Score
CC Solar reviews
• updated JUN 13, 2026Loading map...
The Verdict
Central California Solar is too unpredictable to trust with a multi-decade investment. One customer couldn't get anyone to return calls for over a year while being double-billed, wondering if the company had shut down. Another came home from vacation to a massive electric bill because an inverter had failed, and after two months of runaround between the installer and lease company, pigeons had moved into the non-functional system. We found six reviews describing the same pattern: calls and emails vanishing into silence, service requests ignored, billing errors unresolved. The early reviews tell a different story. In 2015 and 2016, customers praised competitive pricing (one saved 18% versus a national installer), knowledgeable sales staff who answered questions after hours, and clean month-long installations. But the post-sale support scores we analyzed paint the real picture: more negative mentions than positive, with responsiveness collapsing after 2016. If you get solar, you're signing up for 25 years of occasional troubleshooting. A company that goes dark when an inverter fails isn't worth the gamble, no matter how smooth the sales process feels.
If you want an installer who'll still pick up the phone two years after cashing your check, keep looking. The pattern here is clear: solid sales experience followed by vanishing act when something breaks.
3 Stories That Stood Out
Robert G. discovered Central California Solar's customer service was effectively nonexistent after more than a year of unanswered calls. He endured repeated double-billing on his account and watched the company fail to live up to its obligations. With the solar panels still on his property, he concluded they might not even be in business any longer and said they could come retrieve their equipment. The sharp takeaway for prospective buyers: prolonged silence plus multiple duplicate charges left him stuck with unresolved billing and no reliable way to get the company to respond.
Jill M. arranged for Central California Solar to install a leased solar system on her home last September, and what followed reads like a long, drawn-out service saga. The installation failed inspection repeatedly and didn’t clear final approval until early November; the panels themselves weren’t activated until mid‑January despite her constant calls — even the lease company, Sunnova, reached out to ask whether the system had been turned on. Central California Solar’s office answered only sporadically by phone and email during that stretch. After a vacation, she opened the June electric bill in mid‑July and discovered the account had jumped into the third‑tier rate and her bill looked no better than the previous year without solar. She called both the installer and Sunnova; only Sunnova engaged. Sunnova’s technicians arrived within minutes in mid‑September, diagnosed a dead inverter and suggested it might never have been installed correctly, and promised a quick repair plus compensation for missed guarantees. By almost October the problem remained unresolved. Central California Solar and Sunnova traded promises and blame, the system still wasn’t delivering the expected savings,
Sarah S. had been waiting nearly two months on a large installer when she phoned around for a local option to handle a complicated home install. She explained the delays and the specific challenges to the owner of Central California Solar, and he promised he could design and install a system that would at least match — and possibly beat — her current provider. Rather than take advantage of the situation, he surprised her with a quote 18% lower than the lowest bid she’d received and 26% lower than what her existing company charged. Skeptical, she double-checked panel counts and the extra requirements, and he reassured her that those tricky installations were his specialty. Installation day reinforced that confidence: the crew worked efficiently, stayed friendly through what she admits were a lot of questions, and completed the job cleanly. She referred the company to neighbors and is now looking forward to watching first-year production as she moves onto clean energy — the thing she keeps coming back to is the owner’s integrity and willingness to underprice competitors while delivering a tailored solution.
Platforms Monitored
Performance by Work Type
How We Got To Trust Score 30
No Red Flags
Unauthorized Activities
Passed screening
Misleading Claims
Passed screening
Background Check
Serving customers for 14 years
Among the longest-standing installers in the market.
BBB Rating: F
Poor BBB standing. Significant complaints.
Natural Review Patterns
Reviews were posted naturally over time.
What You Can Expect
Joseph and his wife shopped several bids for a home solar installation and landed on Jon’s company after comparing quotes—Jon’s proposal came in much lower, ultimately saving them $3,500. He appreciated Jon’s straightforward approach: cut through the sales fluff, call things as they are, and step in to make things right when issues appeared. When Joseph pressed about a handful of negative reviews, Jon explained those came from state-program jobs where a partnering installer overpromised and then dropped the ball, which pulled down his ratings. Jon handled most of the heavy lifting, offered practical advice, and showed solid technical competence throughout the process. The detail that stuck: taking the time to get multiple quotes saved them $3,500 and delivered a rep who actually fixed problems rather than avoided them.
