion Energy Virginia export terms, and tell you what your roof in Henrico County will actually carry, and say so if it will not pay.

  • Most addresses here are on Dominion Energy Virginia, but Dominion Energy Virginia serves the Richmond metro; cooperative territory begins outside it. We confirm yours from your bill before we quote anything
  • A building permit and a separate electrical permit from Henrico County: we pull it and manage the inspections
  • Henrico County reviews the work.

Prefer to talk? (843) 310-1128

We use your address to look at your roof before we call.

FreeNo obligationLocal Daniel Island team

By sending this you agree to be contacted by call, text or email about your request. Consent isn’t a condition of purchase. Privacy Policy · Terms

Need the detailed version? Use the full assessment form.

Glen Allen solar cost FAQ

Straight answers on what solar costs in Glen Allen

How much do solar panels cost in Glen Allen, VA?

As of August 2026, solar in the Glen Allen area runs about $2.90 per watt installed before incentives. A system close to our ~9.5 kW average works out to roughly $27,550 gross, which is also the net figure because Virginia has no residential solar income-tax credit. Your own number depends on your roof, your usage and your utility.

What is the payback period on solar in Glen Allen?

We will not publish a payback figure for Glen Allen that we cannot stand behind, because Dominion Energy Virginia's residential rate needs confirming against your own bill. What is certain is that exported power credits at credited one-for-one at retail against your own annual usage, well below retail, so the share of production you use on site drives your payback more than any equipment choice. At the assessment we model it against your actual rate.

Why is your average system smaller than the 14.48 kW the calculators show?

Because we size to your bill rather than to a sales quota. National cost calculators model 14.48 kW for this market, which inflates both the price and the projected savings for a typical home. Our combined install experience averages about 9.5 kW.

Does a solar system add to my property taxes in Glen Allen?

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. Confirm your own situation with Henrico County and a tax professional, since eligibility depends on your circumstances.

What is the average solar panel cost in Glen Allen for a 9.5 kW system?

About $27,550 installed at $2.90 per watt, with no Virginia credit to subtract. It makes about 12,560 kWh a year here unshaded. Dominion Energy households paid about 14.1¢ per kWh on average in 2024.

Does roof age change the solar panel cost in Glen Allen?

Half of Glen Allen homes are more than 34 years old, so the roof check matters here: a roof with under ten years left should be replaced before solar goes on, or at the same time. A roof that needs replacing within a few years adds its cost to the project, so we price both together when it does.

How long is the payback on solar panel cost in Glen Allen?

It depends on your Dominion Energy rate and how much of the 12,560 kWh a year you use at home, so we model it from your bill. Dominion Energy households paid about 14.1¢ per kWh on average in 2024.

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Get real numbers for your Glen Allen roof

We will confirm your utility, measure your roof, read your actual usage history, and give you honest figures, with no guaranteed-savings math and no pressure.

Mon–Sat, 10am–6:30pm ET · We typically follow up within the hour.

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