Before signing a solar panel contract, homeowners should ask installers 35 critical questions across five categories: installer credentials (7 questions), equipment specifications (7 questions), financial considerations (8 questions), installation procedures (6 questions), and long-term support (7 questions). Essential questions include verifying NABCEP certification and insurance, confirming 25-year panel warranties with maximum 0.5% annual degradation rates, understanding federal solar tax credit eligibility requirements, clarifying installation timelines of 2-6 months, and establishing post-installation monitoring and support protocols. Qualified solar installers should transparently answer all questions about their business license numbers, completed installation counts, utility company experience, equipment substitution policies, production guarantees, financing APRs, workmanship warranties (minimum 5 years), and net metering contract durations. Homeowners who ask these questions before signing contracts protect their 25-year solar investments, maximize energy savings averaging 2.5-3.5% annually against utility rate increases, and ensure proper system performance ranging from DC-coupled battery integration to microinverter configurations with proper animal deterrent protection where needed.
During this stage, you'll naturally have numerous questions, and you might not realize all the important ones to raise. That's exactly why we're here to help.
You should focus on five essential question categories:
Addressing these questions provides you with complete transparency into the company's operations, their installation standards, the expected costs, system performance, anticipated savings, and the ongoing support available after your installation concludes. Let's examine the specific questions you should pose to your solar installer, ensuring you make the most informed decision for your property.
Beyond selecting your relative's startup solar business to help them build their portfolio, you need to choose an installer with substantial industry experience. You must also verify they hold proper licensing for your jurisdiction and carry adequate insurance coverage for potential errors and incidents.
Review these critical questions you need to ask your solar installer about their credentials:
Positive responses to these inquiries should give you confidence that the solar installer is reputable and employs qualified professionals. We highly recommend selecting an installer who guarantees a NABCEP-certified professional will remain present throughout the entire installation process.
The final two questions deserve special attention. Local utility providers each maintain distinct requirements for connecting residential solar systems to their power grid, and experienced installers understand how to meet these standards properly to guarantee a seamless process. For example, if you're in San Diego, learning how to go solar with SDG&E requires understanding their specific interconnection requirements.
Subcontracting isn't inherently problematic; many solar installation companies actually utilize subcontracted roofing specialists to secure solar mounting systems and licensed electricians to complete the final electrical panel connections. However, getting transparent information matters, because reputable installers will provide clear and honest answers on this topic.
Regarding solar equipment, most installers work with premium brands offering solid warranty protection and durability, but verification remains essential.
You need absolute certainty that the equipment mounted on your roof for approximately the next 30 years will endure and measures up favorably against competing products available today.
Review these essential questions about solar panels and related components:
Use these practical guidelines to evaluate the responses you receive from solar installers about their equipment choices.
Comparing brands becomes straightforward when examining the solar panel warranties they provide. Minimum warranty standards should include 25 years of performance guarantee coverage and 10 years of product workmanship protection.
Multiple manufacturers of the top-performing solar panels deliver 25-year warranty protection covering both product quality and power generation performance.
Solar string inverters typically carry 10-year warranties (though some manufacturers offer extended protection plans), which means you'll replace them at least once during ownership.
Microinverters from manufacturers like Enphase include 25-year warranty protection, matching the panel coverage. These units can occasionally malfunction, potentially causing single-panel power loss while awaiting replacement. However, this scenario beats losing your complete system output from a failed string inverter.
The majority of homeowners won't require a residential solar battery. Power outages typically last briefly, and your primary loss involves temporary access to household electrical appliances and conveniences.
Nevertheless, recent grid failures in California and Texas have demonstrated that extended blackouts pose serious risks, and the security provided by a solar battery may justify the expense, regardless of actual usage frequency.
Installing batteries alongside your solar system offers distinct benefits. When batteries are integrated during initial system design, you typically choose between DC or AC-coupled configurations. The distinction carries moderate significance but deserves investigation.
Certain installation labor expenses may decrease as well, making a battery installed simultaneously with solar panels somewhat more affordable than retrofit installation. For instance, a Tesla Powerwall costs less when the battery accompanies new solar panel installation compared to standalone battery installation.
Additionally, delaying battery installation almost guarantees you'll receive the AC-coupled type (such as the Enphase IQ 5P) that stores electricity only after DC to AC conversion by your solar inverter. This approach isn't necessarily inferior, but it does create minor additional efficiency losses from the conversion process.
