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California solar decisions
Solar Companies in Santa Ana, CA: Who Installed the Most Systems in 2025
Utility records show 518 home solar systems connected in Santa Ana in 2025. Sunrun was the installer of record on 100 of them, followed by Orange County Contracting Services (36) and Complete Solar Inc (30). The table lists each company's CSLB license number. It is a count from public records, not a ranking or endorsement: check each license and get at least three quotes.
California Rate Relief is a private solar referral service.
Key facts
- Permit route
- SolarAPP+ only
- Required for residential solar since June 1, 2026
- City of Santa Anachecked Sep 23, 2026
- SolarAPP+ fee
- $35
- Covers up to 3 revisions; City permit fee is separate
- City of Santa Anachecked Sep 23, 2026
- Electric utility
- SCE
- No community choice provider mapped over the city
- California Energy Commissionchecked Sep 23, 2026
Installers who connected the most home solar systems in Santa Ana in 2025
| Installer (name as reported) | Systems in 2025 | Jan 2024 to May 2026 | CSLB license |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunrun | 100 | 228 | 750184 check |
| Orange County Contracting Services | 36 | 58 | 1023627 check |
| Complete Solar Inc | 30 | 36 | 961988 check |
| Bright Ops | 27 | 55 | 1020761 check |
| Tesla Energy Operations Inc | 19 | 57 | 888104 check |
| Energy Service Partners Inc DBA ESP Contracting | 15 | 32 | 619149 check |
| Skyline Smart Energy | 14 | 26 | 1028741 check |
| Freedom Forever | 13 | 42 | 1124448 check |
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 Santa Ana by the numbers
SCE approved 518 home solar systems in Santa Ana in 2025, from 114 installers; the top three were named on 32% of them. The busiest year since 2021 was 2023, with 1,042 (2025: -50%). Another 225 were approved from January through May 2026.
2025 mix: 44% leased or on a power purchase agreement, 56% owned by the household; 74% with a battery; median size 6.96 kW DC. Orange County: 40% leased or PPA, 65% with a battery, median 6.75 kW.
| Year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systems connected | 527 | 925 | 1,042 | 490 | 518 |
Hiring a solar company in Santa Ana
Every residential solar permit in Santa Ana now goes through SolarAPP+: since June 1, 2026 the City will not process an application without its approval, and only licensed contractors registered with SolarAPP+ can apply. Batteries face extra local rules on screening, parking space and alarms. SCE supplies and delivers Santa Ana's power. Compare at least three written bids that model your own SCE bill.
Santa Ana's SolarAPP+ rules
SolarAPP+ in Santa Ana covers single-family homes, duplexes, accessory dwelling units and other permitted residential structures inside the city. The contractor answers a question in SolarAPP+ confirming the building is permitted; an unpermitted structure is ineligible for the automated route. Once SolarAPP+ approves the design, the contractor enters the approval ID in the City's PBx portal, uploads the approval documents and prints the construction permit and job card right away.
Changes after approval follow a set path. SolarAPP+ allows up to three revisions under the original $35 fee, each with a new approval ID, and the contractor then files a revision request in PBx, which the City says it processes within 72 business hours. A main panel upgrade can be added in the SolarAPP+ application itself. At inspection, the approval and permit must be printed and on site, and the inspector may still ask for plans.
Battery placement and SCE's bill
Santa Ana adds two conditions to storage that many cities leave to the general code. Planning does not allow batteries, power walls and similar equipment where they are visible from the public right-of-way, and any screening needs Planning Division approval. Fire rules require smoke alarms in rooms, basements and attached garages where storage is installed, with a listed heat alarm interconnected to them where a smoke alarm cannot go. A bid that includes a battery should show its location on the plan.
For the bill, a Santa Ana home that adds solar now is credited under SCE's Solar Billing Plan: what you send out is valued by the hour, the balance is squared up in an annual True-Up bill, and a year-end surplus is bought back at roughly two cents per kWh. With exports worth that little, the battery questions above matter for the savings estimate as much as for the permit.
What a Santa Ana quote needs to explain
| Check | Ask each bidder |
|---|---|
| SolarAPP+ approval | Confirm the contractor is a licensed company registered with SolarAPP+ and will file the approval in the City's PBx portal. |
| Structure eligibility | Confirm every structure getting panels is permitted and the design is not ballasted. |
| Battery location | Show where storage goes, how it is screened from the street and that it stays out of the required parking space. |
| SCE bill | Model SCE's Solar Billing Plan and the fixed Base Services Charge from your own bill. |
Related Santa Ana project questions
Use these guides to prepare the specific questions a written bid needs to answer.
A comparison to ask for
If a Santa Ana bid includes a battery, ask where it will go before you sign. The Planning Division does not allow storage equipment where it can be seen from the street without approved screening, and a battery in a garage cannot push the equipment or its protective bollard into the required parking space. The Fire Department also requires smoke alarms, and in some rooms an interconnected heat alarm, where storage is installed.
Verify the company behind the Santa Ana quote
Match the business name and license number on each Santa Ana 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 Santa Ana rates and bills page.
Permit fees and the filing route are on the Santa Ana solar cost and permit page.
Santa Ana solar quote questions
Do I need SolarAPP+ for a solar permit in Santa Ana?
Yes. Since June 1, 2026 the City issues residential solar permits only after SolarAPP+ approval, and applications without it are not processed.
How much is the SolarAPP+ fee in Santa Ana?
SolarAPP+ charges a one-time $35 fee that covers up to three revisions. The City's application fee is separate and the same as for a regular solar permit.
Where can a home battery go in Santa Ana?
Not where it is visible from the public right-of-way unless it is screened with a design the Planning Division approves. In a garage, the battery and its protective bollard cannot encroach into the required parking space.
Before you sign anything in Santa Ana
Two of the contract terms that most often change what a quote really costs.
Ask for a competing quote
Start with the utility on your bill and what you pay in a typical month. Contact details come after that. Submitting does not guarantee that a provider will quote your project.
California Rate Relief is a referral service. We are not a licensed contractor. California Rate Relief is compensated by a solar provider when a homeowner we refer signs an agreement. How we make money
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