5 Best Solar Companies in Rhode Island
Like most of its New England neighbors, there are plenty of solar companies in Rhode Island serving the needs of an increasingly solar-friendly population.
The combination of high electricity rates, attractive solar incentives and a surprisingly sunny climate (202 sunny days a year), make the Ocean State a very attractive state to start a solar company.
Add to that the fact that New England states are all so close together making it very easy for solar companies in Massachusetts and Connecticut to do installations across the border. And big national solar companies like Sunrun also do plenty of installations there, with no offices in Rhode Island itself but with two in Massachusetts within 30 miles of the border.
Politically, Rhode Island has plenty of progressive policies to encourage solar adoption. Home owners can take advantage of Net Metering Credits, a Residential Solar Energy Property Tax Exemption and a 100% sales tax for eligible renewable energy projects.
And that’s in addition to the various Federal Tax Incentives available through the Inflation Reduction Act.
Here, then is our list of what we think are the best solar companies in Rhode Island. Some are small local companies, others are giant national ones who happen to serve Rhode Island.
Sunrun – Best National Provider
Although Sunrun has no offices in Rhode Island, at least two of their five different offices in Massachusetts, are more than capable of servicing the Rhode Island market.
With over 15 years of experience, Sunrun has installed over 3 gigawatts of solar panels across the country, focusing largely on single-family homes, and pioneering the concept of “solar-as-a-service”. The California-based company offers both power purchase agreements (PPA) and purchase/financing options, making it easy for customers to go solar with no money down.
Sunrun has been a leader in the solar industry for 15 years, with over 3 gigawatts of solar panels installed across the US. The San Francisco-based company pioneered the concept of the solar power purchase agreement (PPA), which has allowed hundreds of thousands of single-family homeowners to go solar without any upfront costs.
As the largest residential solar company in the US, Sunrun has a well-established track record of financial stability, with consistent growth and strong profits. This is relatively rare in the solar industry and should reassure customers that their provider will be there for the long haul. More than half of existing solar panel installations have been installed by companies that have since gone out of business.
But perhaps Sunrun’s biggest selling point is that they do so much more than just install solar panels. Beyond just putting glass on roofs and shaving a few dollars off homeowners’ electricity bills, Sunrun is a leading player in the home electrification movement – playing chess while their competitors are play checkers, as one executive famously put it.
Sunrun has partnered with Ford as the automotive giant launched the F-150 Lightning, installing the Ford Charge Station Pro and Home Integration System, for F-150 customers, as well as solar panels for those that don’t yet have them.
They also have partnerships with Span for smart electrical panel upgrades and Lunar Energy whose first product will be an “end-to-end home battery system”
Bottom Line: Sunrun is the biggest for a reason. They don’t just have solar installation down to a science, they have a clearer vision of the future of energy than any other solar company in Rhode Island.
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Newport Solar – Best Local Provider
Based out of North Kingstown, RI, Newport Solar was founded by Doug Sabetti in 2009 with the aim of bringing affordable solar to Rhode Island residents long before solar giants like Sun Power, Sunrun and Tesla were operating in the state.
They are, in many ways, the solar opposite of those giant companies, being a local, family-owned, full-service that counts it’s employees by the dozen, rather than by the thousands.
Yet Newport Solar remains committed to delivering excellence to their customers at every step, having installed over 850 systems on residential and small commercial properties.
In addition to installing rooftop solar panels, Newport solar also install ground-mounted systems, batteries, and advance electric vehicle chargers.
Owner, Doug Sabetti is also a recognized leader in the solar energy space, who works hand-in-glove with elected officials to create renewable energy policies that provide affordable energy to Rhode Islanders.
Sol Power
Founded by Eric Beecher in 2013, Sol Power is different from most other solar companies in Rhode Island in that it is a cooperative. That means that it is employee-owned, with every one of its eight employees either an owner of the company or on track to becoming on.
The company is located in Providence, Rhode Island and services customers in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The small team prides itself on providing highly personalized and prompt service and its excellent customer reviews suggest that their customers appreciate them for it.
Customers have given them a satisfaction rating of 4.6 out of 5 for their overall installation experience in the company’s internal customer satisfaction survey.
From their Providence office, they maintain control over all aspects of the installation process from sales to PTO, keeping in close contact with customers throughout the project to ensure that their voice is always heard.
One downside of being a small, local company is that Sol Power is only able to offer a narrow selection of solar brands, as well as fewer financing options than larger companies like Sunrun or Trinity Solar. Nonetheless, Sol Power’s staff will work with you to find the best solutions for your home.
Trinity Solar
With over 1,600 employees and 65,000 customers, Trinity Solar is the largest privately-held residential solar installer in the country. Rhode Island is one of nine states in which it operates, working out of its local office in Wareham, Massachusetts.
Founded in 1994, it is also one of the most established solar companies in Rhode Island, although it was not until 2004 that it started to focus on solar energy, and it didn’t enter the Rhode Island market until 2016.
Still, almost 20 years of experience in the solar industry makes Trinity Solar one of the veteran installers in New England, which means that the staff is well-versed in the various products and services they offer. And since the company handles all of its solar installations in-house, customers can be confident that their system will be installed properly.
While large compared with other privately held solar companies, Trinity Solar is small when compared to the large publicly-held companies like Sunrun and SunPower that are now entering the Rhode Island solar market.
As such, they might not always be able to offer the full range of products and financing options that their larger competitors can.
Isaksen Solar
Fall River-based Isaksen Solar was founded in 2017 by two former Tesla employees, Ryan Rego and Brad Camiel, largely because they had seen first-hand how much customer service deteriorated the larger a company got.
The partners felt that their customers could have a better installation experience with a smaller company who specialized in one local area. So they quit their jobs at one of the biggest installers in the country and created a local firm that focused just the South Coast of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Cape Cod.
It seems they have been proven right as the company has grown from three full-time employees when it was founded in 2017 to 17 full-time employees in just a few years later.
Unlike the national solar companies, Isaksen Solar understands that every town in their community is different and that each town and each home has unique requirements when it comes to solar.
The team is devoted to developing connections in every town they work in to make the installation process for customers as effortless and straightforward as possible. They also install 100% American made products, build solar systems that last and make a point of reinvesting back into the local communities that support them.