Give this question significant consideration. Most regions across the USA don't experience substantial animal-related problems with solar panel installations, but your local squirrels might be particularly troublesome and prone to nest-building beneath solar arrays or wire-chewing.
The market offers solutions addressing these challenges, like solar critter guards, and your installer can inform you whether other clients have encountered animal-related difficulties.
The primary concern for most property owners centers on cost, with savings following closely behind. As mentioned earlier, a qualified solar installer must deliver a proposal showing the complete investment, projected annual savings, and payback timeline. The proposal must also detail the incentives you can access, including the federal solar tax credit.
Review these essential questions regarding costs and savings for your installation:
Asking these questions about solar's money-saving potential and payment methods matters greatly; comprehending the answers holds equal importance! Here's what you must understand to properly evaluate what the installer explains.
Regrettably, inquiring about the tax credit doesn't ensure you'll receive accurate information. Not every solar salesperson provides honest guidance regarding your qualification for solar incentives. Understand that you can only utilize the federal solar tax credit if your tax liability equals or exceeds that amount. When you owe less, the unused portion rolls forward to subsequent years for up to five years.
Stated differently, you must generate income to utilize the credit. Some retirees have received false claims from dishonest salespeople about qualifying for the tax credit, despite lacking sufficient income. Your installer may not possess tax expertise, but they must communicate honestly about qualification requirements for this incentive.
You must also hold ownership of the solar panels to access the tax credit. Under certain third-party financing arrangements, the solar company claims the tax credit, not you.
Additional incentives like solar rebates or SRECs don't mandate income for claiming, and your installer should possess expertise in helping you qualify and claim those benefits.
Another area where some salespeople withhold complete information involves solar savings projections. These calculations depend on data about your solar panels' annual electricity generation, the typical yearly escalation in electricity costs on your utility bills, and whether your state provides net metering.
Your installer must provide transparent information about the calculations used to establish solar production for your property. Installers may utilize various premium software programs for these calculations, but you can access the complimentary PVWatts tool from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to verify whether their figures are accurate.
Concerning utility rates, throughout most regions of the U.S., utility rates escalate by approximately 2.5-3.5% annually. Some locations experience minimal historical increases, while others face substantial increases. You can obtain the historical escalation rate from your utility provider or by reviewing previous electricity bills to examine the per-kWh charge.
When your solar proposal displays a projected increase exceeding 3.5%, request the solar company demonstrate proof that their figures align with the historical escalation rate, or request a revised savings projection using a reduced rate.
Finally, understanding the various payment methods for solar and their impact on ultimate cost proves extremely important. Here are the primary solar payment options:
You can also attempt to obtain your own financing for solar, such as through a personal loan or a HELOC from your chosen financial institution. While using a HELOC to buy solar panels can present more approval challenges, you frequently eliminate financing charges commonly linked with solar-specific loans.
After finalizing the price and payment terms, your focus should shift to the practical aspects of getting this equipment mounted on your roof and generating electricity.
Review these essential questions regarding the solar installation process:
These questions all center on procedural matters. A qualified installer must provide you with a timeline and demonstrate commitment to fulfilling it. Certain elements fall within their control, such as project commencement dates, and others fall outside their control, like permitting duration and scheduling utility company inspections before receiving final permission to operate (PTO).
Typically, the complete process can require as few as two or as many as six months to finish. Installers must conduct a property assessment, submit a residential solar system design to local authorities, obtain a permit, arrange the installation, complete inspections, and secure final permission to interconnect and activate your system on the grid.
They must communicate transparently about what this process entails and their previous experience working with your utility provider. Understanding solar permitting processes can help you better evaluate installer responses.
When the installer cannot complete the work by the deadline, it could mean you forfeit the incentives available when you executed the contract.
Your installer must be prepared to provide you with a guarantee or compensate the difference between the incentives you anticipated receiving and the incentives you cannot claim because they exceeded the estimated completion timeframe.
Regarding compensating the difference between what was promised and what you received, it's regrettably accurate that sometimes installers lack the equipment specified in your proposal available at installation time.
For instance, suppose your proposal indicates you'll receive 405-watt Qcells ML-G10+ solar panels, but the installer's supplier experiences a shortage between your quote date and installation day. The solar installer must specify in your agreement that they will substitute the quoted equipment with equal or superior alternatives, so perhaps they can provide the Qcells Q.TRON 430-watt panels instead. Exercise caution to ensure they don't provide you with an inferior product for your investment.
