How to Vet a Solar Installation Company in 2026

Full transcript

I. The first red flag

Section twenty-five D, the thirty percent residential credit, expired for homeowner-purchased systems installed after December thirty-first, twenty twenty-five. Leases and power purchase agreements are different: the system owner may still claim the thirty percent Section forty-eight E commercial credit, and may pass some of it through in the rate.

II. Payback by state

Here is what that does to payback. Our payback calculator models thirty-two metros in five Southern states. By state, a twenty twenty-six cash purchase pays back in a median eleven point eight years in Florida, twelve point one in Arizona, twelve and a half in Georgia and North Carolina, and thirteen point three in Texas. Across all thirty-two metros the median is twelve point two years. California's payback is withdrawn under net metering three point oh. Five states are in the free study.

III. Price per watt

Every bid should break out the price per watt. The study's calculator prices every modelled metro at two dollars ninety a watt installed, cash, before incentives, and real quotes vary around that by installer and equipment. Across the thirty-two metros, that puts typical systems at twenty-three thousand seven hundred eighty to thirty thousand one hundred sixty dollars.

IV. What every bid needs

The vetting starts on paper: at least three itemized bids for the same system size and equipment class, and seven checks each bid should clear, from warranty terms in writing to a production model with a shading analysis.

V. Buy or lease

And the ownership math moved. Take thirty percent off the same systems and the median payback drops to eight and a half years, which the study says is roughly where a lease or PPA that captures the commercial Section forty-eight E credit lands, if the system qualifies. The full study is free at Dreamy Leads Research. What state are you in, and what price per watt were you quoted for solar? Tell us in the comments.