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Residential Solar Panel Installation in Bastrop & Fayette County, TX

Roof-mount, ground-mount, off-grid, or grid-tied — Lost Pines Solar designs and installs residential systems built around how your specific property and household actually use power, from standard lots in town to acreage outside Smithville.

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Quick Check

What's Driving Your Decision?

Common starting point. Rising electric bills are the most common reason homeowners look into solar in the first place. The right system size comes from your actual usage, not a guess based on your bill total — see how we size a system around real usage.

Worth pairing with a battery. A grid-tied system on its own won't help during an outage — it shuts off automatically for safety. Battery storage is what keeps power flowing when the grid goes down. See Battery Storage & Backup Power.

The best time to plan for it. Building solar into new construction avoids retrofitting later, and roof orientation and mounting can be planned from the framing stage instead of worked around after the fact. See Roof-Mount Solar Installation.

Handle this first, or sidestep it entirely. Installing panels on a roof that needs replacing in the next few years means paying to remove and reinstall them later. Re-roofing first is one option — a ground-mount system that skips the roof altogether is another.

Ground-mount likely fits better. Open land gives you more flexibility than a roof — better angling, no penetrations, easier access for cleaning and service. See Ground-Mount Solar Installation.

Plan the capacity now. An EV adds real load to your household's usage. It's cheaper to size a system for that capacity upfront than to expand one later. See Custom System Design & Shade Analysis.

Built specifically for Bastrop & Fayette County
Roof-mount, ground-mount & off-grid systems
Sized around your usage, not a template
Before You Install

Is Solar Right for Your Property?

How do I know if my roof gets enough sun for solar?
South- or west-facing sections with several hours of direct, unobstructed sun through the day are usually the best candidates. A roof that's shaded most of the day, or one that faces north, can still work — it typically just means fewer panels producing at full capacity, or a shift toward a ground-mount array if the property has open land to work with. We check your specific roof during the on-site assessment rather than guessing from satellite imagery alone.
Does a shaded yard rule out solar?
Not necessarily. Partial shade from a specific tree or structure at certain times of day is common on rural properties and can often be worked around with panel placement, trimming, or a ground-mount array in a clearer part of the property. Heavy, all-day shade across the whole property is the real limiting factor — not one shaded corner.
Do I have to put panels on my roof, or can I do a ground-mount system instead?
If you have the open land for it, ground-mount is often the better fit on rural and acreage properties. It avoids roof penetrations, tends to be easier to clean and service, and can be angled for ideal sun exposure no matter which direction your house happens to face. See the ground-mount section below.
Will the county or an HOA stop me from installing solar?
Texas law limits how much an HOA can restrict solar installations, though deed restrictions on setbacks or street-facing visibility may still apply depending on your subdivision. Outside city limits, most of Bastrop and Fayette County has no HOA at all. Either way, a county permit — and sometimes a city one, depending on your address — is required before installation. We handle that paperwork as part of the process.
What size solar system do I actually need?
It comes down to your household's electricity usage, not the size of your roof. We size every system around your actual usage — pulled from a utility bill or smart meter data where available — rather than a generic per-square-foot estimate, so two similarly sized houses can end up with very different systems.
On This Page

Jump to a Specific Installation Type

Roof-Mount Solar Installation

The most common approach for a house with usable roof space, and usually the most cost-effective option if your roof orientation and shading cooperate. We look at your roof's material, angle, and remaining lifespan before recommending it — a roof that needs replacing in the next few years is worth addressing first, since removing and reinstalling panels for a later re-roof adds real cost. Standing-seam metal roofs, common on rural Texas homes, typically mount without any roof penetrations at all; asphalt shingle roofs use flashed mounting points designed to keep the warranty intact. Either way, panel placement gets planned around your roof's actual sun exposure through the day, not just its total square footage.

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Ground-Mount Solar Installation

For homes on acreage, a ground-mount system is often the better fit than the roof. It can be angled and oriented for ideal sun exposure regardless of which way the house faces, avoids any roof penetrations or warranty questions, and tends to be easier to access for cleaning and repairs down the line. The tradeoffs: it needs open, mostly unshaded land to spare, and wiring has to run — usually trenched underground — from the array back to your main electrical panel, which adds some cost depending on distance. It's a natural fit for the kind of larger lots common outside Bastrop, Elgin, and Smithville, where roof space is rarely the limiting factor.

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Off-Grid Solar Systems

An off-grid system runs completely independent of the utility grid — no net metering, no utility interconnection, and no fallback to draw from when production is low. That means the battery bank has to be sized to cover your household's full usage through cloudy stretches and overnight, not just act as backup, and most off-grid setups still include a backup generator for extended low-sun periods. This is a real option for properties where running utility lines would be expensive or impractical, but it's a fundamentally different design problem than a grid-tied system with battery backup, which is what most homeowners who still have utility service actually want. We'll tell you honestly which one fits your situation rather than upselling the more complex option.

