Solar Panel Installation: The Best Installers in Your City

Not for homeowners who buy a system outright. The Section 25D Residential Clean Energy Credit — the 30% credit — was terminated by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and does not apply to systems installed on or after January 1, 2026. What remains is the Section 48E credit, which is claimed by the business that owns the system. Homeowners can still benefit from it indirectly through a solar lease or power purchase agreement (PPA), available through the end of 2027. State and utility incentives are unaffected and vary by location.

Tier 1 is a list kept by BloombergNEF of panel makers whose products have been used in large bank-financed projects. It measures a manufacturer's financial track record, not the quality or efficiency of a particular panel, so treat it as one data point. What matters more for a home: the panel's efficiency, its output warranty, and whether the manufacturer will still be around to honor it. In public installation records, the median panel installed on homes in 2025 converted 21.3% of sunlight into electricity.

Both handle shade well, because each panel works on its own instead of dragging down the rest. With microinverters such as Enphase, there is a small inverter under every panel, so one failure takes out one panel, and the warranty is usually 25 years. With SolarEdge, an optimizer sits under each panel and one central inverter on the wall does the conversion; it is often a little cheaper, but if that inverter fails the whole system stops, and its standard warranty is shorter, typically 12 years. Both meet rapid shutdown rules. Compare the two in the quotes you get rather than choosing on equipment alone.

The work on the roof usually takes one to three days. The whole process, from the site survey through design, permits, inspection and the utility's permission to turn the system on, often takes one to three months, and longer where permit offices or utilities are backed up. Ask the installer for an estimated timeline in writing.

A properly installed system shouldn't: each mount goes into a rafter and is sealed with a metal or molded flashing, not just caulk. Leaks happen when that step is skipped or done badly. Before signing, ask how long the installer covers leaks at the mounts, and check your roofing warranty, since some roofers require their approval or a certified installer for work on the roof. If the roof is near the end of its life, replace it first: removing and reinstalling the panels later costs extra.