Trust
How We Evaluate Solar Professionals
Verification is not endorsement. That sentence is the most important one on this page, and everything below exists to make sure it is not misread.
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HyreSolar checks seven things about a solar professional before routing an enquiry: business identity, licensing, service area, services offered, insurance, public regulatory records and operating history. Each is a factual check against a public record at a point in time. HyreSolar does not inspect workmanship, audit finances, verify reviews, rank or score companies, or guarantee the work. There is no HyreSolar rating and no badge, because there is no documented methodology that would support one.
| Checked against a record | Not checked |
|---|---|
| Business identity and registration | Quality of workmanship on a roof |
| Current licence where one is required | Financial stability over a warranty term |
| Stated service area | Authenticity of online reviews |
| Services actually offered | Any ranking, score or tier |
| Liability and workers’ compensation cover | Any guarantee of the contracted work |
| Published regulatory and complaint records | Conduct after the introduction is made |
| Operating history under the current entity | Whether solar suits your particular house |
The distinction that matters
A lot of solar sites tell you they work only with the best installers in your area. Almost none of them publish the methodology that would make that a meaningful statement.
We do not make the claim, because we do not have the methodology — and how we handle commercial relationships explains why we would not make it even if it helped. What we have is a set of factual checks against public records, and those checks tell you something real but limited: that a business exists, is registered, is licensed where licensing applies, and says it covers your area.
That is worth doing. It is not the same as knowing they will do good work on your roof, and we will not imply otherwise.
The companion to this page is how to choose an installer, which is what you should check before signing. This page is what we check before routing an enquiry.
What we check
Business identity
That the company is a registered legal entity, trading under the name it gives us, at an address that exists. Checked against the secretary of state register in its home state.
Licensing
Where the state or locality requires a licence for solar or electrical work, that a current licence exists in that name. Solar licensing is inconsistent across the US: some states license it as a speciality, some fold it into electrical, some do not license it at all.
Service area
Which counties and zip codes the company says it covers, so an enquiry is not routed two hundred miles from anyone who can attend it.
Services offered
Whether they do the kind of work described — a battery retrofit, a repair on someone else’s system, a ground mount — rather than only new rooftop installs.
Insurance
That general liability cover, and workers’ compensation where crews are employed, is stated and evidenced. What we can independently verify varies by state.
Public records
Publicly available regulatory and complaint records where a state publishes them. Coverage is uneven, and a state that publishes nothing is not evidence of a clean record.
Operating history
How long the business has been trading under its current entity. A company that has dissolved and re-registered is a different risk from one that has traded for fifteen years.
What we do not check
A page listing only what we verify overstates the picture. Here is the other side.
We do not inspect workmanship
We have not been on a roof they installed. No desk-based check substitutes for that.
We do not audit finances
We cannot tell you whether a solar company will still be trading in ten years when its workmanship warranty is tested. Nobody can.
We do not verify every review
Online review scores are gameable in both directions, so we do not use them as a ranking input.
We do not rank or score companies
There is no HyreSolar rating, no tier, no badge. Publishing one would imply a methodology we do not have.
We do not guarantee the work
The contract is between you and the company. We are not a party to it and cannot enforce it.
What we ask of participating professionals
The same bar, written for the businesses themselves, is on for solar professionals, and how it works separates the terms that are settled from the ones that are not.
We publish guides telling homeowners how to vet a solar company. It would be incoherent to then route them to companies that fail our own advice.
- A registered business with a verifiable operating history.
- Current licensing wherever the state or locality requires it.
- General liability cover, and workers' compensation where crews are employed.
- Prompt response to enquiries they accept. A homeowner who is never called is a homeowner we have failed.
- Written, itemised proposals: system size, equipment, price, financing terms, and each warranty stated separately.
- No high-pressure or same-day-only pricing tactics, and no door-to-door contracting. We publish both as warning signs, so we cannot route work to companies that rely on them.
The limits of any desk-based check
Every check described here is made at a point in time, from records that may themselves be out of date. A licence current in March can lapse in June. A company solvent this year can fail the next.
So the checks are a floor, not a substitute for your own diligence. Before you sign, confirm the licence yourself with your state board, ask for a certificate of insurance in the contracting entity's name, and read what the workmanship warranty actually covers.
If the company that sold you the system stops trading, that warranty may be worth very little. What happens when your installer goes out of business covers where that leaves you.
Common questions
Does appearing on HyreSolar mean you recommend a company?
No. Verification is not endorsement. It means specified facts about the business were checked against available records at a point in time. It is not a judgement about the quality of their work.
Do solar professionals pay to be listed?
The intended model is that professionals pay to receive homeowner enquiries. Payment does not change what we verify, and it does not buy a recommendation, a ranking or editorial coverage.
Why do you not publish a "best solar installers" list?
Because we have no objective, documented methodology that would support the claim. A ranking without one is an advertisement with numbers on it. We tell you what to check instead.
What should I check myself before signing?
Licence status with your state board, proof of insurance in the contracting entity’s name, who is actually performing the installation, and what the workmanship warranty covers and for how long. Our guides walk through each of these.
HyreSolar is an independent solar information and homeowner-connection platform. We do not install, finance, maintain or service solar systems, and we are not a party to any contract between a homeowner and a solar professional.