Solar Companies in
Washington, DC —
How to Choose One.
Most comparison pages are written by the company that wants to win the comparison. This one is too — so we have put the questions that work against us at the top, starting with who actually owns the system.
Six questions that separate DC solar companies
Ask every installer you are talking to — including us — the same six. The differences show up fast.
Ask who owns the system
This single question reorganizes every quote you are holding. Ownership decides who claims the federal credit and who receives SREC income. A $0-down offer means someone else owns it — that is not a trick, but a company that gets vague when you ask is telling you something.
Check DC licensing and who pulls the permit
DC permitting and inspection is its own process, and a company that subcontracts it to a broker you never meet is a company that cannot give you a date. Ask who physically files with DCRA and who stands in front of the inspector.
Ask who owns the Pepco interconnection
Interconnection is the step that most often stretches a timeline, and it is the step homeowners are most often left to chase alone. The right answer is that the installer submits it, tracks it, and tells you when it moves.
Get the roof commitment in writing
Panels are attached to the most expensive part of your house. Ask what happens if the roof leaks in year four, whether that is workmanship coverage or an insurance claim, and get the answer as a document rather than a reassurance.
Find out who answers in year three
Sales attention is abundant before signing and scarce after. Ask what monitoring is in place, who calls whom when production drops, and whether the company that sold you the system is the company that will service it.
Compare the same thing across quotes
Quotes are rarely comparable as written — different system sizes, different production assumptions, different escalators. Normalize them to the same system size and the same yearly production estimate before you compare a single dollar figure.
Under Free Solar, we own the system. Not you.
Our offer is Free Solar: a system on your roof for $0 down, no equipment purchase, no financing for you to arrange. In exchange, ownership stays on our side — and so do the federal tax credit and the SREC income that come with owning the hardware.
What comes to you is the electricity and the effect on your Pepco bill through net metering: your production offsets your consumption, surplus months bank credits that carry into the winter, and if you sell the house, the savings transfer to the next owner. That is the whole trade, stated plainly. If a company is offering you $0 down and is not volunteering this part, ask them directly — someone owns every system, and it is worth knowing who.
What we handle, start to finish
The steps below are the ones homeowners most often end up chasing themselves when an installer treats the sale as the finish line.
Site survey & engineering
We assess the roof, orientation and electrical service, then design the system around what your home can actually carry.
DC permitting
We prepare and submit the city paperwork and meet the inspector. You are not filing with DCRA yourself.
Pepco interconnection
We submit the interconnection application, track it, and tell you when it moves — the step timelines most often stall on.
Installation
Tier-1 USA-made panels with SolarEdge inverters, installed by crews who work in the District every week.
Inspection & permission to operate
A system on the roof is not a system producing power. We carry it through final inspection and PTO.
Monitoring & service
System monitoring after activation, so a production drop gets noticed by us rather than by you a season later.
Read these before you sign with anyone
Written for DC homeowners comparing installers — including the parts that make our own sales conversations harder.
Choosing an installer
Permits, Pepco & timeline
Questions DC homeowners ask us
Ask every company the same five questions: Who owns the system, and who therefore receives the tax credit and SREC income? Are you licensed and permitted to work in DC, and who pulls the permit? Who handles the Pepco interconnection application? What is covered in writing if the roof leaks after installation? And who answers the phone in year three? The answers separate companies far more reliably than a price quote does.
We do, not you. Free Solar puts a system on your roof for $0 down, and in exchange the ownership stays on our side — which also means the federal tax credit and the SREC income stay with the system owner, not with you. What you get is the electricity and the resulting reduction in your Pepco bill. We would rather you know that on this page than discover it at signing.
No upfront payment for the equipment or the installation. You pay for the power the system produces instead of paying Pepco for the same power, and the savings come from that difference through net metering. There is no equipment purchase for you to finance.
Yes. The sequence is: sign the agreement, site survey, engineering, utility approval, city approval, installation day, inspection, and finally permission to operate. We prepare and submit the permit and interconnection paperwork; you are not filing anything with DCRA or Pepco yourself.
The bill savings transfer with the home to the new owner. The specific assumption paperwork depends on your agreement, so ask us to walk you through the transfer terms in writing before you list — that is a fair question and we would rather answer it early.
All eight wards, plus the surrounding DMV. We have been installing in the District for 15+ years and have completed 1,000+ installations, so most DC roof types, historic-district constraints, and Pepco service quirks are ones we have already worked through.
See what your roof would actually produce
A free assessment gives you a real production estimate for your address and the terms in writing — useful even if you take it to another installer.