5 Best Solar Companies in San Diego
We highlight 5 great solar companies in the San Diego area to help narrow down your options
With San Diego being such a hotbed for solar, it’s sometimes hard to sift through all the installers out there that want your business. They all claim they’re the best installer, sell the best products, or have the best customer service, but it takes time to really figure out who’s telling the complete truth.
To help you out, we’ve done the heavy lifting and chosen the top five solar installers in the San Diego area. We’ve researched and analyzed all available information to pull these top-tier installers out from the crowd. Beyond competitive prices, each of the companies below has:
- A decent chunk of experience (years of operation and/or total installations)
- Exceptional customer reviews
- Unique products or services that set them apart (battery storage, for example)
More...
You won’t find any big nationwide installers here -- every company on our list is privately-owned and headquartered in the San Diego/Southern California area. They’re real people living in your own city.
Limiting our list to local installers isn’t just about the warm-fuzzies of supporting your local economy. Local installers have more experience and knowledge regarding your utility, city, and HOA requirements, leading to faster installation times and fewer headaches (for you and them).
Working with any of these installers, you’re likely to have an easy, hassle-free solar installation. All the review and installation information is correct as of November, 2017. Without further ado, let’s begin!
Sunline Energy
Experience: 10+ years
Total Solar Installed: About 2,300 average-sized installations
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars based on 181 reviews (Yelp)
⇑ Pros: Great design staff, extremely communicative
⇓ Cons: Website not too helpful, need to contact company for detailed info on financing and available equipment
Sunline Energy is a solar company that does its job extremely well. You might not have heard of them, but they consistently get excellent reviews from customers and claim that over 80% of all their business comes from referrals – a telling sign of a great company.
Sunline is privately-owned and headquartered in San Diego. Over the last 10 years, they’ve installed 12,820 kW of solar, quite a bit for a smaller installer and enough for about 2,300 average-sized installations! Sunline installs both residential and commercial systems and, judging from the limited info on their website, offers financing in cash or loan.
The biggest draw for Sunline: they’ve got a perfect score on Yelp, with customers praising the competitive pricing, attentiveness of the employees, professionalism of the installers, and a general feeling that the company legitimately is there to help you out.
Here’s reviewer Jon discussing his project on Yelp:
Sunline gets an A+ for the whole team; start to finish, from initial ask for a quote through design and scheduling and install and post install. We’ve experienced a full range on the ‘quality of service’ scale with multiple home projects, renovations and services, including a not so stellar first experience on the initial solar install. It makes a huge difference to have such great support and communication throughout the process and highly professional teams to work with.
Bottom Line: Good prices and good service? You can’t get much better than that. And as a bonus, you can even contact them via text – now that’s convenient!
SolarTech
Experience: Founded in 2001
Total Solar Installed: Unknown
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars based on 96 reviews (Yelp)
⇑ Pros: Offers all financing types, offers Sunpower panels, offers battery storage
⇓ Cons: None
Based in El Cajon, just outside of San Diego, SolarTech installs residential and commercial solar systems as well as solar pool heating. They work in San Diego, Orange County, Riverside County, and nearby areas.
SolarTech is one of the more robust companies on our list. While they’re still a small installer based in the San Diego area, they offer all financing options currently available (cash, loan, lease), are an authorized dealer for Sunpower’s premium solar panels, and offer battery storage as well.
They’ve been around for over 15 years – much longer than most solar installers out there – and enjoy excellent customer reviews on Yelp, with a full 5 out of 5 stars from 96 reviewers.
Here’s Andrew on Yelp reviewing his experience:
Our energy consultant [name removed] was very professional and made sure that our install went smoothly every step of the way. The installers were efficient and courteous. This company values their customers regardless of how large or small the installation size is, and does a high quality job on the installation. I’d happily recommend Solar Tech for residential solar installations.
Bottom Line: If you’re looking for Sunpower panels, storage, or want to take out a solar lease, SolarTech offers it all at reasonable prices.
Baker Electric Solar
Experience: Founded in 2001
Total Solar Installed: 7000+ installations
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars based on 135 reviews (Yelp)
⇑ Pros: Well-established company, Offers battery storage and Sunpower panels
⇓ Cons: None
Baker Electric Solar is the oldest company on our list – they’ve been around almost 80 years as an electrical contractor! If you’re worried about your company sticking around long enough for warranty repairs, certainly keep Baker Electric in the running.
