What happens when the grid goes down
A grid-tied system without storage disconnects during an outage. People reasonably assume that panels plus daylight equals electricity, and learning otherwise during a storm week is the expensive way to find out.
If keeping part of the house running matters, ask any installer to be specific rather than general. Which circuits stay live, for how long at a realistic load, and does the battery recharge from the array while the grid is down. Those differences compound over a multi-day event.
Be concrete about the load you want to carry. A system keeping a fridge, some lighting, a sump pump and a few outlets going for days is a very different proposition from one attempting to run air conditioning, and that conversation belongs before the contract.
Ask how a battery sized for outage cover compares with one sized for everyday bill savings. They are frequently not the same system, and knowing which you are being quoted is essential before comparing prices between installers.
An honest note on the battery bill case
Virginia Code Section 56-594 compensates a residential system of not more than 25 kW one-to-one at the retail rate for exported electricity. When exports already earn the retail rate, a battery is not converting a low-value export into a high-value one the way it does in states with below-retail export rates.
That does not make storage a bad purchase here, it makes it mostly a resilience purchase, and it should be presented to you that way. Be sceptical of a quote claiming large bill savings from a battery in a one-to-one retail net metering state without showing the arithmetic.
One place a battery can affect the bill in Dominion territory is around standby charges, which apply to residential systems greater than 15 kW AC and depend on peak power demand used on site. If that is part of the pitch, ask for it as numbers rather than a claim.
Ask what maintenance a battery needs, what its expected life is, and what the warranty covers and for how long. It is a shorter-lived component than the panels and that belongs in the comparison.
Coastal siting, hardware and your insurer
Ask where the inverter and any battery would be sited and how that placement relates to your property's flood exposure. Equipment location is a design decision made once, so raise it deliberately rather than leaving it to convenience.
Ask what the mounting is specified to withstand, how attachments are detailed, and whether the installer has done coastal work in Hampton Roads before. Salt air and wind-driven rain are harder on a roof and on hardware than inland conditions.
Talk to your home insurer before installation. Ask whether a rooftop array and any battery are covered under your policy, whether either changes your premium or deductible, and what documentation they want on file afterwards.
Check the roof covering at the same time. Panels outlast most coverings, and coastal exposure ages one faster than the calendar suggests, so ask for a condition assessment rather than an age estimate.
Ask your locality about the property tax exemption
Virginia Code Section 58.1-3661 allows any county, city or town to exempt or partially exempt certified solar energy equipment from local property taxes by adopting an ordinance. This is the detail most often got wrong about Virginia solar, because it is a local option rather than a statewide rule.
A guide that tells you Virginia exempts solar from property tax is only right where the locality has actually adopted an ordinance, and it may be a partial exemption rather than a full one. Ask your county or city commissioner of the revenue directly whether an ordinance is in place and what it covers.
Where adopted, the exemption is effective beginning in the next succeeding tax year and is permitted for a term of not less than five years. Ask what term applies locally, since that is the horizon you can plan against.
On the federal side, the 30 percent Residential Clean Energy Credit under Section 25D expired for property placed in service after December 31, 2025, so a cash or loan purchase now receives no federal credit. Section 48E survives at 30 percent for third-party owners under leases and power purchase agreements, so ask any such provider what they claim and what of that value reaches you, and confirm with a tax advisor.