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Grid-Tied Solar Systems

The most common setup for homes that already have utility service, and usually the most cost-effective. A grid-tied system draws from your panels first and pulls from the grid to cover any shortfall, with excess production credited back through your utility's net metering program. It requires a formal interconnection agreement and inspection before activation — paperwork we handle — and by design it shuts off automatically during a grid outage for safety, even if the sun's out. Pairing a grid-tied system with battery storage is what solves that last part; see our battery storage and backup power page for that side of it.

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Solar Inverter & Micro-Inverter Installation

The inverter is what converts the DC power your panels produce into the AC power your house actually runs on, and the type matters more than most homeowners expect. A single string inverter is the cheaper, more common option, but every panel on that string is affected if one panel gets shaded or fails — a real consideration on properties with tree cover. Micro-inverters, installed one per panel, cost more but mean shading or a problem on one panel doesn't drag down the rest of the array, and they give you panel-by-panel production data instead of one combined number. On a property with mixed sun exposure across the roof or array, that difference is often worth the extra cost.

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Custom System Design & Shade Analysis

Every system starts with an on-site visit, not a satellite estimate. We walk the property, map out where shade actually falls through the day (not just at noon), and size the system around your real usage — including anything you're planning to add later, like an EV or a workshop, since it's cheaper to plan for that capacity now than to expand a system later. The output is a specific layout: panel count, placement, mount type, and inverter choice, matched to your property rather than a standard package resized to fit.

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Solar Permitting & Utility Interconnection

Every residential install needs a permit — typically from the county, and sometimes the city as well depending on your exact address — plus a signed interconnection agreement with your utility before the system can be legally turned on. Bastrop County properties are mostly served by Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative; Fayette County is split between municipal utilities and Fayette Electric Cooperative depending on the city. We confirm which utility covers your property and handle both the permit and the interconnection paperwork, followed by the inspection required before activation.

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Which Fits Your Property

Grid-Tied, Off-Grid, or Hybrid?

Grid-Tied

Best if you already have utility service and want the lowest upfront cost. No backup during an outage unless you add a battery.

Grid-Tied + Battery (Hybrid)

Same setup as grid-tied, with a battery bank added for backup power during outages. The most common choice for homeowners who want both savings and a safety net.

Off-Grid

No utility connection at all — everything runs on solar and battery, usually with a generator for backup. Fits properties where grid access is expensive or unavailable, not a cost-saving choice on its own.

Where We Install

Serving Homes Across Bastrop & Fayette County

From in-town lots in Bastrop and La Grange to acreage outside Smithville, Elgin, and Round Top, we install residential solar throughout Bastrop and Fayette County.

More Questions

Residential Solar FAQ

Does installing solar increase my property taxes in Texas?
No — Texas Tax Code Section 11.27 exempts the added value of a solar energy device from your home's appraised value for property tax purposes. It isn't automatic, though: you have to file an exemption application (Form 50-123) with your county appraisal district — Bastrop CAD or Fayette CAD, depending on where you're located. We'll point you to the form once your system is installed.
Is the federal solar tax credit still available?
Not for systems installed in 2026 and beyond. The federal Residential Clean Energy Credit was ended early by 2025 legislation, and eligibility is based on when a system is completed, not when it's paid for — so any project finished on or after January 1, 2026 doesn't qualify. A lot of solar marketing you'll find online still references the old 30% federal credit; that information is outdated.
How long does a residential solar system actually last?
Most panels carry a 25-year performance warranty and keep producing meaningful power well beyond that. Inverters typically have a shorter lifespan — often 10 to 15 years for a string inverter — and are the part most likely to need replacing first. Battery components, if included, have their own separate lifespan tied to charge cycles rather than age alone.
Can I add battery storage later instead of doing it all at once?
Usually, yes — most grid-tied systems can be designed to add battery storage down the line without replacing the original panels or inverter, as long as the initial design accounts for it. Tell us up front if backup power is something you might want eventually, since it affects a few of the equipment choices from day one.
What happens to my system during a Texas grid outage?
A standard grid-tied system without battery storage shuts off automatically during an outage, even if the sun's out — that's a safety requirement, so the system doesn't backfeed power into lines utility crews may be working on. Battery storage is what keeps power flowing to some or all of your home when the grid goes down.

Ready to See What Fits Your Property?

Get a free, no-pressure on-site assessment for your home in Bastrop or Fayette County.

Call (512) 866-4970