Where does your solar request go, and who's paying for it?
One independent solar installer that has agreed to receive your request gets it, and that installer contacts you. SolarPanelMatch installs nothing: we pass requests along and write guides on quotes, prices and contractor licensing. The contract, the equipment and the warranty are the installer's to deliver and answer for.
What happens before the installer calls
- 01Tell us the job, your ZIP code and how to reach you.We keep the request, the time it came in, your IP address and the consent wording you agreed to, so there's a record of what you asked for and said yes to.
- 02We pass it to one independent solar installer that serves your ZIP.Sometimes we deal with the installer directly, and sometimes a referral partner places requests with the installers it works with, which is why the consent line says a partner may act for the installer. Either way, one installer gets your request.
- 03The installer reaches out to you.The quote, the contract and the price are between you and the installer. SolarPanelMatch isn't part of that agreement, and the installer answers for the work on your roof.
- 04If nobody gets in touch, no installer took it.That can happen with an unusual job or a ZIP code few installers cover. Treat the request as unmatched, then use your state's license lookup and our guides to find an installer yourself.
Who pays us
You don't pay us anything. The installer that gets your request pays a fee for it, sometimes through a referral partner acting for it, and the fee's the same whether you hire them or not, because we take no share of the job.
We're paid per request, which gives us a reason to make requests easy to send and is also a conflict of interest, so the pages are written to hold up against it. Each service page says what to ask on a quote, and the guides say when a quote isn't worth getting yet, such as when the roof will need replacing during the system's life. The installers paying us never see a page before it goes up.
Why the site starts with the quote
The IRS says the Residential Clean Energy Credit is not available for any property placed in service after December 31, 2025, so there's no federal credit for a home solar system installed in 2026. Paying in 2025 for a system finished in 2026 doesn't change that, because the date the installation is completed controls. The price on the contract is the price you pay.
Few installers in the states we cover publish their prices, so the quote is the price, and it's worth comparing the same things on every one: the total cost including financing, the system size in kW DC, the cost per watt before any incentive, and the panels and inverter by make and model. Ask too who files the utility application, who pulls the permit, what the warranties cover and whether you'd be buying, borrowing, leasing or signing a PPA. What the system earns after that depends on your utility's export credit, meaning what it credits you for power you send out, and on your roof.
Which claims we source, and which checks stay with you
The first list is what we stand behind, and the second is yours to check.
- Every rule, fee and date on the site, and every number outside the modeled cost estimates, traces to the statute, agency page or program page it came from, and a fact we can't source stays off the page. Where a figure comes from a chart label or an undated page, the sentence says so.
- Cost figures are labeled as estimates and say how they were built, and none is presented as a quote.
- We don't license, inspect or rate any solar installer, and we publish no reviews of them.
- Setting your price isn't our job, and we don't negotiate it for you.
- We don't check that an installer holds a license, and we don't promise that an installer will call or that one serves your address, so ask for the license number and look it up.
Where to check a solar installer's license
Your state's contractor licensing board is where you confirm an installer's license, and the license classes that may install solar differ from state to state. Each state page links to its own lookup and lists the classes that apply, and the guides show what to ask for.
What happens to your details
Besides that one solar installer, your request is seen by the vendors that run our forms, hosting and call tracking. Some state privacy laws may let you ask what we hold and have it deleted, and you can switch off the sharing some laws treat as a sale on the Do Not Sell or Share page. If this page and the privacy policy differ, the policy wins.
Who's behind this site
SolarPanelMatch (solarpanelmatchusa.com) runs under that name, with a privacy service as its mailing address: 16192 Coastal Highway, Lewes, Delaware 19958. Editorial questions, privacy requests and partner inquiries go to support@solarpanelmatchusa.com or through the contact page, and solar installers that want requests can start on the partner page.
- IRS: Residential Clean Energy Credit Read Oct 23, 2026.
- IRS FAQs on OBBB changes to 25C, 25D (FS-2025-05) Read Oct 23, 2026.
- SolarPanelMatch: how we estimate costs, Michigan (editorial policy) Read Oct 23, 2026.