They’ve installed over 7,000 systems (wow!) and work in San Diego County, Orange County, Riverside, and San Bernardino. Like SolarTech above, Baker Electric is an authorized installer of Sunpower’s premium panels and offers battery storage as well. You can also choose from cash financing, loan, or lease to pay for your installation.
On Yelp, customers love Baker’s overall professionalism and timeliness. Here’s Baker Electric customer Ron describing his experience:
From start to finish Baker Electric/Solar was fantastic. Their customer service is outstanding, their employees are excellent and the company was great to work with. I can’t say enough how enjoyable Baker was to have done our system.
Here’s another review from Paula, after her installations started malfunctioning and her original installer had gone out of business:
I ended up again have a repeat of the error, so I called Baker Electric Solar’s main line and scheduled someone for an evaluation and repair. A very professional technician/electrician came out, evaluated our problem, and fixed it within an hour or so… The cost was minimal compared to lost electricity production. Thank you for your professional service.
Bottom Line: While Baker doesn’t seem to be bottom-of-the-floor cheap, they install premium panels and customers love their customer service and products.
If you want to read more about Baker Electric, check out our in-depth review Baker Electric Solar Reviews Indicate a Great Solar Installer.
Sullivan Solar Power
Experience: Founded in 2004
Total Solar Installed: 6500+ installations
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars based on 129 reviews (Yelp)
⇑ Pros: NABCEP certified, installs premium panels, offers battery storage
⇓ Cons: Does not install microinverters (Sullivan claims microinverters aren’t necessary for a well-designed system)
Sullivan Solar Power is unique in that they not only install solar, they’re on a self-proclaimed mission to educate the world about it as well. They offer free educational classes at different events throughout San Diego that they claim are sales-pitch free.
Sullivan prides themselves on quality products and installations. They are the only solar installer in southern California that is certified by NABCEP (the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners Accreditation) and the largest NABCEP-certified installer in the US.
Typically a solar installation company will have a handful of NABCEP-certified employees on their installation teams, but for an entire company to be certified proves how serious Sullivan really is about installing safe, quality installations.
As you can imagine, customers love Sullivan’s professionalism and expertise. Here’s Brian on Yelp:
The work that they did was amazing… the electricians were very skilled and personable and their pace of work was extraordinary. [Name removed], the Project Manager stayed on top of the project and kept me in the loop on a daily basis. I am extremely happy with the product, the labor and the entire process.
The company has offices in San Diego, Orange County, and Riverside (Inland Empire). They’ve installed over 6,500 systems since they began in 2004.
Bottom Line: With full NABCEP certification and premium panels, Sullivan Solar Power installs high-quality systems and offers great service while doing so.
Semper Solaris
Semper Solaris has multiple branch locations across southern California, including San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange County, Inland Empire, and many others.
Veteran-owned, Semper Solaris is dedicated to supporting veterans through hiring as well as discounts on total installation costs. They're a Sunpower Elite dealer (meaning they’ve completed more training than a standard dealer) and were even named Sunpower’s US Dealer of the Year for 2015.
Semper Solaris is also a dedicated roofing contractor, very convenient if you need shingle replacement or any roof repairs before you install panels on your roof.
The company enjoys a stellar reputation from customers, thanks to their Marine-like approach to clear and consistent organization and communication. Here’s a Yelp reviewer praising the installation process:
Superb Customer Service, Excellent Professionalism! Everyone was so helpful, even each and every individual from the Installation and the Final Inspection Crew…each individual was so helpful and very respectful! Hard to find this kind of customer service; it’s almost non-existent these days.
Bottom Line: If you need roof repair/replacement as well as solar, Semper Solaris is your one-stop-shop that enjoys great reviews.
Our picks for the best solar companies in San Diego
We hope this short list helps you narrow down your search for the best solar companies in San Diego. As with any home upgrade, talk to a few different installers for cost estimates and available equipment before moving forward with any one company.
Take a moment to read about other companies that have been reviewed here too, such as REPOWER America, Sunrun vs SolarCity and Ion Solar. You never know what’s out there, so take some time to find out!