Solar Panels in Richmond, VA: 2026 Cost, Dominion Energy Virginia Net Metering & Savings

Richmond and the bill

Richmond is Dominion Energy Virginia for typical addresses. Some suburbs are cooperatives. The bill is the line. Richmond shares a utility brand with Virginia Beach and not the coastal construction problem. Trees, older housing, and humid summers are the local story. The resource is slightly lower. A Fan district roof under mature trees is not a Chesterfield subdivision roof. Say which one you have. The 2025 EIA residential average for Virginia was 15.28 cents per kWh. That statewide figure is what our calculator uses. It is not the Dominion Energy Virginia tariff. A rounded solar resource for this metro is about 4.6 peak sun hours a day.

Export credits and any SREC or REC

Dominion Energy Virginia is the usual utility for Richmond. Net metering is Dominion's schedule, not a permanent statewide statute frozen in a sales chart. Appalachian Power, which serves Roanoke and much of the southwest, is a different company. Virginia certificates can be created, and ownership should be written into the contract rather than assumed. No certificate price is quoted here because it moves.

Roofs, climate, permits, and HOAs

Bungalows, colonials, and postwar ranches all appear. Historic districts can limit placement. Suburban counties are often the simpler permit. A Richmond permit comes from the local building department, not from Dominion Energy Virginia. An HOA can add its own review. This page does not quote a VA permit fee or an approval, because both depend on the address. Confirm Dominion versus a co-op. Ask for shade if the street is canopied. Use the current Virginia schedule, not a coastal wind package you do not need, and not a package you skip if you are actually on the coast.

Estimated cost range

Estimated cost range for Richmond, labeled as an estimate and not a local quote: Berkeley Lab's August 2026 update put 2025 host-owned residential systems at about $3.60 per watt before incentives, about $3.00 per watt in the cash subset, and about $4.50 per watt in the loan subset. The median size in that set was 7.7 kW. Richmond is about 4.6 peak sun hours a day, against about 4.5 statewide. The federal residential credit under 26 U.S.C. § 25D ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025. The IRS treats that expenditure as made when the original installation is completed.

• Cash

  $3.00/W

  $23,100

  Subset classified as cash

• Middle published case

  $3.60/W

  $27,720

  All host-owned systems

• Loan

  $4.50/W

  $34,650

  Financed subset, before interest

Before incentives. A loan price here excludes interest. The federal residential credit under section 25D ended for systems placed in service after December 31, 2025. Berkeley Lab, U.S. Distributed Solar and Storage, August 2026 data update.