The 5 Best Solar Installers in San Antonio, TX

San Antonio, Texas, is awash in solar installers, thanks to eager Texans looking to harness the power of the sun. And this city gets a lot of sun! At least five hours in December and more than 10 hours in July! Some of our favorite Texas solar installers are based in San Antonio or nearby. Check out our top picks below.

How we select the best solar installers in San Antonio, TX

It’s a lot of work to choose a solar installer. At least, that is, to choose a good one. Ideally, you’ll have several professional, accredited, experienced, and approachable companies to get bids from and a good range of options for solar panels, inverters, and batteries to suit your needs.

We’re trying to make the process a bit easier by screening San Antonio solar installers for current NABCEP certifications, licensing and insurance, experience and customer satisfaction. Here’s the rundown of what we expect from the installers we recommend:  

• At least one NABCEP certified PV Installation Professional (PVIP) on staff, not just PV Technical Sales Professionals (PVTS)
• At least five years installing solar and at least two dozen systems installed
• Workers compensation insurance and general liability insurance
• No BBB complaints (or minor ones with timely resolution)
• No state consumer protection office complaints
• Panel warranties of at least 20 years and, ideally, workmanship warranties to match
• Valid Master Electrician and Electrical Contractor licenses in the State of Texas
• No violations linked with ME and EC licenses
• No active legal claims against the companies (we strongly favor those that have never had a customer make a legal claim against them).

We also look at employer review sites and elsewhere for signs that the solar installer treats its staff well. Happy installers usually translate to happy customers! And satisfied sales reps and project managers are a good sign that the company is selling a good product and has good processes.

NB: The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) is a global certification company and the PV Installation Professional (PVIP) Board Certification offers assurance that a solar installer knows what they’re doing when it comes to designing and installing solar energy systems, as well as operations, commissioning and maintenance.

The Best Solar Companies in San Antonio, TX: Our Top Picks

1

Freedom Solar Power

Leaf Score

Highlights: Freedom Solar is a large solar installer that operates in San Antonio, TX. As a Master Dealer of SunPower products, Freedom Solar offers the highest efficiency solar panels available. The company is one of our top picks for solar installers working across the U.S. and is a firm favorite with San Antonio solar enthusiasts. In doing our due diligence for this review, we had several calls with the Freedom team and came away impressed with their commitment to quality.

Read our review

Affiliate disclosure

It’s also a preferred installation partner for Green Mountain Energy, meaning customers of the 100% renewable utility can access generous rebates (see FAQs below).

We also love that Freedom Solar’s SunPower panels are Cradle to Cradle certified for sustainability and come with very generous performance warranties. If you’ve got a smaller roof space or want to maximize output in general, these are a great choice for a home solar installation. Freedom Solar is a Tesla PowerWall certified installer and offers other battery options. It can install online monitoring for new arrays and can even retrofit old solar energy systems to include monitoring.

Freedom Solar can also help with maintaining and servicing existing systems it didn’t install, which is always a good sign of a team with solid knowledge of solar tech.

2

HE Solar LLC

Leaf Score

Highlights: HE Solar LLC operates out of Buda, TX, and provides solar installation services across several areas of Texas, including San Antonio. We love that this is a family company with three Master Electricians – two brothers and their dad – designing and installing solar. Eric and Derrick Hoffman are also NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installers and you get to access their expertise directly as they’re hands-on from sales to installation, to aftercare and warranty claims.

VIEW HE SOLAR WEBSITE

Affiliate disclosure

Solar installations with HE Solar have nothing but glowing reviews across all major review sites and there are no BBB complaints, lawsuits, license violations or other red flags. A home solar project looks like a safe bet with these guys, with reports of careful, considerate, efficient, tidy, and skilled work, all with a smile!

HE Solar can work with asphalt shingle roofs, seamed metal roofs, tile roofs, and ground mount arrays. Impressively, the small company has its very own test array in Texas where it makes sure panels are suitable for the Texas environment before they offer them to customers. Their top picks for panel brands are LG, Panasonic, and SunPower, though they also offer lower-cost QCells and other options.

HE Solar favors Enphase Microinverters, allowing for individual panel monitoring and fast troubleshooting. The company is certified to install Tesla PowerWall battery storage and can offer other battery options too. Every installation comes with an industry-leading 25-year workmanship warranty, and the company has general liability and auto and workers comp insurance.

