Solar starts with the roof underneath it.

Solar is a new service line for us, and we would rather say that than show you somebody else’s array. What is not new is the part of the job that goes wrong most often: the roof it is bolted to. We have been replacing and repairing roofs across Maryland and Virginia since 2005 — MHIC #111971, Virginia DPOR Class A #2705183185, GAF Factory-Certified, A+ BBB accredited. If your roof is not right, no array is worth putting on it, and that is the conversation we are qualified to have with you first.

Often, yes — and it is cheaper to find out now. A rooftop array is designed to sit there for decades, so putting one on a roof with a few years left means paying to remove the array, replace the roof, and reinstall the array. Our free inspection tells you what the roof actually has left, with photos, before you commit to anything. If the answer is "your roof is fine", we will tell you that too.

Electrical work on a solar project is performed by licensed trade partners. United Developers is a licensed Maryland home improvement contractor (MHIC #111971) and a Virginia Class A contractor (DPOR #2705183185); the electrical scope, the electrical permit and the connection work belong to a licensed electrician, and we schedule and coordinate them as part of the project rather than leaving you to.

Every penetration is flashed as part of the roofing scope — that is our own trade, and our 2-year workmanship warranty covers our work. What we will not do is tell you what a manufacturer’s warranty does or does not permit on your specific roof system. Those terms are the manufacturer’s, they vary by product, and your specialist confirms them in writing before an array is ordered.

Federal, state and utility programmes exist in both states and they change. They also depend on things this page cannot see: your tax position, your utility, your consumption and your property. So we do not print a percentage, a dollar figure, a net-metering rule or an SREC price anywhere on this site. Your specialist walks through what currently applies at your address and puts it in writing, and we will tell you plainly to confirm anything tax-related with your own tax adviser.

We do not publish either number, and you should be wary of anyone who does before they have been to your house. The cost depends on the roof — its planes, its pitch, its condition and whether it needs replacing first — and the payback depends on a year of your own electricity bills. You get a written, itemised scope and price after a free on-site assessment. Not a number over the phone.

Three routes exist in this market: pay for the project outright, finance it as a home-improvement project, or use a solar-specific loan or third-party-ownership product. United Developers publishes its standard $0-down home-improvement financing terms — 12 to 180 months, on approved credit — on our financing page. Which route applies to your project, and what the monthly number actually is, is confirmed in writing by your specialist before you sign anything.

Maryland and Virginia only. Our office is at 4915 St Elmo Ave Ste 403, Bethesda, MD 20814, and we work Montgomery, Frederick, Howard, Anne Arundel, Carroll and Prince George’s counties in Maryland, and Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William and the City of Alexandria in Virginia. We do not take work outside those two states.