Top 7 Best Solar Companies in Oregon (2024 Reviews)

In this guide to Oregon’s best solar providers, you’ll learn:

  • What are the top solar companies in OR?
  • How can you save money when going solar in The Beaver State?
  • What qualities are most important for Oregonians to look for in a solar provider?
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Each product and or company featured here has been independently selected by the writer. You can learn more about our review methodology here. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.

Oregon is a great place to go solar overall. With below-average solar equipment costs and above-average energy needs, customers spend less per watt for solar panels and end up saving an average of over $21,976 on energy bills over the life of their systems. However, with 70+ installers to choose from, picking a solar company to handle your solar project can be the most difficult part of the process.

In this guide, we’ll provide our list of what we believe are the best solar companies in Oregon. We’ll explain why we think each of these is likely to meet and exceed your expectations, and we’ll discuss what we recommend looking for in a solar provider in your area, specifically.

What Are the Best Solar Companies in Oregon?

We’ve spent hours researching solar companies in Oregon, and below are what we feel are the best in the area:

You might be surprised not to see some other national solar providers on our list, including Solgen, Lumio and SunRun. We’ve made a conscious decision not to rank these companies due to issues with customer service, ongoing litigation and other issues we think might have a negative impact on your overall experience.

Compare Oregon’s Top-Rated Solar Providers

Overall, we suggest going solar with SunPower or A&R Solar. The former provides wide-scale availability and high-performing panels, and the latter offers outstanding customer service and localized experience.

The table below includes a side-by-side look at these solar panel installation companies and how they compare to our other picks for the best solar companies in Oregon.

Solar Providers Superlative Our Score Avg Cost ($–$$$$$) Warranty Financing Options Get Quote
SunPower Best National Provider 5/5 $$$$ Varies – minimum of 25 years for equipment, workmanship and production Cash, solar loan, solar lease, PPA Get Quote
Blue Raven Solar Best Financing Program 4.5/5 $$ 25 years for equipment and performance; 10 years for workmanship Cash and solar loans Get Quote
Tesla Best Technology 4.5/5 $$ 25 years for equipment and performance; 10 years for workmanship Cash, solar loan, solar lease, PPA Get Quote
A&R Solar Best Regional Provider 5/5 $$$$ 25 years for equipment and performance; 10 years for workmanship Cash, solar loan Get Quote
Sunbridge Solar Best Customer Service 4.5/5 $$$ 25 years for equipment and performance; 10 years for workmanship Cash, solar loan, solar lease, PPA Get Quote
Power Northwest Best System Customization 4.5/5 $$$$ 25 years for equipment and performance; 10 years for workmanship Cash, solar loan Get Quote
Sunlight Solar Energy Best Local Installer 4.5/5 $$$$ 25 years for equipment and performance; 10 years for workmanship; 5-year reimbursement for production Cash, solar loan Get Quote
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Blue Raven Solar

Best Solar Financing

Regional Service

EcoWatch rating

Average cost

Read full review now

Pros

  • Industry-leading in-house financing
  • Competitive pricing
  • Excellent reputation

Cons

  • Doesn't offer solar batteries (coming 2022)
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Tesla Energy

Best Technology

Nationwide Service

EcoWatch rating

Average cost

Read full review now

Pros

  • Price-match guarantee
  • Sleek, efficient and durable solar panels
  • Best solar battery on the market

Cons

  • Some reported issues with customer service
  • Customer service varies by local dealer

A&R Solar

Outstanding Regional Installer

EcoWatch rating

Average cost

Pros

  • Years of local experience
  • NABCEP-certified installers
  • Outstanding customer service

Cons

  • Expensive
  • Not the best workmanship warranty
  • No leases or PPAs

Sunbridge Solar

Outstanding Regional Installer

EcoWatch rating

Average cost

Pros

  • Outstanding customer service
  • Multiple financing options
  • Nice array of services

Cons

  • Not the best workmanship warranty

Power Northwest

Outstanding Regional Installer

EcoWatch rating

Average cost

Pros

  • Many equipment brands available
  • Nice selection of services
  • Great customer service

Cons

  • Expensive
  • Not the best workmanship warranty
  • No leases or PPAs
Badge icon

Sunlight Solar Energy

Solar Veteran

Regional Service

EcoWatch rating

Average cost

Pros

  • Many years of experience
  • Offers products from leading manufacturers
  • Excellent reputation

Cons

  • No leases or PPAs
  • Limited warranty coverage
  • Expensive

Watch Below: Learn How Much This Homeowner Paid For Solar and If It Was Worth It

How Can You Save Money When Hiring a Solar Company in Oregon

houses in a neighborhood with solar panels

Solar power systems in Oregon cost around $31,160 before tax credits, assuming the typical system size of 9.5 kilowatts (kW) and the average local price per watt of $3.28. This is below the national average, but it’s still quite expensive in the grand scheme of home improvements.

