Solar by state
Solar in Washington DC, by the numbers
Utilities and their rates, adoption, ten years of growth, batteries, ownership, state rules and installer licensing in the District of Columbia, from federal 2024 data.
Washington DC in brief
5.58% of DC homes had rooftop solar in 2024, the 10th-highest of 51 (3.55% nationally). Power cost 17.71¢/kWh, above the national 16.48¢, and the average system was 6.35 kW. Potomac Electric Power Company serves 100.0% of homes.
Where does the District of Columbia stand out?
The four measures, beyond price and adoption, on which the District of Columbia sits furthest from the middle of the ranking.
DC solar in numbers, 2024
Every the District of Columbia figure next to the national one, with its place in the ranking (highest first, out of the jurisdictions reporting it).
| Measure | the District of Columbia | United States | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes with a metered rooftop system | 5.58% | 3.55% | 10th-highest of 51 |
| Rooftop systems counted | 17,780 | 5,077,543 | 20th-lowest of 51 |
| Average system size | 6.35 kW | 6.74 kW | 11th-lowest of 51 |
| Residential price | 17.71¢/kWh | 16.48¢/kWh | 15th-highest of 51 |
| Average monthly bill | $113.23 | $142.26 | 12th-lowest of 51 |
| Use per home | 7,672 kWh/yr | 10,359 kWh/yr | 11th-lowest of 51 |
| Systems with a battery | Not reported | 5.86% | No figure |
| Leased or on a PPA | 3.2% | 29.1% | 15th-lowest of 38 |
| Growth in systems, five years | 23.5% a year | — | 24th-lowest of 51 |
| Minutes without power per customer | 33 | 297 (median state) | lowest of 51 |
| Homes on a time-varying rate | 0.00% | 11.1% | 2nd-lowest of 51 |
| Installed rooftop capacity | 112.9 MW | 34,226 MW | — |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861, 2024 final release, retrieved 2 September 2026. The DC ratios and ranks are HyreSolar calculations from EIA inputs.
Which utility serves the District of Columbia, and what does it charge?
The utility selling to DC homes, by residential customers, with the price full-service customers paid and how many run net-metered solar.
| Utility | Type | Homes served | Price per kWh | Use per home, monthly | Net-metered systems |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potomac Electric Power Company | Investor-owned; wires, 90% on its own supply | 318,780 (100.0%) | 16.58¢ | 639 kWh | 17,780 (5.6%) |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861 2024, Sales to Ultimate Customers and Net Metering, utility level, retrieved 5 October 2026. Shares are of 318,780 DC residential accounts. Each DC price is residential revenue divided by sales for full-service customers (HyreSolar calculation); a wires company’s price is its default-service price.
What do the DC utility figures mean for a solar quote?
EIA-861 lists 1 utility serving homes in the District of Columbia in 2024, across 318,780 residential accounts. Potomac Electric Power Company delivers to every one of them. By ownership: investor-owned utilities 100.0%.
32,902 DC homes (10.3%) bought their energy from 31 competitive suppliers, while the local utility kept delivering it. On a supplier, the energy price on your bill is the supplier’s, so price a solar quote against your own bill rather than the utility prices in the table.
As the only utility, Potomac Electric Power Company served all 318,780 DC homes. Its full-service residential customers paid 16.58¢ per kWh, below the DC average of 17.71¢, and used 639 kWh a month on average. 17,780 of its customers ran net-metered rooftop solar, 5.6% of its homes against 5.58% statewide.
Only one DC utility with 5,000 or more homes reported a full-service price, so there is no in-state spread to quote; your own bill is the rate to test a quote against.
What does power cost in the District of Columbia, and why does it matter?
Residential electricity in the District of Columbia averaged 17.71¢ per kilowatt-hour in 2024, the 15th-highest of 51 and above the national 16.48¢. The price sits above the middle of the 51, which tilts the arithmetic toward using production on site rather than exporting it.
The average DC household bill was $113.23 a month ($1,359 a year), the 12th-lowest of 51, against $142.26 nationally. That $1,359 is the ceiling on what solar could save a typical DC home, before fixed monthly charges.
Almost no DC homes were on a time-varying rate in 2024 (11.1% nationally), so a flat rate is the likely starting point. 99.5% of DC residential meters were smart meters (83.8% nationally), and a time-varying rate needs one. How time-of-use changes solar.
