EnergySage.com! It's a great place to receive and compare quotes from reputable companies that are local. They partner with national grid and the DoE.

Seems like they all suck and take a year to do the install. Sorry to say

Eastern CT Solar in North Stonington, CT. He installed my system 6 1/2 years ago. A panel started to go bad this past fall, and he worked with the manufacturer to troubleshoot and replace the panel. An excellent small business.

Newport Solar is also good.

I had mine installed by SolPower. Took awhile to get on the calendar though.

Not to hijack the thread but it seems like getting a HELOC and working with a local electrician is the way to go. Better interest rate and no middle man.Has anyone done this?

New England Clean Energy and they were excellent.

I got a lease from SunRun. I love it, monthly payment is reasonable and I saw the ROI a lot faster than if I had bought the system outright.

We used solpower too and highly rec. the wait for us was more the state inspector (6 weeks post installation). But totally worth it.

It took them 6 months from down payment to system install. The inspections and connection was a week.

Our inspection took much longer - could have been time of year? This was also 2016……. Our install was about 3 months from contract > install.

Avoid united better homes no matter what. Sketch AF.

Don't sign anything before getting multiple quotes with full pricing.

I went with a SunPower PPA just across the border in CT. They sell one of the top few panels.

Tesla will give you the best price hands down. But their customer service isn’t the best and they are very busy so you’ll end up waiting.

At least get a quote from them to compare.

Maybe. Mine was September '22

A lot of my solar customers have gotten a HELOC to finance their project.. working with a local company is the way to go.

Don’t lease, buy outright. Read reviews, those will be telling about a company. Make sure you’re getting a company that has been around awhile

Biggest reason to go with an installer is because they should know how to install the panels on your roof while minimizing damage. An electrician would be able to wire it up, but you should be installing them yourself.

Honestly, if I had the time and energy, I would probably build a stand-alone solar array, as a patio cover, somewhere in full sun away from my house. That would be worth doing on HELOC and electrician

2 major comments to add… 1. Always buy never lease. 2. Never buy a solar system without a battery

Not allowed to do that

Depends on where you live. 😉

Back when i got my system the battery wasnt even available, then it was gonna be 15k, almost as much as my system. So no battery for me

This is like the 80's version of looking for a used car. Buy the panels yourself. Do you own research and hire reputable contractors and electricians. Don't end up with an overpriced mess on your roof because somebody sold it to you.

Current incentives help to pay for batteries plus the battery allows you to use your panels during an outage.

Batteries can double the cost.

Newport Solar is great.

I purchased my system outright back in 2015. I’ll sell all my extra energy back to the grid, and fire up the Honda gasoline back up generator for the 3 times we lose power per year..

Also my agreement though Newport Solar and the crooked electric company was if i wanted to sell my power, i couldnt store it. And every year the KWH price goes down.

Would love to help you out! My name is Christian and I work for Trinity Solar.

Christian.Cusack@trinity-solar.com

That's what I'm using for mine.

SunRun. They did a great job.

Isaksen Solar was started by two former Tesla employees. They were very professional.

yeah but it’s worth it, without batteries you have no backup power

yeah I’d prefer to be self sustainable — I don’t want the fragility of the fuels market

I have mine through Sunnova, previous owners put them on with a new roof back in March '21. They're financed vs leased which was one of the deciding factors I considered before going forward with buying the house. Monthly payment was $149/month for the first 18 months and $204/month now with a 0.99% interest rate. Between March of '22 and now I have a -$900+ electrical balance with RI Energy, though the house is 2 floors with a gabled roof facing west and east with no cover overhead. This is an important factor, there is a single story house near me with panels that are completely blocked by trees and I have to wonder what the hell they were thinking.

Honestly I feel they are worth it, especially with the rate hikes. The most important thing is to read every line of whatever contract you're considering and read the reviews of the company itself. Also you should consider the idea of putting extra towards the solar loan vs your mortgage to maximize the benefits you reap over the lifetime of your panels. If that doesn't sound like something you would want to do then you may want to think longer about this. It's not a small loan, I don't believe RI has those installation rebates anymore. And if they do my sellers didn't take advantage of them (they were morons but that's a different story).