Cost planning
Solar panel cost in DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia
Understand the inputs behind a defensible solar cost estimate in Washington DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia—without a made-up regional average.
Residential Solar · DMV
Solar Calculator for DC, Maryland & Northern Virginia
See your roof’s solar potential, a suggested system size and estimated electricity production. Add your usage to see how much it could cover, then request installer pricing when you’re ready.
Local installation cost estimates are not available yet. Installers can price your project after reviewing your plan.
Free planning estimate · No obligation · No uncontrolled contractor calls. Planning estimate only — not an installer proposal, engineering design, tax advice or guarantee of savings.
DMV solar planning library
Understand the decision behind the estimate
Each guide answers a distinct homeowner question with dated primary sources. State and District pages use their own program and utility paths; they are not geography-swapped copies.
System sizing
How many solar panels does a DMV home need?
Estimate panel count from annual use, panel wattage, roof-specific production and future EV or electrification loads.
Roof intelligence
Is my roof good for solar?
Understand roof planes, sunlight, orientation, pitch, usable area, imagery limitations and the site checks an installer still needs to make.
Cash-flow methodology
Solar savings and payback in the DMV
See how usage, production, imports, exports, rates, degradation, incentives and ownership affect a solar payback estimate.
Resilience planning
Solar panels vs. solar plus battery in the DMV
Size a preliminary home battery from critical loads, desired backup time, usable capacity and visible assumptions—not a generic package recommendation.
Program discovery
Solar incentives in 2026 for DC, Maryland and Virginia
Find potentially relevant 2026 solar programs by property, jurisdiction, utility and date, with primary sources and no eligibility promises.
Ownership scenarios
Solar financing: cash, loan, lease and PPA
Compare solar cash, loan, lease and PPA structures without blending ownership, incentives, payments or transfer terms.
Utility rules
Net metering and solar exports in the DMV
Navigate Maryland, Virginia and DC import/export rules using the property’s serving utility and versioned source—not one regional assumption.
Market credits
Solar renewable energy credits in Maryland and DC
Understand SREC certification, ownership, market uncertainty and why Maryland and DC projections must not share one price assumption.
Maryland
Maryland solar calculator and planning guide
Plan a Maryland home solar project with roof-level production, confirmed utility assumptions, current program sources and optional comparable installer bids.
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia solar calculator and planning guide
Plan solar for a Northern Virginia home using roof-specific production, SCC rules, confirmed Dominion or NOVEC assumptions and a controlled bid request.
Washington, DC
Washington, DC solar calculator and planning guide
Plan a Washington, DC home solar project with roof-level production, Pepco confirmation, Solar for All and DC SREC source checks.
From an address to a project installers can quote
- 1
Your actual property
We look up your building's roof planes, their orientation, pitch and measured sunlight — then ask you to confirm we found the right house.
- 2
Panels on your roof
See a conceptual array on your real roof geometry. Add panels, remove them, or switch a whole roof face off.
- 3
Production and offset
Two independent models estimate first-year output. Add your usage and we'll show what share of it this covers.
- 4
A brief, then proposals
Everything becomes a structured project brief — including what still needs verifying — that installers quote from.
Understanding your roof
A roof isn’t one surface — it’s several planes, each with its own direction, slope and amount of sun. Those differences are most of what decides whether solar is worth it, and they’re why a single national “cost per watt” number tells you so little about your house.
- Roof faces
- Each distinct plane of your roof is analysed separately, because each one performs differently.
- Orientation
- Which compass direction a face slopes toward. In the DMV, south-facing faces generally produce most.
- Pitch
- How steep the face is. Steeper roofs also cost more to work on safely.
- Sunlight
- Measured annual sunshine hours across each face, which already reflects shading from nearby objects.
- Usable area
- Not all roof area can carry panels — obstructions, setbacks and access pathways all take space.
- Imagery age
- We show you when the aerial imagery was captured, because a lot can change in three years.
Why your electricity bill matters
Production tells you what a system could make. Your usage tells you what that’s worth. Without it we can still show your roof, system size and production — we just won’t show an offset percentage, because the denominator would be a guess. Twelve months of actual kilowatt-hours from your bills is the single highest-value thing you can give us.
