Solar.com Score
Every published customer review of each company, read in full and scored 0-10 across six categories. Under 20 analyzed review texts: not yet scored. Never for sale. How scores work →
Best solar companies California Butte County
Scored installers are ranked by Solar.com Score. Not-yet-scored active companies remain listed below them by recent Butte County installs, with public records beside every score.
Every company with 250 or more verified Butte County installs is included. Scored companies receive the numbered rank; unscored rows show a dash.
| # | Installer | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Urban Design103 recent installs911 verifiedActive since 20120.1% leased | 103 | 911 | 2012 | 0.1% | 8.5 | Get a direct bid | |
| 2 | Feather River Aire And Solar36 recent installs920 verifiedActive since 20150.1% leased | 36 | 920 | 2015 | 0.1% | 8.2 | Get a direct bid | |
| 3 | Chico Solar Works22 recent installs400 verifiedActive since 20140.3% leased | 22 | 400 | 2014 | 0.3% | 7.8 | Get a direct bid | |
| 4 | Alternative Energy Systems90 recent installs2,138 verifiedActive since 20060.4% leased | 90 | 2,138 | 2006 | 0.4% | 7.8 | Get a direct bid | |
| 5 | Ohm Solar Solutions135 recent installs819 verifiedActive since 20220.0% leased | 135 | 819 | 2022 | 0.0% | 7.8 | Get a direct bid | |
| 6 | Royal Aire72 recent installs990 verifiedActive since 20120.1% leased | 72 | 990 | 2012 | 0.1% | 7.3 | Get a direct bid | |
| 7 | Chico Electric8 recent installs458 verifiedActive since 20010.2% leased | 8 | 458 | 2001 | 0.2% | 7.0 | Get a direct bid | |
| 8 | SunrunIncludes Vivint Solar records275 recent installs2,289 verifiedActive since 201471.3% leased | 275 | 2,289 | 2014 | 71.3% | 6.9 | Get a direct bid | |
| 9 | Tesla EnergyIncludes SolarCity records26 recent installs1,530 verifiedActive since 200832.5% leased | 26 | 1,530 | 2008 | 32.5% | 5.5 | Get a direct bid | |
| 10 | Phoenix Solar Energy0 recent installs299 verifiedActive since 20180.3% leased | 0 | 299 | 2018 | 0.3% | 4.5 | Get a direct bid | |
| 11 | Freedom Forever47 recent installs565 verifiedActive since 201860.9% leased | 47 | 565 | 2018 | 60.9% | 4.3 | Get a direct bid | |
| — | Bright Planet123 recent installs352 verifiedActive since 201874.4% leased | 123 | 352 | 2018 | 74.4% | Not yet scored | Get a direct bid | |
| — | Blm Holdings32 recent installs330 verifiedActive since 20110.0% leased | 32 | 330 | 2011 | 0.0% | Not yet scored | Get a direct bid | |
| — | United Sun Energy29 recent installs517 verifiedActive since 20130.0% leased | 29 | 517 | 2013 | 0.0% | Not yet scored | Get a direct bid | |
| — | Premier Solar Energy13 recent installs476 verifiedActive since 20200.2% leased | 13 | 476 | 2020 | 0.2% | Not yet scored | Get a direct bid | |
| — | North State Solar Energy Construction12 recent installs335 verifiedActive since 20110.3% leased | 12 | 335 | 2011 | 0.3% | Not yet scored | Get a direct bid |
Solar.com Scores are live for 11 of the 16 listed companies. Companies marked “Not yet scored” have fewer than 20 analyzed review texts or are still being analyzed; scores appear as each company's full review record is processed. Select up to 4 companies to compare them category by category.
What this data covers: These counts come from PG&E interconnection records, the investor-owned utility service in Butte County. Homes served by municipal or cooperative utilities interconnect through their local utility instead and do not appear in these records, so installers focused on those areas show fewer installs here than they actually build.
