How we grade a solar contract
Every report card grades an existing solar agreement in five areas. Each grade compares the contract's own terms with published benchmarks for the home's area, so the letter reflects that contract in that place, not a national average.
The five grades
Contract Terms
How the agreement treats a future buyer: whether it can transfer and what that takes, what is filed against the property, fees, buyout options, and other terms that tend to matter at a home sale.
Price Comparison
What the system cost, or what the solar rate is, compared with typical prices for similar systems and with what the local utility charges.
Production
Whether the production the contract promises is realistic for a system of that size at that location, and, when real output is available, how the system is actually performing.
Rate Protection
For leases and power purchase agreements: how the solar rate is set to change over time compared with the utility. For loans and PACE: how predictable the payment is.
Financial Value
Whether the system is likely to save money over the life of the agreement, based on the contract and the home's actual electricity use when bills are provided.
What the letters mean
A and B mean the contract compares well on that measure. C is about typical. D and F point to terms worth a closer look before closing. Every grade comes with the specific findings behind it, so you can see why it landed where it did.
N/A means the document doesn't contain what that grade needs, for example a loan agreement that doesn't state the system size. The report always says which information was missing.
What we don't do
- We don't grade the installer, the equipment brand, the workmanship or the roof. A grade describes the contract, not the company.
- We don't sell leads, and no installer, lender or utility can pay to change a grade.
- We don't tell anyone whether to buy, sell, cancel or sign. Reports state facts and comparisons; the decisions are yours.
Reliability
Reports are prepared with the help of artificial intelligence (AI), which reads the contract and drafts parts of each report. AI can misread a document or state something that is not true, so reports are only partly reliable. Check every figure against the contract. Nothing on this site is legal, financial, tax or real estate advice.
References
Grades draw on public information, including:
- U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) electricity price data
- The PVWatts solar production model, run by a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory
- Published surveys of residential solar installed prices
- State utility commission decisions and utility tariffs on net metering and export credits
- U.S. Census Bureau address data
- Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA guidelines on solar and PACE
- Public court, bankruptcy and company notices about solar companies