Solar Solutions

Considering Solar?

If you’re considering solar power, we’re here to help. More and more of our local member-owners are interested in pursuing home solar installations, and as your local energy partner, we want to work with you to navigate the process.

How does home solar really work?

Whether you are interested in mounting solar panels to your roof or would like to add ground-mounted solar to your property, the sunlight-to-electricity conversion process works the same:

Getting Started With Solar

First Steps

Call Us

Whether you’re just getting started or have thoroughly researched solar energy, give our Energy Specialists a call.

(252) 209-2236

Improve Energy Efficiency

Another thing we always recommend is to improve the energy efficiency of your home.

A more efficient home stretches your energy dollar further, and you’ll recover the expense of your solar investment more quickly.

Selling Electricity to my co-op

Can I make money by selling electricity back to my co-op?

This is a common question and a concept often clouded by misinformation. The best thing you can do is contact us and one of our Energy Specialists will help you determine if solar is the right fit for meeting your financial goals.

Call: (252) 209-2236

Roanoke Electric Cooperative’s Compensation

At Roanoke Electric Cooperative, we compensate our member-owners for their contributions at what is called “avoided cost” – or a price in line with what we pay for wholesale power before infrastructure and operational costs.

Compensating our member-owners for excess solar energy at “avoided cost” ensures they earn a fair price for what they produce while also paying for the infrastructure still utilized by the home.

Choosing between ground-mounted or rooftop

Ground-mounted and rooftop solar are both home solar solutions, and their differences are highlighted below for your consideration.

  • Can place the array in an optimal location.
  • Easy to clean panels and make any needed repairs.
  • Most commonly installed; does not require expansive amounts of land and eliminates risk of tampering.
  • Typically, less expensive than ground-mounted arrays.
  • Utilizes unused space.

Roanoke Electric Cooperative supports home solar

We support all energy solutions that:

  • fit for our members
  • uphold the safety and reliability of our grid
  • improve the diversity of our resources
  • ensure costs are not shifted to member-owners without home solar

Our nation’s electric grid is shifting from a model where large, centrally located generating plants produce power and push it to the far corners of the grid to a model that incorporates more distributed energy resources and technologies, like home solar. This is an exciting time in our industry, and we want our member-owners to make a choice that is right for them.

If your choice leads you to solar installation, we ask that you please let us know and work with us so you can make informed decisions and incorporate your new installation into our plans for managing electric traffic across our grid.

Incentives for Home Solar

There is a federal solar tax credit that:

  • allows you to deduct 26 percent of the cost of installing solar from your federal taxes
  • has no cap on its value
  • has no cap on its value

*according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

We are here as your trusted energy partner. We will provide accurate information you will need to make informed decisions and help you maximize your energy savings potential.