Solar Nerd articles about: Installers

In October 2022, Pink Energy (previously known as Power Home Solar) - one of the larger solar installers in the country - filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. According to a Facebook post, the company placed the blame on “rampant consumer discontent resulting from faulty Generac solar equipment” and announced that it would be closing permanently. Unlike a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in which a company reorganizes its debts in an effort to continue operating, a Chapter 7 bankruptcy means that the company will be liquidating its assets to pay off its creditors.

ADT Solar is a branch of ADT Inc, a company that is better known for home security products. ADT acquired Sunpro Solar in 2021, and has been expanding ever since. Why would an alarm company buy a solar company? Here’s what ADT said in a press release: “The closing of this transaction and the introduction of ADT Solar unlocks our ability to respond to customer desire for sustainable energy solutions they can use independently or combine with ADT’s smart security systems for a safer, smarter, and more sustainable home or business,” said Jim DeVries, ADT President and Chief Executive Officer.

According to Solar Power World, Trinity Solar is the second largest residential solar installer in the United States, having installed over 83 megawatts of solar last year. (Note that this doesn’t include Sunrun, which is the largest but doesn’t participate in Solar Power World’s rankings.) They operate in nine states and are known for doing door-to-door sales and telemarketing, so there’s a good chance that you’ve received one of their pitches to install solar on your home.

Titan Solar Power is among the very largest solar installers in the United States. According to Solar Power World, they are ranked #1 in the nation for residential solar installation by kilowatts installed. This list is little misleading however, because it excludes Sunrun, which doesn’t report its numbers to Solar Power World. Nonetheless, Titan is a huge company that operates in 11 states. If you’re shopping around to find an installer for your home solar project, there’s a very good chance that you’ll come across Titan.

Freedom Forever is a relatively new company on the solar installation scene, but it has grown very quickly, reaching 6th place on the Solar Power World list of residential solar installers. In the most recent year, Freedom Forever installed 92 megawatts of solar. The company operates in most of the major solar markets in the US and employs over 1,700 people. If you’re looking for a solar installer for your home, there’s a good chance that you’ve come across their name.

If you live in a city where home solar is popular, like any of the big cities in southern California or the Bay Area, you’ve probably heard of Sunrun. Maybe you’ve seen their blue vans rolling around town, or had their sales people knock on your door. Sunrun is the largest home solar installer in the US by a wide margin: they currently have about 23% of the US residential solar market.

Tesla Energy, the division of Tesla responsible for solar and home battery products, makes the well-known Solar Roof that looks like sleek roofing tiles but generates clean electricity. But the Solar Roof is an expensive product that is best installed on a home that needs a new roof. If you have a newer roof that doesn’t need replacement, it typically doesn’t make financial sense to install a Solar Roof. In fact, Tesla recently dramatically raised the cost of the Solar Roof - double the price, according to some.

Petersen-Dean, a roofing and solar company founded in 1984 that operated in nine states, went bankrupt in 2020, leaving many of its customers in limbo. The company operated in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Nevada, Oklahoma and Texas. They started as a roofing company, then began offering solar installations, especially in California where solar installations are required on some new homes. While the COVID pandemic was perhaps the straw to break its back, the company was apparently in poor financial health for some time.

With the exploding popularity of rooftop solar, competition among solar installers to capture as much of that market is intense. If you live in one of the hot markets for rooftop solar such as California, Hawaii, the southwest, and some northeast states, there’s a good chance you’ve heard your doorbell ring and found a solar salesperson at your door, ready to pitch you on the benefits of rooftop solar. It’s one thing to buy Girl Scout cookies (Thin Mints!

The San Francisco Bay Area is the part of California that includes not just the City of San Francisco, but nine surrounding counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma, and San Francisco. The Bay area gets plenty of sunshine: the average year has only 68 days of precipitation. It’s also cooler than other regions of California, which is good for solar panels (because solar panels produce less electricity when hot).