Bright Planet Solar reviews
• last updated FEB 26, 2026Loading map...
The Verdict
Bright Planet Solar will take your money, install defective equipment, then disappear when you need help. We analyzed hundreds of reviews and found a company defined by failed inspections, shoddy installations, and billing that starts before your system works. One homeowner paid both their solar loan and full electric bills for six months while their system sat broken, only discovering the outage when they checked the app themselves. Another waited a full year after installation for activation, chasing down answers the company never volunteered. The pattern is unmistakable. Across 51 reviews of permitting and compliance, not a single customer reported a smooth process. Installations failed city inspections for basic safety violations, leaving panels idle for months while Bright Planet blamed the utility or the town. When equipment breaks or roofs leak from botched installations, customer service goes silent. You'll send dozens of emails, escalate to supervisors, and still get no fix. If a company can't pass inspection or return a call when your ceiling is dripping, they have no business installing anything on your home.
If you're comparing solar companies, cross Bright Planet off your list immediately. The risk of a year-long install nightmare, failed inspections, and vanishing support far outweighs any quoted savings. Explore other installers who can deliver a working system without a lawsuit.
Reviews That Shaped Our Verdict
TIMOTHY A hired the company to install a roughly $40,000 solar system in October 2022 on a home with vaulted ceilings and discovered persistent roof leaks almost immediately. He ended up with visible water damage on those vaulted ceilings and a series of disappointing repair attempts. The crew who showed up for the install looked inexperienced — he describes them as young and unprofessional — and the company’s first repair only patched one spot without stopping the leak. As new problem areas appeared, the company kept dispatching its own crew instead of bringing in a professional roofing contractor who could properly address the roof work. Each time he called customer service they promised to call back to schedule repairs, but the callbacks never came. After months with water stains and no effective fixes, he regrets committing more than $40,000 without having vetted the company first. His lasting image is the water-marked vaulted ceiling and an unresolved leak despite repeated promises of repair.
Alex M had rooftop solar panels installed on January 6, 2023—before his town had issued a permit—and ended up with a system sitting on his house but not producing power. The first inspection failed in April, then passed in May 2023. An inspector took attic photos in early June, but that inspector no longer works for BPS. A year after installation the array still remained nonoperational. For roughly six months after the final inspection he repeatedly called BPS and was told the interconnection was fine and that utility or town timelines were to blame. Frustrated, he contacted his utility company and the town building department himself and discovered the town had not granted permission because attic photos were missing—photos he had been telling BPS about for months. BPS continued to say their interconnection team had not flagged the issue. In October he was told everything had been resubmitted to the town, yet the system still would not be turned on. He placed about 20 phone calls and sent multiple emails asking what was being done and received the same response each time—that BPS was checking with the interconnection team. This morning he escalated to a supervisor. After a pro
Ryan J. began a residential solar installation with Bright Planet Solar in February 2024, expecting the usual six- to eight-week rhythm from proposal to working panels. Instead, the project stretched into nearly a year and turned into a series of delays and missed commitments. After crews finished the rooftop work in June, he waited for inspections and activation but heard nothing for weeks and found himself constantly chasing updates that rarely came. In August things went wrong physically as well as administratively: technicians knocked out power to the pool equipment, visited twice, admitted they didn’t know how to fix the outage, and told him to hire an electrician to repair damage their crew had caused. Subsequent visits exposed deeper problems with the backup configuration — essential circuits like the refrigerator and air conditioner were left off the backup, while nonessential loads such as pool lights had been assigned. Crews also left holes in the roof and construction debris on the shingling that sat unaddressed for months. Emails piled up — dozens, many cc’d to project managers and company leadership — and most went unanswered or drew vague promises that someone “w
Platforms Monitored
Performance by Work Type
How We Got To Trust Score 20
Buyer Beware
Unauthorized Activities
6 reports
Misleading Claims
7 reports
Background Check
Serving customers for 11 years
Operating longer than most installers in the market.
BBB Rating: A+
Excellent BBB standing. Strong complaint resolution.
Natural Review Patterns
Reviews were posted naturally over time.
Contractor License
License information could not be confirmed.
What You Can Expect
Several years ago Aaron W. contracted with Bright Planet Solar to add rooftop panels and a battery to his Stockton, California home. He moved forward after receiving closing paperwork that indicated the system would qualify under the favorable NEM 2 net-energy-metering tier. During the installation the contractor missed the completion deadline and obtained permission to operate from PG&E only after the NEM 2 cutoff, so the system ended up under NEM 3 and delivered almost no export benefit. That left him with about $400 a month in financing for the system while still getting PG&E bills in the $300–$600 range, turning the purchase into a net loss compared with his previous electric costs. When he pushed the company, customer service shifted responsibility to the installer (the same contractor BPS used) and told him to take it up with the contractor or the utility. He contacted PG&E, which is how he first discovered the missed startup deadline, but the utility would not intervene. On top of that he found the paperwork filed with PG&E was incorrect — the electrical interconnection agreement even bore someone else’s name. The detail that sticks: a missed permission-to-operate deadline (
Margaret M hired the company for a residential solar install more than a year ago and ended up frustrated and regretful. She watched a project that began with big promises stall repeatedly: the system still hasn't passed final inspection, deadlines slipped, and at one point she was told the job had been cancelled only to learn it had been reinstated. Installers drilled a hole straight through her living-room ceiling and never repaired it — the detail she returns to most — and rather than running conduit through the attic they secured it along the exterior wall the full length of the house. At 60 she climbed into the attic herself because the crew claimed it was too difficult for two grown men. Communication lagged for months, and she only started getting responses when the city and another party began asking questions. After more than a year, the project remains incomplete, and what sticks with her is the unrepaired hole in the ceiling and a permit still awaiting final sign-off.
Molly M installed solar panels on her home in 2019 hoping they would cut her electricity costs. She discovered the system never produced more than about $60 back in a month. In 2021 she pushed the company to do something and they added three more panels, but output didn’t improve — still no higher than $60. Meanwhile she carries roughly a $110 monthly loan payment on the system and still receives about a $300 electric bill, so the savings never materialized. Over the last three months she has seen no benefit at all, and the company now says a cell needs replacing at a cost of $600 because the warranty expired. She feels financially drained and that the promised environmental payoff has been undercut by ongoing bills and an unexpected repair charge.