While solar power systems save over $21,900 in most cases on utility bills after paying for themselves, many customers naturally still look for ways to save on system costs to help keep solar accessible and affordable.

Below, we’ll include a quick list of some things you can do to help keep your system total down. We’ll follow that with more thorough explanations of each tip.

  • Take advantage of Oregon solar perks
  • Pass on solar batteries, if you can
  • Choose high-efficiency panels

Take Advantage of OR Solar Incentives

The best thing you can do to bring down your initial costs and maximize long-term savings with your solar system is to take advantage of the solar benefit programs in your area. Thankfully, OR is a relatively solar-friendly state when it comes to incentive programs, so you should have no shortage of perks and benefits to explore.

Below, we’ll include a table with the most important and helpful solar incentive programs in Oregon that you should be sure not to miss out on.

Incentive Description
Investment Tax Credit (ITC) This is a federal credit that applies 30% of your entire system cost as a credit to your income tax liability. In OR, the credit averages around $9,348, which is a great way to keep effective system costs down.
Oregon Solar + Storage Rebate Program This is a rebate of up to $7,500 or 40% of your system cost — whichever is lower — provided by the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE). It’s available to customers who couple their panels with solar batteries.
Solar Incentives Offered by Utilities  Portland General Electric (PGE) and Pacific Power customers can get cash-back incentives totaling several hundred dollars for their solar system installation in OR.
Solar Within Reach This is a rebate program for low-income solar customers. It provides up to $0.90 per watt in cash back for PGE customers up to $5,400 and up to $1.00 per watt for Pacific Power customers up to $6,000.
Renewable Energy Systems Exemption This is a property tax exemption for your solar system. It prevents your system from adding taxable value to your home, which prevents your taxes from increasing after installation.
Net Metering (NEM) This program lets you overproduce electricity with your panels and use the credits you earn to pay down future electric bills. This is a massively beneficial perk that helps keep long-term system costs down and payback periods to a minimum.

Consider Solar Batteries Carefully

Generally speaking, we typically don’t recommend that solar customers install solar batteries along with their panels. They add thousands — and, often, tens of thousands — of dollars to your total system cost, and they provide minimal value in areas like OR that have access to net energy metering.

In states that don’t have net energy metering, solar batteries can store your produced energy for later use, which effectively provides the same benefit as net metering. While net energy metering might go away in OR or become less beneficial — by dropping below the currently mandated full retail rate for energy credits — it currently makes batteries mostly obsolete.

With that being said, batteries can allow you to go off-grid so that you can generate power for your home during blackouts. Systems with panels only cannot maintain electricity during power outages.

Still, it’s usually not worth the added money to install batteries just to keep the power on through blackout conditions, even though OR has the tenth highest rate of blackouts in the country.4

Choose Panels With a High Efficiency Rating

Finally, it’s very important that you install PV panels that have a high efficiency rating. This metric should be included on your solar panel spec sheet, and it tells you what percentage of the incoming solar energy can be harnessed for electricity production.

Panel efficiency is so important in OR because residents in the state see far less sunshine than property owners in other areas throughout the U.S. In fact, OR ranks as the fifth cloudiest state in the country.5 PV panels can drop down to about 10% efficiency in cloudy conditions.

High-efficiency panels always maintain greater production levels, which means they can offset more of your energy bills in cloudy conditions. That means greater savings and a better chance to reduce your energy bills in a place like OR.

Will Solar Increase Your Home Value in Oregon?

Yes! Installing PV panels on your home is expected to raise your property values by around 4.1%, according to property data made available by Zillow.6 The average property value in OR is around $498,000 as of this writing.

Panels are expected to boost your home by approximately $21,100 in The Beaver State. If you consider the value bump and the credit from the federal tax credit, your solar PV system is recouped nearly instantly.

OR residents also see more value in solar because of the wide range of solar incentives available. Since educated buyers will know they’ll have access to perks like net energy metering (NEM), most will assign more value to PV equipment than buyers in other states.

Finally, it’s worth noting that the value added by panels is based on your home value, so higher-value areas like the ones listed below are likely to see the largest jumps in value after you go solar.

  • Portland
  • Bend
  • Durham
  • Oregon City
  • Cannon Beach
  • Gresham
  • Gaston
  • Ashland
  • Brookings
  • Eugene
  • Tualatin
  • Hillsboro

Should Oregon Residents Hire a Professional Solar Installer or DIY?

If you’ve been comparing prices of installing your own solar array or having a professional install your system, you probably already know that a DIY solar installation is far more affordable. However, that’s not to say that doing a DIY installation is a better idea.

