Solar reviews for California homeowners

How to read solar company reviews

Star ratings

Ratings on review sites change weekly, mix installation-day reviews with service reviews years later, and cannot tell you which crew or branch you will get. We do not quote them. If you use them, sort by newest, read the one- and two-star reviews for your region, and note the date.

BBB complaint files

A BBB letter grade and a BBB complaint count are different things. A company can hold an A+ and still have thousands of complaints on file; Sunrun’s profile showed both when we checked it on September 23, 2026. Counts are not adjusted for size, so a company with a million customers will have more than a regional installer. The useful part is the breakdown by type and the recent complaint text: if most complaints are service or repair issues, ask how long a repair visit takes in your area and what happens to your payments while the system is down.

Court dockets

Federal dockets are searchable at CourtListener. Two cautions. A party-name search returns every case where the name appears, including unrelated ones, so open the docket before counting it. And a filed complaint is an allegation, while a closed docket does not say who won. Our reviews list the court, case number and filing date so you can read the docket yourself.

License and business status

Check the license number on your contract at the CSLB license lookup, and make sure the business name on the license matches the name on the contract. For a public company, bankruptcy or a wind-down must be announced, so its investor-relations site is the first place to look; for any company, a bankruptcy filing appears on the federal court docket.

Which reviewed companies still list California?

Several well-known companies do not sell here, and some no longer sell solar at all. This is what each company’s own site or filing said on September 23, 2026.

Three companies that sold in California have filed for bankruptcy since 2024. SunPower filed Chapter 11 on August 5, 2024. courtlistener.com·checked Sep 23, 2026 Sunnova filed Chapter 11 on June 8, 2025. courtlistener.com·checked Sep 23, 2026 Freedom Forever filed Chapter 11 on April 15, 2026, and the court converted the case to Chapter 7 on August 7, 2026. courtlistener.com·checked Sep 23, 2026 If you hold a contract with any of them, start with what survives a solar company bankruptcy.

Company reviews

• Ameco Solar reviewWhat this Los Angeles installer covers, how it is licensed and what its customer record shows.
• Baker Electric Solar reviewA San Diego contractor: licence status, service area and how its quoting is structured.
• Elevation Solar reviewWhat its purchase agreement covers, where homeowner complaints concentrate, and what to check before signing.
• Empire Solar review: which entity you are signing withSeveral businesses trade under similar names. How to establish which entity is on your contract before you sign.
• Freedom Forever reviewThe dealer-network model, its bankruptcy proceedings and what an existing customer can and cannot rely on.
• LA Solar Group reviewA Los Angeles basin installer: licensing, the rebate programmes it navigates and its complaint record.
• Momentum Solar reviewWhether it serves California at all, its BBB complaint file and the lawsuits over marketing calls.
• New Day Solar reviewA Riverside County installer: service area, licence record and what its warranty covers.
• Option One Solar reviewAn Inland Empire installer: what its warranty includes, whether labour is covered and how it is licensed.
• Palmetto Solar and LightReach reviewLightReach is Palmetto’s partner network: its BBB file, the federal dockets and the 25-year Energy Plan terms.
• Powur reviewA network sales model with third-party crews: who is accountable for the install and what the complaint record shows.
• Semper Solaris reviewA California solar, roofing and HVAC contractor with in-house crews, and what its reviews report.
• Solar Optimum reviewA California installer: equipment lines, licence record and any litigation a buyer should know to check.
• Sullivan Solar Power reviewA defunct installer, kept here because its former customers still need to know where the warranty went.
• Sunergy Solar reviewA Lake Forest installer: what it publishes about warranties and equipment, and which Sunergy you are dealing with.
• Sunlux review: is it legit?A Corona installer: its BBB file, the docket search, its published 25-year hardware warranty and the licence check.
• Sunnova reviewA financier rather than an installer, and what its insolvency proceedings mean for an existing agreement.
• SunPower review after the rebrandWhat happened to the original company, who holds the warranties now and who answers a service call.
• Sunrun reviewBusiness status from its own filings, its BBB file, the Sunrun Guarantee, roof work and Vivint contracts.
• Tesla Solar reviewTesla’s panels, inverter and Powerwall on their datasheets, how quotes work and what to confirm about service.
• Trinity Solar reviewA Northeast installer whose own site lists nine states and no California. Its BBB file and court record.
• Vivint Solar reviewVivint Solar is now part of Sunrun. What legacy customers can do, and the California court record.