Finally, the installer must guarantee that their work will not harm your property, and provide protection against roof leaks, broken tiles, and other damage. The top installers provide workmanship warranties for a minimum of five years following installation so you can trust that they deliver quality work. When problems result from poor workmanship, they typically emerge shortly after installation. Avoiding common design mistakes during the planning phase can prevent many future issues.
After addressing details about system installation timing, methods, and costs, your attention should turn to what occurs throughout all the years you'll be capturing solar energy.
Solar panel systems are designed to function for a minimum of 25 years, but malfunctions can happen, and preparation for such scenarios proves valuable.
Review these essential questions you must ask about future considerations:
Once your panels are installed and fully activated, you'll be eager to view real-time data showing exactly how much energy they're generating (and how much money you're conserving) at any moment.
Your installer must explain any solar monitoring software they utilize, or at minimum demonstrate how to operate a third-party solution like the Sense energy monitor to track your solar generation and consumption.
When you obtain solar panels through a PPA or lease, your installer will likely include a production guarantee. This means you should anticipate a minimum annual kWh output, and if the leased panels fall short, your agreement should contain a provision describing how the company will compensate you, typically through a monthly bill credit.
When you're purchasing solar panels with cash or a loan, you typically won't receive a production guarantee from the installer. This doesn't mean you should accept subpar power output. If your panels aren't producing what you expect, your initial contact should be the installer. However, even before the panels get mounted on the roof, ask the company what type of post-sale support they'll deliver if you encounter issues.
Make sure to inquire about your net metering agreement. Previously, many states with net metering policies permitted homeowners who enrolled to maintain the arrangement permanently.
Currently, as net metering modifications occur nationwide, you may only receive guaranteed full retail rate compensation for 10 or 20 years. Asking proactively beats discovering unexpectedly that your utility transferred you to a different plan after one or two decades.
When a solar panel fails from a manufacturing defect, you should learn from the installer whether they prefer you contact them initially or reach out to the manufacturer for warranty repair. The response to this question will probably differ depending on whether you own the solar panels or lease them.
Side note: solar panels are included in most homeowners' insurance policies. If you own the system and your panels sustain physical damage, your insurance company will probably cover any repairs, less your deductible.
As we've mentioned repeatedly throughout this guide, solar panels are engineered to endure for an extended period.
Unless you install them on top of a newly installed roof, strong probability exists you may eventually need to remove them and have a roofing company install new shingles or tiles. The top-tier installers will offer to handle this for you for a reasonable fee, and you may even request to have them include it in the contract.
If your energy requirements change or your energy consumption increases after, for instance, expanding your family or purchasing an electric vehicle, you may want to consider expanding your installation with additional panels sometime in the future. Inquiring about that possibility before you install the first panels proves extremely important, because limitations or other factors may exist that would prohibit you from adding panels in the future.
For instance, you may have restricted roof space, and installing some lower-efficiency panels now would consume the entire available surface. Instead, your installer might persuade you to install higher-efficiency panels that require less space, so room will exist for an expansion later.
Furthermore, the prospect of adding solar panels later may lead your installer to recommend an inverter rated to accommodate more power, or to recommend microinverters, which permit future panels to be added without requiring modifications to your existing configuration. Understanding electrical fundamentals and proper grounding techniques becomes especially important for system expansions.
Choosing to install solar panels on your home is a big deal, and if you're like most people, you'll want to make sure you're making a smart choice and asking the right questions.
Whatever questions you ask, your installer should have a good, logical answer for you, and they shouldn't have any problem answering. You can tell the difference between a good and bad installer by how willing and open they are about answering all your queries.
Solar panels represent the ideal of a low-maintenance product, and once yours are fully installed and activated, you may never have to contact your installer again. Still, you're about to enter into a 25-year relationship with a company, so you should make sure they are ready to be there for you. According to the International Energy Agency's renewable energy reports, solar installations continue to grow globally, making it more important than ever to choose qualified installers.
Selecting the right solar installer and understanding every aspect of your solar panel system requires thorough preparation and asking the right questions. From verifying installer credentials and understanding equipment warranties to evaluating financing options and planning for long-term maintenance, each question you pose brings you closer to making a confident, informed decision for your property.
