Choosing an installer
Should I use a local solar company or a national one?
The short answer
The question that matters is not size but who actually installs the system and who will honour the workmanship warranty in ten years. Some national companies subcontract installation to local crews you never chose; some local companies are three people and will not outlast the warranty. Ask both questions of both kinds.
What to ask, whichever it is
- Who physically installs it, and are they employees of the company you are contracting with?
- Who honours the workmanship warranty, and what happens if that entity no longer exists?
- How long has the business operated under this legal name? Solar has seen substantial consolidation and rebranding, and a long-established name can be a recent acquisition.
- Where is the nearest service crew, and what is the response time for a fault?
- How many installations have they completed in this utility territory? Interconnection is a local process and experience with your specific utility is worth real money in time.
The failure modes are different
A small local company that stops trading takes its workmanship warranty with it, and you are left with manufacturer warranties on the equipment and nobody to fit them. A large company that subcontracts can leave you arguing about which entity is responsible for what, and consolidation in this industry has repeatedly transferred obligations between companies. Neither is safer as a category.
Read the review distribution rather than the average, and read what the one and two-star reviews describe. In this trade the recurring complaints are unreturned calls after installation and delays to permission to operate, and both are visible in the text.
Also asked
What if my installer is acquired?
Obligations generally transfer with the acquisition, and the practical experience of pursuing them can change considerably. Keep your own copies of the contract, the warranty documents, the equipment model numbers and the commissioning paperwork, because the company that eventually answers the phone may not have them.
The long version
How to read solar installer reviewsWhy an average rating hides its own shape, what the share of one and two star reviews tells you, and how to read a wall of five stars.
General information about solar and about hiring, not advice about your roof or your tax affairs. Incentives, net metering and contractor licensing are set federally, by state, and by your utility, and all of them change. The authority that publishes the rule is the current answer.