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

Installers who connected the most home solar systems in Davis 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 Davis by the numbers

PG&E approved 298 home solar systems in Davis in 2025, from 56 installers; the top three were named on 46% of them. The busiest year since 2021 was 2023, with 736 (2025: -60%). Another 104 were approved from January through May 2026.

2025 mix: 21% leased or on a power purchase agreement, 79% owned by the household; 34% with a battery; median size 6.05 kW DC. Yolo County: 41% leased or PPA, 41% with a battery, median 6.05 kW.

Hiring a solar company in Davis

Solar companies in Davis permit home systems through SolarAPP+, which the City reported to the Energy Commission as its automated platform, and connect them to PG&E. Valley Clean Energy supplies the generation and pays solar customers a penny per kWh more than PG&E on excess monthly generation and at its annual cash-out. Compare at least three written bids built on your own VCE and PG&E bill.

Start with your Davis electricity bill

Davis is Valley Clean Energy territory on the Energy Commission's community choice map. VCE supplies the generation and PG&E delivers the power, handles billing and maintains the lines, so the bill has a PG&E section for transmission and delivery and a VCE section for generation. Solar customers in VCE territory are enrolled in VCE's own solar program automatically, unless they opt out to stay with PG&E.

How Valley Clean Energy treats a Davis solar home

Every month the meter compares what your panels produced with what you used. When you produced more, VCE credits the excess at the full retail value plus a one-cent-per-kWh bonus, and the credit rolls forward on the VCE side of your bill to offset later usage or outstanding PG&E charges. Once a year VCE calculates the whole period: if you generated more than you used, it pays PG&E's Net Surplus Compensation rate plus one cent per kWh.

The timing depends on your billing. On annual billing, VCE's cash-out falls on your PG&E true-up date; on monthly billing, it comes in February. Systems that started after April 2023 may be on VCE's version of the Solar Billing Plan, which VCE describes as similar to PG&E's but with the same one-cent bonus. PG&E still bills delivery, and still trues it up once a year, even if you produce more than you use.

Permits, shutoffs and batteries in Davis

Davis reported SolarAPP+ to the Energy Commission as its SB 379 platform, and the SolarAPP+ program lists the City as accepting solar with storage, main panel upgrades and main breaker derates, a broader scope than some nearby cities allow. The City has not filed an annual permit report in the Commission's data file, so ask each bidder for its own recent Davis timelines rather than relying on a regional average.

VCE is candid about one limit of solar alone: during a PG&E Public Safety Power Shutoff, a solar home loses power too unless it has a battery, and most batteries cover a few hours depending on size. VCE says it mirrors PG&E's rates for energy storage. If backup matters to you, ask for the battery as a separate line and the circuits it will carry.

What a Davis quote needs to explain

A comparison to ask for

VCE's program changes the arithmetic slightly. It credits excess monthly generation at the retail rate plus one cent per kWh and pays annual surplus at PG&E's Net Surplus Compensation rate plus a cent, which VCE says typically runs 7 to 9 cents per kWh. Ask each bidder whether its savings figure uses VCE's terms or PG&E's.

Verify the company behind the Davis quote

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

Davis solar quote questions