Professional solar installation is preferred in OR
Source: Tilo254 / Pixabay

Generally speaking, we recommend going with a professional for the reasons below, which we’ll explain in greater depth in the following sections.

  • Electrical permits are required
  • Access to high-efficiency panels
  • High risk of roof leaks
  • Better warranty coverage

Permitting Can Be an Issue

First off, solar panel systems almost always require building permits to be filed with your local building department before any work begins. This is the case in all municipalities across Oregon. The state requires that an electrical permit be filed before any solar PV system can be deemed legal.

This is an issue for DIYers. While you can carry out the actual installation process yourself, you’ll still need to hire a professional to sign off on the system. This will drive up the cost of DIY solar conversion, so it’s important to consider the electrical underwriter’s certificate when estimating the cost of a DIY installation.

Getting a permit pulled and signed off on in OR can also be problematic if you make mistakes during the process of installing your panels. In our opinion, it’s worth paying for a professional to do the work to ensure it only needs to be done once.

High-Efficiency Panels

As we mentioned above, it’s important to choose a panel brand with a high efficiency rating in OR. Doing so will ensure that your system generates enough electricity to offset your energy bills, even in the frequently cloudy weather in the area.

Unfortunately, the efficiency of most DIY solar brands — like Renogy and Grape Solar — pales in comparison to that of SunPower, Tesla, Panasonic and other top brands that require professional installation. Residents in OR might not be able to offset enough of their electric bills using DIY equipment, given the lower efficiency ratings.

Risk of Roof Leaks

OR residents experience above-average rainfall, and many cities — particularly those in the eastern parts of the state — experience above-average snowfall as well.9 An overall above-average amount of precipitation means that roof penetrations through the shingles, which are required for solar panel installations, put OR homes at an elevated risk of roof leaks.

Roof leaks are one of the leading issues with solar panel systems installed by professional companies. If installations done by professionals with years of experience aren’t immune to roof leaks, then the risk of experiencing leaks when you install panels yourself is naturally even higher.

The elevated risk of roof leaks in OR is another one of the top reasons why we recommend professional installation over a DIY job for most homeowners.

Better Warranty Coverage

Finally, solar installation companies typically provide warranty coverage for solar equipment and panel efficiency that lasts for between 20 and 30 years. By comparison, the large majority of DIY panel brands usually have warranties that last for around five to 10 years.

Additionally, when you install your own PV panels, you get no warranty for the workmanship. When you hire a professional, you can get up to around 25 years of coverage for the workmanship.

Overall, you’ll get far better warranty coverage and more peace of mind if you hire a professional to install your panels rather than trying to do it yourself.

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What Should Oregonians Look For in a Solar Installer?

solar panels installed on a big modern house

Since there is a wide range of solar providers available in OR, and because you might not want to pick one of the companies above, it’s useful to have a list of qualities to look for when deciding on a company to hire for your solar project.

We’ll include some of the top factors to consider below, and we’ll explain each of these in greater depth in the following sections.

  • Panel brands available
  • Efficiency warranties
  • Size of the company
  • Year founded
  • Industry affiliations

Panel Brands Available

Solar panel installation companies don’t all offer the same brands of equipment. Some companies stick to just one or two brands, while others have many to choose from. A wider array of equipment brands typically leads companies to score higher in our rankings because they allow more customers to balance specific energy needs, durability and budget.

In Oregon and much of the Pacific Northwest, we strongly recommend choosing a company that carries high-efficiency panels, like Maxeon from SunPower, Panasonic and Tesla. These companies all provide panels with above-average efficiency ratings that are more likely to produce sufficient energy in the low-sun conditions in OR.

Efficiency Warranties

Given that OR residents see less than 75% of the sunny days that the rest of the country does each year, the efficiency of the panels you install is a critical consideration.

While high efficiency ratings for panels are important, we also recommend considering the efficiency warranty included with your PV equipment. This tells you how much of that efficiency your panels are guaranteed to retain over the first 15 to 30 years of your panel ownership.

Size of the Company

The size of the solar provider you choose to work with can have a substantial impact on your experience.

Larger national companies often have lower pricing and better availability because they buy equipment in bulk and have greater resources for scheduling and installing. However, they usually come with less appealing customer service and might not have the same knowledge of local solar perks.

Smaller local companies typically have superior customer service and maintain better communication throughout the process, but they almost always come at a higher price and have less availability. Smaller companies are better for some homeowners looking for more guidance when applying for the federal tax credit (ITC) or local rebates, and they tend to have better customization options for your solar project.

Some can also expedite net metering or grid connection because they have closer relationships with local utility providers like PGE.

Year Founded

As solar power gains popularity in Oregon, more and more fly-by-night companies are popping up throughout the state to capitalize on demand. Unfortunately, these companies are often driven by nothing more than the profit motive, and their longevity in the industry is likely to be severely limited.

