Trinity Solar vs Sunrun: How to Compare Them
Both operate in New York and both come up constantly in searches. We are not going to declare a winner, because the right answer depends on which structure suits you.
The most important difference to establish is ownership structure. Compare the two offers on whether you own or lease, the annual escalator if applicable, the total payable across the full term, warranty coverage, and how the agreement transfers if you sell your home.
Why we will not pick a winner
Any site that names a winner between two competitors while earning referral fees from a third is telling you about its commission structure rather than about the companies.
What genuinely decides this is which offer you are given and which structure suits your finances. Two quotes from the same company can differ more than quotes between companies, because ownership structure changes everything.
Compare on these, in this order
Ownership structure
Purchase, loan, lease or PPA. Until you know this for both offers, nothing else is comparable. Since Section 25D ended, only third party ownership reaches a federal incentive.
Total payable across the full term
Not the monthly figure. For a lease or PPA, ask for year one, year 20 and the cumulative total including the escalator.
Net cost per watt, for purchases
Divide net cost after incentives by system size in watts. This is the only fair way to compare systems of different sizes.
Production estimate and guarantee
What each expects the system to generate, and what happens if it does not. A cheaper system that produces less is not cheaper.
Warranty and who honours it
Equipment warranty, workmanship warranty, and which party you call in year eight.
Transfer terms
If there is any chance you move, how the agreement passes to a buyer matters considerably.
Verify these four things for both
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 both
- 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
Neither is universally better, and we would not trust a referral-earning site that told you otherwise. The decision turns on the specific offers you receive and particularly on ownership structure. Compare total payable across the full term, net cost per watt for purchases, production guarantees, warranty and transfer terms.
Both operate in New York. Coverage of specific counties changes, so confirm directly for your address rather than assuming statewide availability.
It depends on your capital and tax position. Since the federal residential credit ended for systems installed after 31 December 2025, a lease or PPA is the only route to a federal incentive, but you do not own the asset. Price both structures.
Often, particularly when you have a comparable written quote from another company. Having a genuine alternative is the strongest position you can be in, which is the main practical argument for getting more than one quote.
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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