Four vetted installers serve Philadelphia, led by a B Corp headquartered in the city itself. The Philadelphia-specific truth: this city runs its own contractor licensing on top of Pennsylvania’s, rowhome roofs change the engineering, and with no state tax credit the quote price carries the whole case. The best proof a bidder can offer here is a Philadelphia licence number you can check yourself.
Philadelphia is the rare market where “licensed and insured” is a checkable claim twice over: Pennsylvania registers home improvement contractors, and the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections licenses them again for work inside the city line. Add a housing stock built shoulder to shoulder a century ago and a utility, PECO, that credits your exports at the full retail rate, and the winning installer is the one at ease with all three. These 4 companies cleared our checks.
Philadelphia Adds Its Own Layer of Solar Paperwork
- Two licences, both checkable. A Pennsylvania HICPA registration is the state minimum; work inside Philadelphia also runs through the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections, which issues its own contractor and electrical licences and its own permits. An installer who prints both numbers, the way our #2 pick does, has nothing to hide.
- PECO keeps the meter math simple. Exported power is credited at the same retail rate you pay, so an owned system keeps its value without subsidy gymnastics. The one PECO-specific item worth having in writing is how surplus credits settle at the end of the year.
- Price is the whole argument now. Pennsylvania offers no state solar tax credit, and the federal residential credit ended for installations completed after December 31, 2025. The state’s competitive installed price is $2.84 per watt, so a 7 kW system belongs near $19,900 before named extras, and city rowhome work is exactly where honest extras appear.
Four Installers That Pass the Philadelphia Test
Solar States
The city’s own installer and educator: a Certified B Corp headquartered in Philadelphia since 2008, with 2,000+ installations and its PA licence, PA100254, printed on its own site alongside New Jersey and New York credentials. It designs and installs in-house and runs workforce training programs in the city it works in. For a rowhome or a flat roof, this is the crew that has seen your block before.
Exact Solar
The disclosure benchmark for this page: a Newtown-based installer working since 2005 that prints five licence numbers on its own site, including Philadelphia city contractor 058069 and city electrical 28454, exactly the two numbers this market makes hard to fake. NABCEP Board Certified credentials sit on top. Its base is Bucks County, about 30 miles out, so ask which crew handles city work and how often.
Momentum Solar
A national-scale installer that keeps its crews in-house across ten states including Pennsylvania. Scale brings schedule flexibility a small local shop cannot always match; the trade to manage is distance. Before signing, get the city licence and permit plan in writing and the name of who services a Philadelphia roof in year 6.
Trinity Solar
The largest residential installer in the Northeast, family-owned since 1994, with Pennsylvania among its nine states and decades of reps in dense East Coast housing. Its base is Wall Township, New Jersey, so the questions are the standard non-local pair: which facility covers Philadelphia, and on what response time.
The Philadelphia Four, Compared
Installer | Where the crews sit | Disclosure proof | Settle before signing |
|---|---|---|---|
Solar States | Philadelphia, in the city | PA licence on its own site | Flat-roof attachment plan |
Exact Solar | Newtown, about 30 miles | Both city licences published | City crew cadence |
Momentum Solar | National, PA operations | In-house crews | Year-6 service name |
Trinity Solar | Wall Township, NJ | Northeast volume record | Which facility covers the city |
The licence registers, the benchmark price and your PECO rate are all public before anyone rings your bell. Enter your ZIP code and we will assemble them for your address.
Put verified numbers behind your Philadelphia quote
What a Rowhome Roof Does to a Solar Quote
The Questions That Sort Philadelphia’s Bidders
What are your Pennsylvania AND Philadelphia licence numbers?
Who files the city permit, and what is the current turnaround?
What am I paying per watt before incentives?
How will PECO settle my surplus at the end of the year?
How We Rank Solar Companies
Rankings are built from what we can verify, never from who pays us. For Philadelphia, five weighted factors:
Frequently Asked Questions
Solar States, Exact Solar, Momentum Solar and Trinity Solar make up our vetted Philadelphia network for 2026. Solar States ranks first as the local anchor, a Certified B Corp headquartered in the city since 2008 with 2,000+ installations and its PA licence printed on its own site.
Pennsylvania’s competitive installed price is $2.84 per watt before incentives, per the EcoGen Solar Cost Index, putting a 7 kW system near $19,900. Flat-roof racking and membrane work on rowhomes can add named line items above that anchor.
Yes. Beyond Pennsylvania’s HICPA registration, contractors working inside the city are licensed by Philadelphia’s Department of Licenses and Inspections, which also issues the permits. Ask every bidder for the city licence number and check it before signing.
Usually yes, with flat-roof engineering: low-slope rowhome roofs typically take ballasted racking, and membrane age decides whether roof work comes first. The proposal should name your roof covering and the attachment method, not assume a pitched suburban roof.
Yes, at the full retail rate under Pennsylvania net metering, which keeps owned systems attractive even without a state tax credit. Get PECO’s year-end surplus settlement in writing, since that is the one mechanic quotes tend to leave vague.
Looking past the city line? The Pennsylvania company rankings carry the statewide field, the Delaware County rankings cover the western suburbs, and the Pennsylvania cost guide holds the math behind the $2.84 benchmark.
Two checkable licence numbers beat any sales pitch. Enter your ZIP code and start from installers we already verified.
Compare Philadelphia installers we already vetted
Sources
References & Research Sources
EcoGen America reviewed Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections contractor licensing resources, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s home improvement contractor register, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission net metering rules, PECO interconnection resources, installer base, licence and credential disclosures published by the companies themselves, and federal tax guidance for this article. Sources were accessed August 13, 2026, unless another date is listed below.
- Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections. Contractor Licensing and Permit Resources. The city’s own licensing authority. Accessed August 13, 2026.
- Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. Home Improvement Contractor Registration (HICPA) Register. The state contractor register. Accessed August 13, 2026.
- Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. Net Metering and Interconnection Rules. State rules crediting exports at the retail rate. Accessed August 13, 2026.
- PECO. Interconnection and Net Metering Resources. Utility resource for Philadelphia meters. Accessed August 13, 2026.
- Solar States. Company Base, Licence and Installation Disclosures. Installer-published information, including licence PA100254. Accessed August 13, 2026.
- Exact Solar. Company Licence and Credential Disclosures. Installer-published information, including Philadelphia licences 058069 and 28454. Accessed August 13, 2026.
- Momentum Solar. Company Service Area Resources. Installer-published multi-state coverage information. Accessed August 13, 2026.
- Trinity Solar. Company Coverage and History Resources. Installer-published Northeast coverage information. Accessed August 13, 2026.
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS). FAQs for Modification of Sections 25C, 25D, 25E, 30C, 30D, 45L, 45W and 179D under Public Law 119-21. Federal guidance confirming termination of the residential clean energy credit for installations completed after December 31, 2025. Accessed August 13, 2026.
