How It Works
Three steps, and you can stop at any of them. Here is exactly what happens, including what we do with your information.
You tell us about your property, we refer you to one local installer who serves your area, and they arrange a free consultation and written proposal. There is no obligation at any stage and no payment is taken through this site.
The three steps
You tell us about your property
Name, phone, email and property address are all we need. Everything else, your roof type, your monthly bill, whether you own the home, is optional and only helps the installer prepare. It takes about a minute.
We refer you to one installer
One company that works in your county and knows your utility's interconnection process. Not a list, not an auction, not six companies calling you over the next week. We show you how to check them before you sign.
Free consultation and written proposal
They assess your roof, your shading and your actual usage, then put numbers on paper. You keep the proposal whether or not you proceed.
What happens to your information
Your details go to one installer, for the purpose of arranging a consultation. They are not sold, not shared with a lead aggregator, and not passed to multiple companies.
That is worth stating because the opposite is standard practice in this industry. When a form asks for your details and then five companies call, your information was sold to a pool. We do not do that, and it earns us less per lead than if we did.
What happens on the consultation
Roof assessment
Orientation, pitch, condition and remaining life. If your roof needs replacing first, a good installer says so.
Shading analysis
Modelled across the year, not eyeballed on the day. Winter sun sits low and a summer visit can miss the problem.
Usage review
Twelve months of bills is the single most useful thing you can have ready. It determines system size more than anything else.
Electrical check
Whether your service can take the system, and an EV charger if one is coming.
Written proposal
System size, equipment, production estimate, net cost after incentives, and warranty terms.
What we ask of installers
Every partner in the network is NABCEP certified, a NYSERDA participating contractor, appropriately licensed and insured, and already operating in your region. Those are credentials held by the installers rather than by us, and we link to the issuing bodies so you can verify any contractor yourself.
Questions people ask about this
The installation itself is typically a single day on a normal home. The overall timeline from signing to switch-on is usually two to four months, because permitting and utility interconnection sit in the middle and neither is under the installer's control.
No. The service is free to you and no payment is ever taken through this site. We are paid a referral fee by the installer if you proceed.
No, at any stage. You keep the written proposal whether or not you proceed, and it is useful for comparing against other quotes.
That puts you in a stronger position. Our guides on cost and on choosing a company are written to help you read quotes you already have, whether or not you ever contact anyone through this site.
Name, phone, email and property address. Everything else on the form is optional and only exists to help the installer prepare before they call you.
How to check any solar contractor
This is a new site with no customer reviews, so we are not going to show you any. What we can do is tell you exactly what to verify about whoever contacts you, and where to look it up. That applies to the installer we refer you to and to every other quote you get.
NABCEP certification
The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners is the industry standard credential for solar installers. It certifies the individual professional who holds it, not the company, so a firm advertising it may have one certified person and twenty who are not.
How to check. Ask which named individual holds it, then search that name in the directory.
Search the NABCEP directoryNYSERDA participation
Registration in the state's NY-Sun programme. This one is not a nice to have: the New York State incentive is only available through an approved contractor, so using an unregistered installer forfeits it. Some also hold the Quality Solar Installer designation, which requires at least 12 NY-Sun projects in the past year and an average of 4 out of 5 on NYSERDA's own field inspections.
How to check. Search the company name in NYSERDA's list before you sign anything.
Check NYSERDA's contractor listLicensing and insurance
Appropriate electrical licensing for the work, plus general liability and workers compensation cover. A contractor without workers compensation can leave you personally exposed if someone is injured on your roof.
How to check. Ask for certificates of insurance naming you, and check the licence with your town or county before work starts. Do not accept a policy number alone.
Local experience
Interconnection is where most New York solar timelines slip, and it is handled very differently by Con Edison, National Grid, NYSEG, RG&E and PSEG Long Island. Permitting varies again by town.
How to check. Ask how many systems they have energised on your specific utility in the past year, and for two addresses in your county you can drive past.
NY Solar Finder is operated by RBR Growth Consulting. We are not a solar installer, we hold no industry certification, and we do not guarantee the credentials of the company that contacts you. We name these standards, and link to the bodies that issue them, so that you can check that company yourself before you sign anything.
Related reading
See what solar would look like on your roof
One local installer, one free consultation, one written proposal. Your details are never sold.