Mary M. received solar panels for her home's roof in March 2023 after the company promised she wouldn’t have to pay PG&E for electricity and would only cover gas until loan payments began in August 2024. She has never been able to use the panels. When she tried to follow up, she found the installer's S365 phone number disconnected and the program manager stopped answering calls. The only thing left to finish the job is for the company to pay $150 for a new permit and arrange an inspection, but no one from the company will do it. She ended up with installed but unused panels because the installer won’t pay the $150 permit fee or schedule the inspection, and their contact line appears to be dead.
Kao hired the company for a home solar installation and soon discovered the installer never filed the required permission to operate (PTO) with PG&E. PG&E had no record of the PTO, and when Kao tried to reach the installer, the S365 phone numbers were disconnected. Because the PTO wasn't processed, they ended up paying both PG&E and a solar bill while the system sat unapproved. The problem has dragged on for about five months with no resolution and no working contact number for the installer. The striking detail here is not just the missed PTO but the company's apparent disappearance afterward — leaving the homeowner double-billed and stuck. Prospective buyers should insist on written proof that the PTO was submitted to PG&E and verify the installer's contact information before making final payments.
Clarke hired CCS to install a solar system on his home in July 2014; the crew finished the job quickly and left a professional installation. He later discovered a couple of minor issues that needed service and reached out repeatedly with voicemails and emails, but received no response. He would have accepted if CCS no longer handled follow-up work, but wanted at least a courtesy call to explain that. What lingered was not the quality of the install but the unanswered messages when the system needed attention — that silence is why he won’t recommend CCS.
Robert G. discovered Central California Solar's customer service was effectively nonexistent after more than a year of unanswered calls. He endured repeated double-billing on his account and watched the company fail to live up to its obligations. With the solar panels still on his property, he concluded they might not even be in business any longer and said they could come retrieve their equipment. The sharp takeaway for prospective buyers: prolonged silence plus multiple duplicate charges left him stuck with unresolved billing and no reliable way to get the company to respond.
Roberto R had a residential solar installation and discovered he couldn't fully use the system. He tried calling the installer for help but received no response. He later learned that "they have been revoked," leaving the system effectively sidelined. At the same time the company expected him to begin paying a monthly charge. The most striking detail: panels were installed but unusable, the company went silent, and he was still being asked to pay every month.
Eva A. set out to upgrade her home with a Total Home Back-Up battery and solar panels, plus a new patio door and windows, and hired the company to handle the full package. She moved through a straightforward installation: crews completed the work on schedule, communication stayed solid, and the big-picture result showed up in lower bills. Activation took a little longer than she expected, but once the system went live she began seeing substantial savings — so much so that PG&E started owing her money on the account. She had assumed renewable upgrades would be costly and complicated, but found the process surprisingly affordable and manageable and urges others to "trust the process." The detail that sticks with her is simple and concrete: after activation the utility flipped from charging her to owing her, which made the investment feel immediately worthwhile.
Pat C. signed up in August 2023 for a combined solar-and-window project financed through Mosaic. By March 2024 they discovered the windows still hadn’t been installed and the solar panels, though mounted on the roof, weren’t hooked up — the system lacks PTO certification — so they ended up paying both the utility bill and the loan, about $1,000 a month. They called, texted, and emailed repeatedly but the company went missing in action and provided no responses. This unfolded in the Fresno area. Pat urged anyone else left in the same situation to organize and consult an attorney; the image that sticks is a rooftop full of panels that produce no power while the homeowner keeps covering two bills.
Mary Anne R handed over more than $30,000 for a residential solar installation and, five months later, still doesn’t have a completed system. She experienced repeated delays and what she calls terrible service, having paid all costs yet remaining without the installation in ***********. The standout detail: despite paying the full amount, the project remained unfinished after months of waiting — a cautionary marker for anyone considering this company.
Long-term Satisfaction
Long-term satisfaction for CC Solar drops to 1.0 ★ compared to early reviews. This decline is worse than 74% of installers we looked at.
Long-term reviews carry the most weight in our methodology because they are most representative of what you should be paying for: a system that will perform for years.