While the mere mention of Seattle may conjure up images of gray skies and misty mountains, solar is surprisingly still an option for many homeowners. Seattle averages only around 150 sunny days per year. But otherwise, the weather is fairly mild — it doesn’t snow often, and the area isn’t as prone to extreme hot or cold temperatures. Seattle’s summer days are long too, with the sun often not completely setting until late in the evening.
“Solar is a hard argument here, in a lot of ways,” Stu Frothingham, communications director at Puget Sound Solar, told CNET. “It’s cloudy here, and we get rain, and we have cheap electricity,” he says, noting the fact that 60% of Washington’s electricity is generated by hydroelectric dams. “So why would someone do this?”
There are a few reasons. A lot of people in and around Seattle are environmentally conscious. So even if a solar panel system won’t save you a ton of money in terms of energy bills, it can help make your home more sustainable. Plus, with net metering in the state, you can sell excess energy from your solar panels to the grid, potentially earning you a little money on the side.
Best national solar panel companies in Seattle
The first step to going solar is finding an installer you can trust. There are plenty of solar panel companies to choose from. Many are small local companies with a presence in and around Seattle, but if you’re interested in going with a large national company, we’ve pulled a couple of solid options from CNET’s best solar companies list that operate in Seattle.
Freedom Forever
Include Freedom Forever in your search if you want the backing of a national company that installs a wide variety of the most popular solar equipment available. Freedom Forever also extends a couple of products that take some of the pain and risk out of going solar, like a production guarantee and an escrow option with cash purchases. Online reviews say customer satisfaction has been low of late, though the company says that’s changing.
Tesla Solar
Tesla’s solar branch seems to be the least loved of Elon Musk’s ventures. Even Tesla’s Solar Roof seems to get more love.
If price is the thing you won’t budge on, consider Tesla. By all accounts, Tesla installs quality panels and makes the closest thing there is to a household name in solar storage: the Powerwall.
Where you might miss out is customer service. Discussion online seems to suggest Tesla’s service is a bit of a gamble.
Local solar panel installers in Seattle
You don’t have to go with a big national solar company. Sometimes going with a local company is a better move, and there are plenty of local installers to consider in Seattle. As always, be sure to familiarize yourself with everything a company does, including sales and installation and how that meshes with your solar plans. Here are a couple of highly rated local Seattle solar installers.
Puget Sound Solar has been doing business in Seattle for more than two decades and is one of the longest-tenured installers in the area. The company claims to have installed more than 27,000 kilowatts of both residential and commercial solar projects over the years, as well as thousands of EV charging stations. They also install home battery systems, including Tesla Powerwalls and Enphase IQ batteries.
A&R Solar is another top-rated Seattle solar installer, which has been in business since 2007. The company says it has the most North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners licenses in the region and has installed solar systems on more than 4,000 homes, along with many commercial projects. A&R Solar utilizes 100% in-house labor, so you won’t have to worry about any subcontractors for certain aspects of the installation. They also install Tesla Powerwalls.
How to determine which solar company is best for me
Picking a solar company or installer isn’t rocket science, but you shouldn’t simply throw a dart at a board, either. At the very least, you’ll want to do some basic research about the companies you’re considering, read some reviews, ask tough questions and make sure they’re packing what they say they’re carrying.
Solar is expensive, and you want to be sure you’ve picked an installer who’s got everything under control and is going to be around for years to come. You’ll want to pick an installer who has worked on similar homes to yours, who can compete on price and who will be upfront about the challenges you might have with a solar system in Seattle.
“Consumers need to be careful, as there have been some predatory companies out there,” Frothingham said. “I’d encourage people to find a local installer who’s been around for…
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