This is an issue for two reasons. First, it typically means poor customer service, especially after installation. Second, it means your warranties will be voided if the company goes out of business.

We recommend choosing companies that have more than five years in the industry, and especially those that have decades of experience and a proven history.

Industry Affiliations

Some PV companies are heavily invested in providing clean energy for a healthier environment or have philanthropic mission statements that suggest they don’t only care about profit. A good way to determine if a company aligns with these worthwhile values is to look at affiliations with solar organizations and associations.

Companies that are affiliated with organizations like the Oregon Solar Energy Industries Association (OSEIA) and the Oregon Solar and Storage Industries Association (OSSIA) usually rank higher in our ratings for these reasons.

 

The cost information presented in this article is derived from a comprehensive analysis, incorporating data from multiple industry sources. The average cost per watt per state was calculated based on figures from Consumer Affairs, Energy Sage, and Berkeley Lab’s Electricity Markets & Policy Department. Additionally, monthly energy consumption and the average monthly cost of electricity were sourced from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, ensuring a well-rounded and accurate representation of the information presented.

Methodology: How We Reviewed the Best Solar Companies in Oregon

We do our best to recommend only the best solar companies in Oregon. To that end, we spent hours researching different providers and looking into the services and quality offered. We ranked companies based on six main factors, which we’ll explain below. We believe each of these plays a significant role in your energy savings and overall satisfaction.

  • Local reputation and reviews (20%): With around 70 installers to choose from and a high demand for solar equipment in the area, we think the reputation of a company means a lot. Choosing a provider with positive customer reviews and a positive service history helps avoid those installers that have minimal experience or may have popped up to take advantage of the demand, both of which are less likely to meet and exceed your expectations.
  • Pricing and financing (20%): The average cost of a solar energy system in Oregon is slightly above average at nearly $25,000 before incentives. Since this is prohibitively expensive for many residents, we rank companies higher that maintain average or below-average pricing for their systems. We also prefer companies that accept a variety of payment options, as more options means greater accessibility overall.
  • Services offered (20%): Since Oregonians have a great net metering policy, solar batteries aren’t as popular here as they are in other states. However, many residents look for ways to customize their systems, maximize their savings and improve their home’s energy efficiency. We rank companies higher if they provide access to a variety of services, including solar batteries, EV chargers, home efficiency improvements and more.
  • Warranty coverage (20%): Warranty protection is crucial on a system that totals close to $25,000, the average cost to go solar in Oregon. We look for companies that provide average or above-average warranty protection. Specifically, we prioritize providers that have robust workmanship warranty coverage, as the weather in Oregon can put rooftop panels at a higher risk of damage, especially if the system is installed improperly.
  • Company experience (10%): We prefer companies that have at least ten years of experience, as this shows longevity and reduces the risk of the company going out of business and, in doing so, voiding your warranty coverage. We also love it when companies have localized experience, as they are generally better equipped to meet the local needs in Oregon and are more likely to understand local solar incentives and rebate programs.
  • Brand quality (10%): Finally, we look at the solar panel brands offered by each installer. We like to see a variety of brands, ideally coming in at different efficiency ratings and prices to give customers options to suit different needs.

Read More About Going Solar in Oregon

FAQ: Best Solar Companies in Oregon

Given the popularity of PV systems in OR, we get tons of questions from residents about the process and prospect of going solar in the area. We’ll answer some of these questions below.

Blog author image
Article author
Dan Simms is an experienced writer with a passion for renewable energy. As a solar and EV advocate, much of his work has focused on the potential of solar power and deregulated energy, but he also writes on related topics, like real estate and economics. In his free time — when he's not checking his own home's solar production — he enjoys outdoor activities like hiking, mountain biking, skiing and rock climbing.
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Expert reviewer
Karsten is an editor and energy specialist focused on environmental, social and cultural development. His work has been shared by sources including NPR, the World Economic Forum, Marketwatch and the SEIA, and he is certified in ESG with the CFA Institute. Before joining EcoWatch, Karsten worked in the solar energy sector, studying energy policy, climate tech and environmental education. A lover of music and the outdoors, Karsten might be found rock climbing, canoeing or writing songs when away from the workplace.

Comparing authorized solar partners

EcoWatch rating
Average cost
Pros
Cons
BBB Rating
Year founded
Service Area
Brands of Solar Equipment Offered
Warranty Coverage
  • 4.5
    • Industry-leading in-house financing
    • Competitive pricing
    • Excellent reputation
    • Doesn't offer solar batteries (coming 2022)
    A+
    Best Solar Financing
    2014
    Trina Solar, Canadian Solar, SolarEdge, Silfab, SunPower
    25-year manufacturer warranty; 10-year workmanship warranty, 2-year production guarantee

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