3

Solar CenTex

Leaf Score

Highlights: Solar CenTex is veteran-owned and operated and is a solar installer based in Harker Heights, Texas. It serves customers in San Antonio, Austin, and nearby cities and has been installing solar since 2012, with hundreds of consistently happy customers attesting to the company’s professionalism, friendliness, and expertise.

VIEW SOLAR CENTEX WEBSITE

Affiliate disclosure

Solar CenTex’s lead PVIP (and PVTP) is Howard (‘Scot’) Arey, a veteran with a passion for all things solar. Arey is a former board director and chairman of the Texas Solar Energy Society, where he helped promote programs and policies to further solar uptake in the state.

Solar CenTex has a lot of veterans on the team, largely thanks to the company partnering with a local college to help train out-of-work veterans several years ago. Many graduates from the program are now senior staff at Solar CenTex.

Scott Shumate is the Master Electrician at Solar CenTex and boasts more than 27 years of experience. The installation crew has at least five years of experience installing residential solar, with oversight by an experienced project manager and keen attention paid by the owner, Arey.

One thing we love about Solar CenTex is that it offers more than just rooftop solar installations. So, if your roof isn’t suitable for solar, or you want to make use of extra space, this company can design and install a solar pergola or prefabricated (in-house!) solar carport, adding even greater value to your home (without additional property taxes!).

Solar CenTex works with Enphase inverters with a 12-20-year warranty. Solar CenTex uses SolarEdge DC optimizers with a 25-year warranty on each panel, increasing efficiency and shade tolerance, and facilitating panel level monitoring.

Solar CenTex can also repair and maintain older solar systems it didn’t install, demonstrating the technicians’ skills and depth of knowledge. It also offers inspection services if you’re buying or selling a home with solar.

4

Sunshine Renewable Solutions

Leaf Score

Highlights: Sunshine Renewable Solutions (SRS) is a Houston-based solar installer also operating in San Antonio. It has been in business for five years and BBB accredited since 2020 with an A+ rating. Despite being a smaller company, SRS has dozens of happy customers already and consistently glowing reviews.

VIEW SUNSHINE RENEWABLE WEBSITE

Affiliate disclosure

The company’s Master Electrician and NABCEP Certified PVIP, Jeff Shed, confirmed via email that SRS has general liability insurance, workers comp, and auto insurance.

You get a lot of choice of equipment with SRS, including some of our top picks for solar modules from Silfab, QCells, and Panasonic, and SolarEdge and Enphase inverters. You can also use this company to install a Tesla PowerWall, or choose SolarEdge, Enphase, Generac, or other storage options. SRS isn’t a SunPower dealer though, so you won’t have access to the highest efficiency solar panels currently available.

SRS offers a 10-year workmanship warranty and can connect customers to financial partners for solar loans.

5

Native Solar

Leaf Score

Highlights: Native Solar is an award-winning, locally owned green building company now specializing in solar installations. The company began operations in 2007, first as a net zero home builder offering solar as part of the package and as its own company focusing on solar from 2018. (The construction side of the business became Build Native.)

VIEW NATIVE SOLAR WEBSITE

Affiliate disclosure

This makes Native Solar one of the longest-running Texas solar companies and, impressively, it hasn’t received a single BBB complaint in 15 years. Native Solar did, however, win an Austin Chamber of Commerce Environmental Responsibility & Sustainability award in 2015.

The company has offices in Austin, San Antonio, and Dallas, allowing Native Solar to service most of Texas for solar installations. Native Solar is a preferred installation partner for Green Mountain Energy, which means you can get rebates on your installation if this is your utility in San Antonio.

See also: The best solar installers in Austin, TX

There’s one NABCEP Certified PVIP, Eric Kay, on the Native Solar team. As a whole, the team has more than 1,000 solar projects under its belt and more than 75 years of combined experience in the industry.

The Native Solar process involves a feasibility study, system design, financing (including help with rebates, credits, grants, and loans), procurement, installation, training, and production.

Final thoughts

Now you’ve seen our top picks for the best solar installers in San Antonio, TX, start getting some bids! And, while you wait, check out our hot tips on solar incentives in San Antonio.

Note that Texas has a deregulated energy market, which means a variety of public, investor-owned, and cooperative utilities offer various solar incentive programs and policies across the state.

Happily, Texas itself offers a statewide property tax exemption for residential solar installations. This means that San Antonians who install solar panels won’t have to pay extra taxes associated with any increases in property value due to their rooftop solar array.