Sunrun: What to Check Before You Sign
Sunrun is one of the largest residential solar companies in the United States and is best known for third party ownership. Here is how to evaluate that model properly.
Sunrun is a large national residential solar company that primarily offers leases and power purchase agreements, where Sunrun owns the system on your roof. To evaluate an offer, focus on the annual escalator, the total payable across the full term, the transfer terms if you sell, and who maintains the system.
What is publicly known
Sunrun is among the largest residential solar companies in the United States and is closely associated with the third party ownership model, meaning leases and power purchase agreements rather than outright sale.
That model is not a criticism. Since Section 25D ended for residential installations completed after 31 December 2025, third party ownership is the only structure through which a homeowner still reaches a federal incentive, because the system owner claims Section 48E.
Understanding a lease or PPA properly
Under third party ownership the company owns, monitors and maintains the system. You pay either a fixed monthly amount, in a lease, or a per kilowatt hour rate for what it generates, in a PPA.
The genuine advantages are no upfront cost, no maintenance responsibility, and indirect access to the federal credit. The genuine trade-offs are that you do not own the asset, the agreement runs a long term, and there is usually an annual escalator.
Verify these four things
NABCEP directory
Check whether the individuals doing your installation hold the industry standard credential. NABCEP certifies people, not companies, which is worth knowing when a company advertises it.
NYSERDA participating contractor list
In New York this is not optional. The NY-Sun rebate is only available through an approved contractor, and the state tax credit is calculated after that rebate.
Your state licensing board
Verify electrical licensing, and ask for current certificates of general liability and workers compensation insurance before work starts.
Third party review platforms
Google, the Better Business Bureau and EnergySage carry real customer reviews. Read the negative ones and look at how the company responded.
Questions worth asking
- Is this a purchase, a loan, a lease or a power purchase agreement? The answer changes everything else.
- If financed, what is the dealer fee, and what is the cash price of the identical system?
- If leased or a PPA, what is the annual escalator and what does the payment look like in year 20?
- Who actually performs the installation, the company or a subcontractor?
- What does the workmanship warranty cover, for how long, and who honours it?
- What production is guaranteed, and what happens if the system underperforms?
- Is a service upgrade included or excluded from this price?
- How does the agreement transfer if I sell the house?
Questions people ask about this
We do not rate companies, and we would treat any rating from a referral-earning site with caution, including ours. Verify NYSERDA participating contractor status and NABCEP certification, and read recent third party reviews on Google, the BBB and EnergySage.
It depends on your capital and tax position. Buying keeps the full New York state credit and the best lifetime economics but no longer carries a federal residential credit. A lease has no upfront cost and reaches the federal credit through the owner. Price both properly rather than assuming.
Third party ownership agreements generally transfer to the buyer, who typically has to meet a credit requirement, or are bought out. Understand the specific terms before signing rather than during a sale.
The owner does, which is one of the genuine advantages of the model. Confirm what is covered, response times, and what happens if production falls below what was projected.
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.
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