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

Installers who connected the most home solar systems in San Diego 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 San Diego by the numbers

SDG&E approved 5,137 home solar systems in San Diego in 2025, from 286 installers; the top three were named on 33% of them. The busiest year since 2021 was 2023, with 13,742 (2025: -63%). Another 1,455 were approved from January through May 2026.

2025 mix: 36% leased or on a power purchase agreement, 64% owned by the household; 0% with a battery; median size 4.92 kW DC. San Diego County: 36% leased or PPA, 0% with a battery, median 5.36 kW.

Hiring a solar company in San Diego

Most San Diego home solar needs no plan review: the City lets contractors self-issue a Residential Rooftop-Mounted Solar PV Permit for single-family homes, duplexes and townhouses up to 38.4 kW AC, with up to 38.4 kWh of storage and a panel upgrade up to 320 amps on the same permit. San Diego Community Power buys the city's electricity and SDG&E delivers it. Compare at least three written bids built on your own bill.

Start with your San Diego electricity bill

San Diego Community Power buys the electricity for most homes in the City of San Diego and SDG&E delivers it, on one SDG&E bill with Community Power as a line item. SDG&E's average residential rate, 45.5 cents per kWh in June 2026 by the Public Advocates Office's count, is the highest of the state's three large utilities, and most bills also carry a Base Services Charge of about $24 a month that solar does not reduce.

San Diego's self-issued solar permit

The City's Development Services Department no longer requires professional certification for residential rooftop solar. For a single-family home, duplex or townhouse designed per the template in Information Bulletin 301, the Residential Rooftop-Mounted Solar PV Permit is self-issued with no plan review, provided the system is no larger than 38.4 kW AC, needs no fire plan review or structural review under IB-301, and involves no work that calls for a combination building permit, such as changing the roof structure or adding a new structure. Solar shingles use the same permit.

Anything outside those limits takes a different permit. Solar on a structure other than a single-family home or duplex needs an electrical permit with plans; ground mounts more than 5 feet above the ground and projects requiring building modifications need a building permit. Applications are online, with PDF plans that must pass the City's upload validation, and fees depend on the project's scope under IB-301.

Community Power's rules for a new system

Community Power appears as a line item on the SDG&E bill, and it says that line is not an extra charge. For a new system, it says the Solar Billing Plan requires SDG&E's EV-TOU-5 time-of-use rate and credits exports at avoided-cost values rather than the retail price. Ask each bidder which hours its model assumes you export in.

SDG&E's Base Services Charge of about $24 a month, about $12 on FERA and $6 on CARE, pays for equipment such as meters and transformers and for customer service, and it stays whatever the system produces. The fair test for a San Diego proposal is your own twelve months of bills against what it says would remain, not SDG&E's 45.5-cent average.

What a San Diego quote needs to explain

A comparison to ask for

Two San Diego bids for the same house can land on different permits. A rooftop system with a battery of 38.4 kWh or less, in units of 20 kWh or less, and a panel upgrade of 320 amps or less can be self-issued; a larger battery, a roof framing change or a ground mount more than 5 feet high sends the job to a permit with plan review. Ask each bidder which permit its design needs.

Verify the company behind the San Diego quote

Match the business name and license number on each San Diego proposal to the CSLB record, then use our contractor verification steps, the quote comparison guide and the PPA, loan, lease and cash comparison. What you pay the utility today is on the San Diego rates and bills page.

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

San Diego solar quote questions