Solar equipment

Panels convert sunlight to DC electricity. Higher-efficiency panels produce more per square foot, which matters if your usable roof area is small and matters much less if it is not. Do not pay a large premium for efficiency you have no room constraint to justify.

Inverters convert DC to the AC your house uses. A string inverter is one box serving the whole array; microinverters sit under each panel. Microinverters handle partial shading better and let you see per-panel production; a string inverter is a single point of failure but is simpler and often cheaper. Ask for the specific model and its written warranty term in both cases — do not accept "25-year system warranty" as an answer.

Racking and flashing are the parts that touch your roof. This is where leaks come from, and it is the least glamorous line on the quote. Ask what flashing method is used for your roof type and what the workmanship warranty covers on roof penetrations.

Batteries store energy for backup or rate arbitrage. EnergySage's 2026 quote data averages $1,128 per kWh installed, with a 13.5 kWh unit around $15,228 before state or local incentives. Decide what you actually want backed up — whole-home backup requires more capacity and more electrical work than backing up a few essential circuits.

How to choose

Get model numbers, not brand names

"Tier 1 panels" means nothing specific. Ask for the exact panel and inverter model, then look up the manufacturer's own datasheet and warranty document.

Match inverter choice to your roof

Shading, multiple roof planes, or different orientations favor microinverters or optimizers. A single unshaded plane is fine on a string inverter.

Read the actual warranty documents

Product warranty, performance warranty, and installer workmanship warranty are three different things with three different lengths. Get all three PDFs before signing.

Size the battery to a defined backup goal

Write down which circuits you want running in an outage and for how long. That drives capacity — not a salesperson's package tier.

Check monitoring ownership

Ask whether monitoring is tied to the installer's account or the manufacturer's platform. Manufacturer-hosted monitoring survives an installer going out of business.