Solar Companies in Berkeley, CA: Who Installed the Most Systems in 2025

Installers who connected the most home solar systems in Berkeley in 2025

Counts from utility records, not a ranking or endorsement. Check each license's status and complaint history on the CSLB's Check a License page (checked Sept. 24, 2026).

Source: California Distributed Generation Statistics (CPUC), Interconnected Project Sites data set, data through May 31, 2026 (checked Sept. 24, 2026).

Home solar in Berkeley by the numbers

PG&E approved 307 home solar systems in Berkeley in 2025, from 84 installers; the top three were named on 28% of them. The busiest year since 2021 was 2023, with 810 (2025: -62%). Another 206 were approved from January through May 2026.

2025 mix: 11% leased or on a power purchase agreement, 89% owned by the household; 26% with a battery; median size 5.41 kW DC. Alameda County: 33% leased or PPA, 53% with a battery, median 5.79 kW.

Hiring a solar company in Berkeley

Berkeley permits most home solar and battery projects in real time through SolarAPP+, offers a streamlined permit for systems of 10 kW AC or less that pass its checklist, and says it reviews standard applications within one working day. Ava Community Energy supplies Berkeley's generation and PG&E delivers it. Compare at least three written bids that name the permit route and model your own Ava and PG&E bill.

Start with your Berkeley electricity bill

Berkeley homes get generation from Ava Community Energy and delivery from PG&E, which sends the bill; the Energy Commission's map places the city's land in both areas. Ava and PG&E settle their halves of a solar account separately, Ava in April and PG&E on its own date. Ask each bidder to model both, using your current Ava plan and PG&E rate.

Berkeley's three solar permit routes

The City says it encourages solar and storage through minimal permit fees, standardized guidelines and online applications. For SolarAPP+, the installer registers with the platform, submits the design, and then creates a record in Berkeley's Permits Online; the City notes that most residential solar and storage systems qualify, subject to SolarAPP+'s eligibility rules.

The streamlined route is for small rooftop systems, 10 kW AC or less, on a single-family home or duplex, where every item on the City's eligibility checklist can be marked Yes. The applicant submits the code compliance checklist, the permit application, a schematic site plan, the City's standard plan for either string or central inverters or microinverters, and its structural criteria for flush-mounted arrays, online or by appointment at the Permit Service Center. Larger or unusual projects use the standard process with full plans, and the City says it reviews those within one working day.

How Ava credits a Berkeley solar system

Berkeley is in Ava's service area. For a system interconnected now, Ava's version of the Solar Billing Plan applies, and it only works alongside PG&E's all-electric E-ELEC rate, which Ava makes a condition. The credit for each exported kWh depends on the hour it leaves the house. Ava pays a premium for evening exports, from 3 to 8 p.m., if you are not on a discount program, while households on CARE or FERA get a smaller premium on every exported kWh instead.

The two halves of the account close on different calendars: Ava reconciles generation every April, and PG&E reconciles delivery on its own annual date. A Berkeley proposal should therefore show two annual statements, not one, and say which hours of the day it expects your panels to feed the grid.

What a Berkeley quote needs to explain

A comparison to ask for

Ask each Berkeley bidder which of the City's three routes it is using and why. A 10 kW AC or smaller system on a single-family home or duplex should normally fit SolarAPP+ or the streamlined checklist; if a bid plans the standard process, ask what in the design, such as the roof structure or the battery, rules the faster routes out.

Verify the company behind the Berkeley quote

Match the business name and license number on each Berkeley proposal to the CSLB record, then use our contractor verification steps, the quote comparison guide and the PPA, loan, lease and cash comparison.

Permit fees and the filing route are on the Berkeley solar cost and permit page.

Berkeley solar quote questions