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Wyoming’s solar energy industry hasn’t grown as rapidly as it has in other states. But significant potential savings are making more and more homeowners in the Equality State turn to solar. Wyoming doesn’t have a large number of solar companies, but it does have a few quality options. The best solar companies in Wyoming are SunPower, Green Home Systems and The Solar Guys.
Our experts at the MarketWatch Guides Team shortlisted the above companies based on extensive surveys and discussions with industry experts, solar panel manufacturers and installers. We also review and rate solar companies based on our detailed methodology.
What To Look For in a Solar Company
For most homeowners, buying solar panels is a new undertaking and an expensive one. This makes choosing a solar company seem difficult. A good way to feel confident in your choice is to consider a few key factors beforehand.
- Cost and Financing: In spite of the substantial savings that solar panels bring, they require an initial investment of several thousand dollars. That drives some buyers away, but that comes from short-term thinking. While a system’s cost depends on various factors like energy needs, location and system complexity, homeowners should get a system with a low cost-per-watt value.
Solar companies quote different prices based on the equipment brands, warranties, etc. The lowest-priced system may not necessarily be the best in the long run, and customers should look for an optimum balance between cost, equipment and other features.
- Trustworthiness: Reliable installers not only guarantee a high-quality installation but also a dependable post-installation service for any requirements and warranty claims.
Homeowners exploring solar companies can check an installer’s trustworthiness by looking at the experiences of existing customers online.
- Services Offered: Solar panel buyers often need other services to complement their solar energy systems. For instance, homeowners may need a roof upgrade or a tree removal service for maximizing solar production before installing solar panels.
Several reputable installers offer more than one service. It is a good idea to make a list of the services you need before looking for a solar company.
*Note: Pricing data is based on responses to our March 2023 solar cost survey of 1,000 homeowners with solar systems. The Solar Guys was not included in the survey.
Our Recommendation
Wyoming may have just 13 solar panel installation companies in the state, but choosing the correct one can still seem difficult. If you’re looking for experience, some of the best solar panels and a reputable national brand, SunPower is your best bet. But if you want easy financing or innovative tech like solar shingles, Green Home Systems is the pick. Homeowners looking for a local company can go with The Solar Guys.
Before finalizing a solar company, we recommend requesting quotes from multiple solar installers. This can help compare their pricing, warranties, etc.
Benefits of Going Solar in Wyoming
- Electricity bill savings: The biggest advantage of solar panels is their ability to save homeowners thousands of dollars by offsetting grid power consumption with clean and free solar power. Solar panel systems can offset up to 100% of a home’s energy consumption, drastically bringing down or even eliminating energy bills.
- Protection against rising power costs: The costs of fossil fuels makes the cost of conventional grid power an up-and-down situation. Events like global conflicts and pandemics affect power rates set by utility companies, while infrastructure upgrades and inflation will also keep bumping kWh rates each year.
But sunlight is not impacted by such variables and will remain predictable and free. Homeowners who turn to solar power can protect themselves from rising power bills.
- Environmental benefits: By offsetting large amounts of grid energy consumption, solar panels not only eliminate the cost of the energy but also carbon dioxide emissions of fossil fuels. A solar power system lasts for nearly three decades and generates thousands of kWh of energy over that period.
By replacing thousands of kWh of polluting energy with clean energy, solar panels have a remarkable positive impact on the environment.
- Improved home value: Thanks to the above-listed benefits of solar panels, home buyers prefer homes with an existing solar power system over homes without solar. This is evident from the increased costs of houses with solar panels. On average, a house with solar panels sells for about 4.1% more than a comparable house without solar.
- Resilience against blackouts: An increased number of extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, floods and fires are causing power outages in several parts of the country. Wyoming residents are no strangers to these outages. In fact, Rocky Mountain Power even applied for a 7.8% cost adjustment, citing “severe weather” as the reason.
Installing a solar+battery system can offer resilience by powering a home even through a blackout.
Wyoming Solar Incentives
Wyoming has a low level of financial incentives to switch to solar. This isn’t surprising, considering the state’s vast fossil fuel reserves and the absence of a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). The state doesn’t offer any solar incentives to residents, homeowners still benefit from the federal tax credit.
Federal Incentives
The solar investment tax credit (ITC), simply known as the federal solar tax credit, lets solar panel buyers deduct up to 30% of their system’s purchase cost on their income taxes. The net result is a direct saving of 30% on the system cost, lowering the payback period and increasing the cumulative savings.
Statewide Incentives
Wyoming does not have any state-mandated solar incentives or rebates. The only state-based solar policy in Wyoming that helps residents is net metering. Also known as Net Energy Metering (NEM), it allows solar system owners to send excess power into the grid in exchange for energy credits, which can be used to buy grid energy during the night or on cloudy days.
Methodology: Our System for Ranking the Best Solar Companies
We closely evaluated seven crucial factors according to our solar panel installation company methodology to rank the best providers in the industry. Based on a 100-point scale, we came up with each provider’s score out of five stars. Here’s how we assessed each company:
- Cost and payment options (20 points): Companies that offer cash purchases and in-house loan financing earned full points in this category. Companies also receive bonus points if they offer solar panel leasing or power purchase agreements (PPAs).
- Services (20 points): Besides solar installations, companies offering backup battery and EV charger installations, energy efficiency audits and system monitoring earned the most points in this category. We also allotted points to companies that completed all their installations in-house (as opposed to contracting out installers).
- Reputation (20 points): We considered each company’s Google star rating, BBB customer review rating, BBB customer complaint response rate and NABCEP certification status to award each company its reputation score.
- Warranty (15 points): We verified that each company offers workmanship, product and performance warranties on all of its solar installs. Providers earned more points if their warranties were at or above the industry-standard length (10 years for workmanship and product warranties and 25 years for performance warranties).
- Customer Support (10 points): Solar companies that offered virtual consultations, a mobile app, 24/7 customer support and high customer satisfaction with backend support earned the most points in this category.
- Industry Experience (10 points): Providers with 10 or more years of experience in the solar installation industry earned a perfect score in this category.
- Sustainability (5 points): Companies with a detailed sustainability statement, ESG disclosures, end-of-life panel disposal programs and community partnerships earned all five points in this category.
Aniket Bhor is a solar engineer who has spent nearly a decade studying and working in the solar power sector in the European, Asian and North American markets. He is a climate enthusiast and avid cyclist, and he also loves to lose himself in books and cooking.
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