Head to head

• Sunrun vs SunPowerTwo very different businesses after one of them restructured: who carries the warranty and who does the work.
• Sunrun vs Tesla SolarThird-party ownership against a cash or loan purchase: price structure, install timeline and service.
• Sunnova vs SunrunA dealer network against in-house crews, and what that difference does to accountability for the install.
• Enphase vs SolarEdge invertersMicroinverters against a string inverter with optimisers: what each does at the roof and what fails differently.

Batteries, panels and utility programs

• PG&E and Sunrun battery programsWhat PG&E’s programs with Sunrun paid enrolled customers, who could join and what to ask before enrolling.
• Tesla Powerwall 3 cost in CaliforniaThe installed-cost benchmark, sizing, SGIP status and the net-billing case for a battery.
• Who can install a Tesla Powerwall in CaliforniaWho can install a Tesla Powerwall in California, how Tesla’s certified installer program works, and what drives the installed price.
• Tesla Powerwall alternatives comparedEnphase, FranklinWH and SolarEdge against the Powerwall 3: capacity, output, warranty, coupling and what drives installed price in California.
• SGIP battery rebate status and who qualifiesWhat SGIP pays for a home battery, who qualifies for the equity budget, which budgets were open or waitlisted on Sept. 23, 2026, and SCE’s own rules.
• Solar panel brand reviewsWhere panels are made, what their warranties cover and what the datasheet says, brand by brand.
• Canadian Solar panels reviewCanadian Solar HiKu panels for California homes: efficiency ratings, temperature performance, 25-year warranties and pricing.
• REC solar panels reviewWho makes REC panels, where they are made, and what the Alpha Pure-RX warranty covers, including the certified-installer ProTrust terms.
• Silfab solar panels reviewSilfab makes panels in Washington and South Carolina: the SIL-430 QD datasheet, why the product warranty depends on registration, and Silfab vs REC.
• Trina Solar panels reviewA tier-1 manufacturer with a 25-year product and power warranty: what the Vertex S series offers and what to ask a California installer.

Checking a company before you sign

• How to find a licensed solar installerWhich CSLB license classes cover solar work, how to pull the list of licensed solar contractors in your county, and how to confirm the one on your contract.
• The worst solar companies in California: how to check a recordNo agency ranks installers. The bankruptcy filings on the court record, and how to check any company yourself.
• Solar offers that claim to cost nothingThe CPUC says solar is rarely without cost. What a no-cost solar ad can mean, the state program for income-qualified homeowners, and SOMAH.
• Roof replacement offers bundled with solarNo California or federal program pays for a new roof because solar goes on it. How a bundled roof offer is paid for, and what to get in writing first.
• Solar panel removal and reinstall cost for a new roofWhat sets the cost to remove and reinstall panels for a new roof in California, who may do it, removing panels for good, and disposal rules.
• What solar costs in California and whether it paysWhat home solar costs in California, how net billing credits your exports, which incentives still apply in 2026, and how to judge whether it pays.

Contracts, buyouts and what happens when a company fails

What an installer’s insolvency does to a warranty, a loan, a lease or a PPA, and how the main third-party ownership agreements are actually written.

• Freedom Forever Bankruptcy: What Customers Should Do Now That It Is in Chapter 7Freedom Forever solar customers: the company converted to Chapter 7 on Aug 7, 2026. What is recoverable, what isn't, and where California customers go now.
• How to Verify a California Solar Contractor Before You SignCheck a California solar contractor's CSLB license, bond, and disclosure document before signing. Classifications, red flags, and your 3-day cancel right.
• Solar Installer Bankruptcy in California: What Happens to Your System and What Survives3 major CA solar installers went bankrupt since 2024. What survives: warranty, loan, lease/PPA, plus the CSLB $25,000 bond and records to keep.
• Sunrun Buyout Cost: How the Payoff on a Lease or PPA Is CalculatedSunrun buyout pricing is set by an independent appraiser at fair market value, not a fixed chart, and ownership purchases are barred before year 5.
• Sunrun Lease vs. PPA: The Actual DifferenceSunrun lease vs. PPA compared using Sunrun's own SEC filing: fixed rent vs. per-kWh billing, who eats a bad production year, and if PPA is sold in CA.
• Sunrun PPA Explained: How the Contract Works, From the 10-KSunrun PPA terms explained from its 2026 SEC 10-K: 20-25 year length, escalator rules, end-of-term buyout, and what happens if you sell your home.
• Blue Raven Solar Cancellation and Bankruptcy: Case Numbers and Your Cancellation RightsBlue Raven Solar filed Chapter 11 in Delaware, No. 24-11659, in the SunPower group. Case numbers, what is unconfirmed, and California's cancellation rules.