Virginia advocates parking lot solar canopies on disturbed land

PEC argues for expanding parking lot solar in Virginia and says recent state policy changes are starting to favor development on previously disturbed land.

• The article makes a policy and advocacy case for solar canopies on parking lots, brownfields, and coalfields, highlighting distributed generation, EV charging, and stormwater benefits while avoiding farmland and forests.
• It cites 2026 Virginia legislative changes, including a requirement that Dominion increase distributed generation five-fold and build 1 GW of solar on previously disturbed sites, plus a new local option for parking lots with 100+ spaces to include solar canopies over up to 50% of the area.
• It also compares SREC values, stating they can exceed $400 per MWh in Washington, D.C. versus about $25 per MWh in Virginia as of March 2026, and says parking lot solar can cost 1.5-3x more than open-land utility-scale solar.