Remember that installing solar panels represents a significant 25-year commitment, not just a simple home improvement project. The installer you choose becomes your long-term partner in this renewable energy journey. By asking comprehensive questions about their business practices, equipment quality, financial arrangements, installation procedures, and post-installation support, you're protecting your investment and ensuring optimal system performance for decades to come.
Don't rush through this process. Take time to gather multiple quotes, compare installer responses, and verify that every answer aligns with your expectations and requirements. A reputable solar installer will welcome your questions and provide transparent, detailed responses without hesitation. This openness demonstrates their commitment to customer satisfaction and quality workmanship.
Ultimately, the effort you invest in asking these critical questions today will pay dividends throughout your solar system's lifetime. You'll enjoy greater peace of mind, maximize your energy savings, and contribute to a cleaner environment while knowing you've made the smartest choice for your home and family. Whether you're considering a DIY solar installation or working with professional installers, thorough research and preparation remain essential. For those pursuing self-installation, exploring essential DIY solar energy books can provide valuable foundational knowledge. Learn more about solar energy basics to better understand the technology powering your investment.
What's the minimum experience level I should look for in a solar installer?
Look for installers with at least 3-5 years of operating experience and several hundred completed installations. Verify they hold NABCEP certification, proper state licensing, bonding, and insurance coverage. Additionally, confirm they have substantial experience working with your specific utility provider, as this ensures they understand local interconnection requirements and can navigate the permitting process efficiently. Request references from at least three previous customers to verify their track record of quality installations and customer satisfaction. Organizations like the Union of Concerned Scientists provide valuable resources on renewable energy best practices.
How can I verify that the solar equipment quoted is actually high quality?
Start by researching the solar panel and inverter warranties offered. Premium equipment should include minimum 25-year performance warranties on panels and either 10-year warranties on string inverters or 25-year warranties on microinverters. Compare the quoted equipment specifications against independent reviews and industry rankings. Ask your installer why they selected specific brands and models, and request information about any equipment problems reported by other customers. You can also use resources like the PVWatts tool to verify projected energy production estimates match the equipment specifications. Consider reviewing renewable energy technical standards for additional guidance.
What happens if I can't claim the full federal solar tax credit in one year?
If your tax liability is less than the federal solar tax credit amount, you don't lose the remaining credit. The unused portion carries forward to subsequent tax years for up to five years. However, you must have sufficient income and tax liability to eventually claim the credit. If you're retired or have minimal income, you may not benefit fully from this incentive. Consult with a tax professional to determine your eligibility and consider alternative incentives like solar rebates or SRECs that don't require tax liability to claim.
Should I install a solar battery with my panels or wait until later?
Installing a battery simultaneously with your solar panels offers several advantages. You'll typically have access to both DC-coupled and AC-coupled battery configurations, potentially better system integration, and reduced installation labor costs since technicians are already working on your property. Additionally, some battery products like the Tesla Powerwall cost less when installed alongside new solar panels compared to standalone installation. However, if power outages are rare in your area and you're primarily focused on energy savings rather than backup power, waiting allows battery technology to advance and prices to potentially decrease. For specialized installations like off-grid solar systems, battery storage becomes essential from the start.
What should I do if my solar panels aren't producing as much energy as projected?
First, contact your installer immediately to report the underperformance issue. They should investigate potential causes such as shading problems, equipment malfunctions, or incorrect system configuration. Review your solar monitoring software to identify patterns in the production shortfall. If you leased your panels or have a PPA, your contract likely includes a production guarantee with compensation provisions for underperformance. For purchased systems, while production guarantees are uncommon, reputable installers will troubleshoot and resolve legitimate performance issues under their workmanship warranty. Document all production data and communications with your installer throughout this process. Understanding solar radiation patterns in your region can help contextualize production expectations. According to the REN21 Global Status Report, proper system maintenance and monitoring remain critical for optimal performance. As solar technology advances, being aware of end-of-life solar panel regulations also helps you plan for long-term system management.
For professional assistance with your solar project, Solar Permit Solutions offers comprehensive design and permitting services. Whether you need support in Los Angeles or guidance on commercial solar design, experienced professionals can help you navigate every step of your solar journey.
We are dedicated to providing top-notch solar permit services to homeowners, business owners, DIY, and solar installers. Contact us today.
