{"id":5922,"date":"2022-03-20T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-20T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.portal.solar.com\/learn\/solar-installer\/"},"modified":"2022-11-10T23:19:01","modified_gmt":"2022-11-10T23:19:01","slug":"solar-installer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/solar-installer\/","title":{"rendered":"What To Ask A Solar Installer Before Signing On The Dotted Line"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019re probably reading this wondering: \u201cWhat on Earth makes a Solar Company A different from Solar Company B or C?! What makes one solar installation company better than another?\u201d Not to worry &#8211; first, pat yourself on the back for getting multiple quotes! <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In just a few minutes of your time, Solar.com\u2019s in-house engineers will help you design your ideal PV system according to your needs and preferences, and allow you to pick the best installation company to meet your goals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When evaluating the solar companies who placed each of your top three bids on your Solar.com dashboard, as well as any other bids you might have gathered yourself, it\u2019s important to look at several factors while making your decision as to who to contract for your project.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>So What Questions Should You Be Asking Potential Solar Installers?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.75em;\">How many installations has the company completed?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>How long has the company been in business?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the company\u2019s overall reputation &#8211; among your friends, neighbors, colleagues?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"line-height: 1.75em;\">What does the company\u2019s online reputation tell you?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>How long is the company\u2019s workmanship warranty?\u00a0 <\/strong>(Note that most workmanship warranties from reputable companies range from 10-25 years.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Does the company subcontract installation or any accessory work, such as the main electrical panel upgrade?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Does the company have experience installing in your area? In your municipality or building authority having jurisdiction (AHJ)? In your utility\u2019s service area? <\/strong>(<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Different building departments have slightly different codes, rules, and accepted best practices relating to residential solar installation &#8211; ask if your installer has experience in each of these areas in order to avoid potentially lengthy or costly delays.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Does the installer have experience on my roof type? (Composite shingle, torch-down, EPDM, modified bitumen, rubber, clay tile, concrete tile, metal tile, stone-coated tile, standing seam metal, etc.?) <\/strong>(<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are any special considerations necessary in dealing with my roof type?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Does the installer carry liability and workers compensation insurance? Are they licensed and in good standing with my state contractors licensing board<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Will the company come out to my home before pulling permits to ensure the preliminary design will work out? Will they go over conduit runs, equipment placement, and confirm the scope of any accessory work such as trenching with me?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>What are the payment terms? <\/strong>(<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A reputable company will give you a schedule of payments &#8211; money payable to the contractor upon successful completion of certain milestones of the project.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Need some of these or more questions answered? Please\u00a0click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/\">here<\/a> to get started!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You\u2019re probably reading this wondering: \u201cWhat on Earth makes a Solar Company A different from Solar Company B or C?! What makes one solar installation company better than another?\u201d Not&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":6096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.5 (Yoast SEO v19.10) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What To Ask A Solar Installer Before Signing On The Dotted Line | Solar.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When deciding which solar installer to use, questions need to be asked. Read this list to find out every question you should have answered before going solar.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.solar.com\/learn\/solar-installer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What To Ask A Solar Installer Before Signing On The Dotted Line\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When deciding which solar installer to use, questions need to be asked. 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