How many DC homes have solar?
The District of Columbia had 17,780 rooftop systems on net metering in 2024, across 318,780 residential accounts: 5.58% of homes, the 10th-highest of 51. By national standards the District of Columbia is a mature market, which can mean several installers to compare and a permit office that has handled solar before.
The DC market counted 3,017 more systems in 2024 than in 2023 and has grown 23.5% a year over five years, the 24th-lowest of 51. Where growth has turned nationally.
How has DC solar changed since 2014?
The District of Columbia counted 1,425 net-metered rooftop systems in 2014 and 17,780 in 2024, 12.5 times as many. The share of homes with one moved from 0.60% to 5.58%. The biggest one-year addition came in 2024, with 3,017 more systems than the year before.
| Year | Rooftop systems | Share of homes | Average size | Residential price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 1,425 | 0.60% | 4.2 kW | 12.74¢ |
| 2016 | 2,737 | 1.06% | 4.7 kW | 12.29¢ |
| 2018 | 4,322 | 1.57% | 5.1 kW | 12.84¢ |
| 2020 | 8,178 | 2.82% | 5.7 kW | 12.63¢ |
| 2022 | 12,273 | 4.00% | 6.1 kW | 14.18¢ |
| 2024 | 17,780 | 5.58% | 6.4 kW | 17.71¢ |
Source: US EIA, Form EIA-861 annual files 2014–2024, net-metered residential systems, retrieved 2 September 2026. DC shares and sizes are HyreSolar calculations.
What does the DC trend mean for a savings estimate?
Over the same years the DC residential price went from 12.74¢ to 17.71¢ per kWh, up 39%, and the average system from 4.2 kW to 6.4 kW. A rate that has risen that far makes a 2024 bill a conservative base for a DC savings estimate only if the trend continues, which nobody can promise.
How big is a typical DC system?
The average DC system was 6.35 kW in 2024, the 11th-lowest of 51, against 6.74 kW nationally. DC homes used 7,672 kilowatt-hours a year each, the 11th-lowest of 51.
A DC home using 7,672 kWh is an average, not a design input: size from your own twelve months of bills and usable roof with cost by system size and the system size calculator.
Who owns the systems in the District of Columbia?
In the District of Columbia, 3.2% of systems were third-party owned in 2024: leased, or on a power purchase agreement (PPA), rather than owned by the household. That is the 15th-lowest of 38, against 29.1% nationally.
Nearly every DC system is owned by the household. A lease or power purchase agreement would be unusual here, which is a reason to read one closely. Whoever owns a DC system claims any tax credit on it: Section 48E explained.
Do DC homes add batteries?
Form EIA-861 recorded no battery-paired figure for the District of Columbia’s 17,780 systems in 2024, so we cannot give an attachment rate.
On reliability, the average DC customer went 33 minutes without power in 2024 counting major storms, and 26 minutes without them. The median state saw 297. Outages in every state.
Whether storage pays in the District of Columbia turns on your utility’s export credit and your own outage history: what a home battery does.
How do you check a solar company’s license in the District of Columbia?
We found no dedicated state register for solar work in the District of Columbia, so we publish no company counts. That is not evidence of light regulation: electrical work can be licensed at state or local level even where solar is never named.
With 17,780 systems in the District of Columbia, the company quoting you may be based out of state. Ask which license it holds, in which state, and confirm it with that authority. What to do when the search comes back empty.
Which states are closest to the District of Columbia on adoption?
The six jurisdictions nearest to the District of Columbia’s 5.58% share of homes with rooftop solar.
Where do the DC numbers come from?
The DC figures are HyreSolar calculations from the Form EIA-861 annual files: 17,780 net-metered residential systems counted against 318,780 residential accounts, sizes as means, and 1 utility-level rows for the utility table, matched to net-metering records by EIA utility number.
The method and limits cover all 51; the DC row is in the data as a CSV.
No DC figure here is an estimate for one home: your roof, usage, utility tariff and tax position decide that.
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Questions
How many homes in the District of Columbia have solar?
What size solar system is typical in the District of Columbia?
Do DC homeowners add batteries to solar?
Is the District of Columbia a good place for solar?
Which utility serves the most homes in the District of Columbia?
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