Northern Virginia residents and businesses are in luck. You already know this of course – it’s a beautiful place to live. We prioritize education, community services and amenities. And once you learn to deal with the traffic you’ve pretty much got it made.
If you’re ambitious to go solar in Virginia, it is an especially great place to live. Here are Ipsun Solar’s five reasons solar’s likely to work well for Virginia businesses and residents:
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The State of Virginia offers Netmetering for NOVEC and Dominion Power and other electric coops.
That’s where once your solar panels have been installed and approved, your utility or coop sends someone out to issue you a special electricity meter. It’s capable of spinning both forward and backward. And it does go in reverse any time there’s more solar power than you can use. The meter keeps track so that your account reflects credit for all that good solar power. You use that credit before paying for any balance. That’s going to explain how solar really saves you money on utility bills over time – not only do you use your solar directly, you can virtually save solar credit to use at night.
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30% off thanks to the Federal Tax Credit.
Provided that you have tax liability – and many of us do – you’d be able to look at taking the federal tax credit of 30% of the cost of your solar installation. The whole package of solar services is covered by the tax credit. Check with your accountant or tax preparer about your status.
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Solar is popular in Virginia now, and it’s an asset for homes.
The dollars you invest in solar can be considered an improvement to your home. The Commonwealth’s citizens are supportive of renewable energy. You can be part of the movement that’s helping our state reduce reliance on fossil fuels. And so if you sell your home, you can expect that having solar on it will help it sell faster and for added value. (There are studies from the last 10 years in California that bear this out, and anecdotal stories for our neck of the woods!)
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There’s a cost to inaction, and you’ve got better ways to use those dollars.
Do you think your coop or utility is going to be charging the exact same rate in two years? Five years? Ten years? With solar, you’ll own an energy source that can offset much (or even most) of your electricity bill, so that future energy rates won’t matter as much for you. You’ll be protected.
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If a power outage hits you can be ready.
Want to backup your essential energy-using devices? Solar can now be combined with home battery energy storage. Northern Virginia gets thunderstorms, hurricanes, and more extreme weather every year. If you’re ready to skip outages by using your own stored solar power, then now’s a great time.
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Ready to take your solar-awareness in Virginia to the next level? Watch for updates on our favorite Virginia clean energy blogs. Check out Power for the People and Virginia Mercury’s Energy and Environment page. Watch this space for notable Virginia solar developments and even special (or unlikely) solar energy projects that we think you’ll be interested in.