What drives the cost
System size dominates, but roof steepness, how many separate planes the array spans, your main electrical panel’s capacity, and local permitting all move the number. We show every line and say whether it came from your roof data, from something you told us, or from a stated allowance.
Solar economics, honestly
What you save depends on when you use electricity, how your utility compensates exported energy, fixed charges that don’t go away, your rate plan, panel degradation, future rate changes and how you finance it. We won’t multiply production by today’s rate and call it guaranteed savings.
Incentives and utility programs
We only show incentive programs where we hold a source, effective and expiry dates, and a verification date. If we can’t verify anything applicable to your area, we show nothing and say so — an expired credit resurrected by marketing copy is worse than no number at all.
Permitting and interconnection
Solar generally involves local permitting, inspection, a utility interconnection application and permission to operate before the system can run. The exact requirements depend on your jurisdiction and utility, and we don’t claim to know them for your address — your installer does.
Your roof’s condition
If your roof needs replacing in a few years, that usually changes the decision, because removing and reinstalling an array is expensive. We ask about roof age and material and pass your answers to the installer. We do not diagnose roof condition from aerial imagery.
Questions homeowners ask
- How accurate is this solar estimate?
- The roof geometry and sunlight come from aerial analysis of your actual property, and production is modelled by up to two independent models that we cross-check against each other. That makes it a good planning estimate. It is not a measurement: shade from a specific tree, your roof's structural condition, and your electrical panel all need a site visit.
- Is this an installer quote?
- No. It is a planning estimate. Only a licensed installer who has surveyed your roof and electrical service can give you a quote. This tool exists to get you to that conversation already knowing what you're asking for.
- How do you know where panels can go?
- Candidate panel positions come from the geospatial provider's roof model, which works from aerial imagery of your roof planes. We select from those positions; we never invent one. If your property isn't in the dataset, we say so and let you describe your roof instead.
- What if my roof isn't available in satellite data?
- You can describe your roof faces — which way they slope, how steep, roughly how big — and, when an independent production provider is available, model production from those answers. The result is marked preliminary, because it isn't measured data.
- Does Renovessa install solar?
- No. Renovessa is not a solar installer and does not sell equipment. We help you plan the project and then connect it to qualified installers who quote it.
- Does the panel layout account for fire setbacks?
- No. The layout is conceptual. Fire-code setbacks, access pathways and any local amendments must be determined by your installer and the local authority having jurisdiction. We do not claim code compliance for any layout.
- Do I need a new roof first?
- It depends on your roof's age and condition, which we cannot assess from aerial imagery. If your roof is near the end of its life, most installers will recommend replacing it before mounting panels, because removing and reinstalling an array later is expensive. Tell us your roof's age and we'll flag it for the installer.
- Can I add battery storage?
- When storage planning is enabled, choose the critical loads and desired backup time to review a planning range for usable energy, nameplate capacity and peak power. Duration is never guaranteed, and full-home or motor-load designs still require an installer load review.
- Does solar eliminate my utility bill?
- Usually not. Most utilities keep fixed monthly charges regardless of production, and your system won't produce exactly what you use in every hour. What solar changes is how much electricity you buy.
- Are incentives guaranteed?
- No. Incentive programs change, expire and have eligibility conditions. We only show programs where we hold a source, effective dates and a verification date — and if we can't verify anything for your area, we show nothing and say so rather than guessing.
- How is electricity production calculated?
- Two ways where possible. One uses the geospatial provider's per-panel sunlight model for your selected panels. The other uses the configured independent model (PVGIS or NREL PVWatts) for each roof face, using that face's tilt and orientation. We compare them: close agreement narrows the range, disagreement widens it and lowers the confidence.
- Can I change the proposed number of panels?
- Yes. Drag the slider, switch whole roof faces off, or click individual panels. Available system, production and offset estimates update as you do. Cost updates only when reviewed pricing is available.
- Can I request actual proposals?
- Yes — that's the point. Your plan becomes a structured Solar Project Brief that installers can quote from, and you choose how many of them receive it.
Start with your address
No account needed. Your progress saves as you go, and nothing reaches an installer until you decide it should.