All install columns are Butte County-specific. The county's 173 active installers in 2025 include smaller and occasional operations below the table floor. Acquired brands count under their current parent: SolarCity under Tesla Energy, Vivint Solar under Sunrun. No per-installer price is published in the table.
Every published customer review of each company, read in full and scored 0-10 across six categories. Under 20 analyzed review texts: not yet scored. Never for sale. How scores work →
Butte County installs recorded in 2025 and 2026. A big historical name with thin recent activity is a different signal than a company building every week.
Residential systems in Butte County public records listing that company as installer of record, all time. Real local activity, not review stars.
The share of that company's Butte County systems recorded as third party owned, a lease or power purchase agreement. Ownership mix, not quality.
% leased counts systems recorded as third party owned, meaning a lease or power purchase agreement. The remainder are customer owned. Active installer counts include every company that filed an interconnection that year, down to small and occasional operations. Counts come from PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E interconnection records; homes served by municipal utilities like LADWP, SMUD, and city power departments interconnect through their local utility instead, so companies focused on those territories show fewer records here. The Solar.com Score is computed from the full text of each company's published customer reviews (star ratings and review counts sourced from Google and Yelp), plus verified public-record track record; it drives the default ranking for scored companies and is never for sale.
Run your address and see direct pricing for Butte County in about two minutes. No sales call required.
Where solar.com fits in
Before an installer competes through solar.com, we check license, insurance, workmanship history, and service follow-through, and keep reviewing after every project.
The number has to hold up with equipment, roof scope, adders, warranties, and timelines, on one address-specific scope you can compare line by line.
Direct bids skip the retail sales channel, and the Best Price Guarantee backs the final number in writing.
Through solar.com, vetted installers compete for your project on one address-specific scope, and our Best Price Guarantee backs the bid.
See your priceThe Solar.com Score column ranks review evidence directly: we read the full text of every published customer review of the county's established installers and score what reviewers actually report, 0-10, across sales integrity, price transparency, communication, timeline reliability, workmanship, and after-install support. Sort the table by Solar.com Score or select companies to compare their reviews side by side.
The best company depends on your roof, utility, equipment needs, and whether you want to own the system or use a lease-style agreement. The table ranks scored installers by Solar.com Score, keeps unscored active companies below them, and shows verified Butte County interconnection activity beside the score.
The list includes every company with at least 250 verified Butte County installs in CPUC Rule 21 public records through May 2026. Companies with a Solar.com Score are ranked by that score; companies not yet scored show a dash in the rank column and appear below the scored cohort, ordered by recent 2025-26 activity. Every install column is Butte County-specific. Acquired brands are combined with their current parent, so SolarCity records count under Tesla Energy and Vivint Solar records count under Sunrun.
% leased (TPO) is the share of that installer's recorded systems that appear as third-party owned. It helps you see whether an installer historically skews toward owned systems, leases, or a mix.
Butte County has a median reported install cost of $3.81/W on owned-system CPUC records. Run your address through solar.com to see direct bids for your home, backed by the Best Price Guarantee.
No. The public table reports verified installation volume only. The companies that bid on your home are separately vetted before they can compete through solar.com, and nobody can buy public placement here.
Methodology: Counts are residential PV interconnections in investor-owned-utility territory (PG&E, SCE, SDG&E) per CPUC Rule 21 public records through May 2026. Postal and name variants are merged. Municipal utility territory such as LADWP, Glendale, Pasadena, Burbank, Anaheim, and Riverside Public Utilities is not included in those CPUC counts. Counts show recorded installations, not quality ratings. Reported costs are self-reported on owned-system interconnections. No installer can pay for placement.
Who we are: Solar.com is a solar marketplace — we connect homeowners with installers and earn a fee when projects move forward. These rankings and scores are computed from public installation records and published customer reviews. No installer can pay for placement, and no installer — including those we work with — can pay to change a score.