Expert Advice On Improving Your Home
Expert Advice On Improving Your Home
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Written By David Cusick
Last Updated June 2024
A solar panel array will provide you with a renewable power source that will eventually pay for itself. Adopting solar energy can allow you to save money and shrink your carbon footprint, but you want to make sure you find a qualified installer. Luckily, we've reviewed the options and assembled a guide to the best and most trustworthy solar installation companies in San Bernardino.
Reliable customer support
Free quotes
Clear pricing policy
Services Offered
Reliable customer support
Services Offered
Reliable customer support
Services Offered
Services Offered
Clear pricing policy
Reliable customer support
Informative resources
Free quotes
Services Offered
Informative resources
Clear pricing policy
Services Offered
Reliable customer support
Informative resources
Free quotes
Clear pricing policy
Services Offered
Informative resources
Reliable customer support
Clear pricing policy
Free quotes
Services Offered
Informative resources
Reliable customer support
Services Offered
Reliable customer support
Informative resources
Services Offered
Today's Homeowner looks at dozens of datapoints on solar companies to come up with our data-driven rankings. It's not possible for a company to pay for preferential treatment in our rankings. We look at the following key factors in determining who should top our list:
Installing solar panels can cut your electricity costs and benefit the planet by reducing your carbon footprint. When deciding if a solar provider is the best option for you, consider these key factors.
It's important to hire a licensed solar installer. This helps ensure that the work is done properly using current installation best practices. There are five specific types of solar contracting licenses in California: boilers, PV electrical, HVAC, thermal, and pool heating. To earn licensure, an installer must take a highly comprehensive educational series, gain four years of field experience, and pass written exams.
Check TrustPilot, Google Reviews, the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and other review sites to see what past customers have to say about local solar installers. Detailed reviews can help you assess a provider's reliability and customer service. Stay away from providers with few or mainly poor reviews.
Call three to five solar companies for free, itemized quotes. The quotes should describe all costs and specify the solar equipment included. Reviewing multiple quotes helps you find the option that aligns with your budget.
Quality solar installations should come with comprehensive workmanship and performance guarantees. The workmanship guarantee covers any installation issues such as poor wiring, cracks in the panels, or poor alignment. The performance guarantee promises a specific energy output level. Strong guarantees indicate that a solar installer has faith in its installations.
Solar panels can help reduce your electricity costs in the long run. When considering solar panel's cost and value, be sure to factor in these considerations.
San Bernardino homeowners typically spend about $6,973 on home solar systems after federal tax refunds. Solar arrays in San Bernardino cost roughly $3,470 per kilowatt, with the average residential solar system being 2.9 kilowatts. An estimate from a local solar provider will include costs for permit fees, labor, and preliminary work, and will account for your system's capacity, size, and panel type. Some homeowners prefer to lease solar panels to reduce upfront costs.
Incentive Amount:
Eligible products can be financed for up to 25 years, depending on the useful life of the eligible product.
Minimum financing: $5,000
The financing may not exceed fifteen percent (15%) of the market value of the property, up to the first seven hundred thousand dollars ($700,000) of the property’s market value, and ten percent (10%) of the remaining value of the Property above seven hundred thousand dollars ($700,000) minus any PACE assessment on the propertyThe total amount of any annual property taxes and assessments shall not exceed five percent (5%) of the property's fair market value, determined at the time program financing is approved.
Incentive Type: PACE Financing
Incentive Amount:
Locally determined
Incentive Amount:
For projects 30 kW or larger, 50% of incentive will be received up-front; 50% will be received based on actual kWh production over the first 5 years. For projects under 30kW, 100% of the incentive will be paid up front.
Incentives will step down over time. See below for incentive amounts.
Incentive Amount:
Step 1 Incentive Rates (contact utility to determine current incentive levels):
Single Family Residential Incentives:
Systems that displace natural gas: $29.85 per estimated therm displaced
Systems that displace electricity or propane: Funding has been exhausted
Commercial/Multifamily Incentives:
Systems that displace natural gas: $20.19 per estimated therm displaced
Systems that displace electricity or propane: $0.42 per estimated kWh displaced *** Note, funding has been exhausted in this category for SCE and PG&E
Solar Pool heating: $5.00 per estimated therm displaced
Generally speaking, a solar photovoltaic (PV) system can be used to power any household system or appliance that uses electricity. In the smallest case, you can use a solar water heating system.
With home solar PV, you can save money on your energy bill, lower your property's emissions, and gain additional energy independence.
It depends on where you live and the kind of panels you plan to use. Since there's a moderate amount of snowfall in San Bernardino, your best time to install solar panels is in the spring and fall.
Generally speaking, your energy bills will decrease significantly after you install solar panels. This is because you're using the energy you generate for free rather than buying it from your power company. In San Bernardino, the average amount someone can save is $806 per year. With net metering programs offered by many utilities, you could ultimately make a profit from your system once the payback period passes.
Your payback period is the time to achieve an ROI on your solar panels. It will vary based on the rate your utility charges per kilowatt of power, the average sunlight in your area, and their rated capacity. San Bernardino has extremely high daily sunlight levels, so you could recoup your investment in as little as 8.7 years per 5 kW of rated capacity.
The specific required maintenance steps will vary based on the type of solar panels you have. With any system, you should clean and inspect each panel once a quarter. Your solar contractor might offer comprehensive plans where they'll do the maintenance for you.
While solar energy might not be the best performing choice for some in dark or wet areas, the latest generation of equipment and energy storage systems could increase your property's solar viability enough to achieve a return on investment. A contractor could also recommend a different primary source of renewable energy like wind or geothermal to boost your generation.
The best type of residential solar panel depends on your specific needs and goals. For a typical home, monocrystalline solar panels are the most efficient for houses in San Bernardino. However, if lowering cost is your top priority, then you could thin-film or polycrystalline solar panels. When selecting a solar company, make sure to ask about the different types of solar panels an installer offers and the benefits and drawbacks of each.
