I originally started out getting quotes from 3 solar companies that I selected after asking for recommendations from neighbors on Nextdoor.com, and looking on Yelp.com. I looked at their websites and requested a free quote. In the end, I got quotes from 6 companies, and went with SolTerra Solar. https://solar.solterra.com/quote/
All of the sales persons had the same basic approach: They asked for my address so they could look at my roof with Google Earth, and they asked for a year's worth of my monthly electric use (the SnoCo PUD web site allows you to print a bar graph for a selected time period.) Then with a basic plan in mind, they scheduled a home visit to give me their pitch. Once at the house, one briefly glanced up at the roof, one came after dark so never even saw it, one took some readings from the front yard in less than 3 minutes, one actually went up on the roof for about an hour and took physical measurements, one didn't come out but did a phone interview, one didn't come out and provided their quote based on Google Earth and my electric bill information only.
My situation was a bit unusual. I had just removed my gas furnace and switched to an electric heat pump system. This meant that my electric use history from the PUD did not reflect what my heating use would be going forward in the winter, or what my cooling use would be going forward in the summer (now that I had aircon.) I explained this to all the sales reps when I spoke to them, but SolTerra was the ONLY company that took that information and actually factored it into their calculations for the size of system I should have - everyone else just used my historical electric use with gas heat and no aircon.
When I started, I had NO idea about the different options for solar panel system inverters. I highly recommend if you are considering solar, you start with the EnergySage web site to educate yourself - this is a consumer website so not slanted to any one brand or type of panel or system like the solar company websites are, and it is VERY easy to navigate and understand. If nothing else, read the page on the 3 types of solar panel inverter technologies:
https://www.energysage.com/solar/101/string-inverters-microinverters-power-optimizers/
As a perk, most of the companies offer a bonus for a referral ie if after they install your solar, you refer someone else to them, then you get a referral bonus check (~$500.) So remember who referred you, and give the company their name. (With SolTerra, you BOTH get a check ie I was referred by a neighbor, so they got a check for $500 and I got a discount of $500 off my quote.)
If you go into solar production before the end of 2019, you will receive a 30% Federal Tax Credit on the cost of your installation (including the sales tax.) The Washington State Incentive Program (which paid cash-back up to 50% of the cost of your installation) is currently NOT available - it ran out of money on January 31, 2019. I am on the wait list should the legislature provide more funds in the future. read more