How to become a solar installer in 2026

There is no federal solar installer's license, and only one state — Oregon — licenses a solar person at all. Everywhere else the crew that racks and bolts the array works, unlicensed, as employees of a licensed contractor; the wire from the array to the service panel is electrical work, licensed by the state's electrical board or done under the contractor that holds the license; four states have built a solar contractor classification of their own, and Illinois certifies the installer under a rule whose page refused every reader we sent. NABCEP is the voluntary card the industry asks for, and one state ties a registration to it. On top sits the ordinary business license your city issues to any trade. Here is each big state, from its own board or statute:

• California: four licenses may install. The board's own consumer page: ""A" – General Engineering contractors are authorized to install solar energy systems", ""B" – General Building contractors are authorized to install solar energy systems within the definition of B&P Code section 7057", "C-10 – Electrical contractors are authorized to perform any solar projects that generate, transmit, transform, or utilize electrical energy in any form for any purpose", "C-46 – Solar contractors install, modify, maintain, and repair thermal and photovoltaic solar energy systems" (CSLB, Solar Smart). The C-46 has a fence around it: "A licensee classified in this section shall not undertake or perform building or construction trades, crafts, or skills, except when required to install a thermal or photovoltaic solar energy system", and "a battery energy storage system … shall not be considered part of a photovoltaic solar energy system", which a C-46 "may install … as "incidental and supplemental" to the installation of a photovoltaic solar energy system if the battery energy storage system does not exceed a rating of 80 kilowatt-hours (kWh)" (16 CCR §832.46); the C-10 definition covers "battery energy storage systems, photovoltaic solar energy systems or any part thereof" (§832.10). Any license asks for "not less than four years experience as a journeyman, foreman, supervising employee or contractor in the particular class" (16 CCR §825), a "twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000)" bond (§7071.6), and applies above the $1,000 line — which is lost by anyone who "Employs another person to perform, or assist in performing, the work" (§7048): a two-person roof crew is never exempt. Selling is registered too: "Generally, solar sales representatives must be registered with CSLB as Home Improvement Salespeople (HIS)" (CSLB) — the registration is in §7152, and "It is a misdemeanor for any person to engage in the occupation of salesperson for one or more home improvement contractors within this state without having, at the time of the sales transaction, a current and valid home improvement salesperson registration" (§7153). The CSLB's fee pages refused our reader, so no California dollar fee is printed here. One owner's route: "To start my own company in California, I needed a contractor's license, which required four years of local experience. … After passing both the law and trade exams, I earned my contractor's license" (Adrian Suarez, Aicon Solar, San Diego, SDVoyager, April 7, 2025).
• Florida: the statute names the trade — ""Solar contractor" means a contractor whose services consist of the installation, alteration, repair, maintenance, relocation, or replacement of solar panels for potable solar water heating systems, swimming pool solar heating systems, and photovoltaic systems and any appurtenances, apparatus, or equipment used in connection therewith" (Fla. Stat. §489.105). "A person must be certified or registered in order to engage in the business of contracting in this state", an unlicensed subcontractor may work "under the supervision of a person who is certified or registered" only outside the named trades, and "A contractor shall subcontract all electrical, mechanical, plumbing, roofing, sheet metal, swimming pool, and air-conditioning work, unless such contractor holds a state certificate or registration in the respective trade category" (§489.113) — so the roof crew works for the solar or electrical contractor, and the wiring is an electrical contractor's. To sit the exam you must be "18 years of age" with "at least 4 years of active experience" of which "at least 1 year of active experience shall be as a foreman" (§489.111). Even the owner's own exemption keeps the wire licensed: a homeowner installing panels in a SunShot county "must utilize a licensed electrical contractor to effectuate the wiring of the solar panels, including any interconnection to the customer's residential electrical wiring" (§489.103). The state's exam and fee pages were not read, so none is printed.
• Texas: no solar license; the install is electrical work — ""Electrical work" means any labor or material used in installing, maintaining, or extending an electrical wiring system and the appurtenances, apparatus, or equipment used in connection with the use of electrical energy in, on, outside, or attached to a building, residence, structure, property, or premises" (Tex. Occ. Code §1305.002) — and the department says so: "TDLR already regulates the installation of solar energy systems by electricians and electrical contractors under the Texas Electrical Safety and Licensing Act" (TDLR, September 10, 2025). The electrician ladder — the apprentice registration, the journeyman license at 8,000 hours of supervised work, the master after two years as a journeyman — is printed from the department's own license pages in our how to become an electrician guide; the department's electrician index is TDLR, electricians. What Texas added is a sales registration: "Starting September 1, 2026, individuals selling or leasing most residential solar energy systems, and the companies for which they work, will be required to obtain a registration from TDLR", every contract must "Provide that the installation of the residential solar energy system will be performed by a licensed electrical contractor" and "Conspicuously state the name and license number of the electrical contractor who will perform the installation", and "electrical contractors and their employees will be exempt from having to register" (TDLR; the program page). A retailer pays "the non-refundable $350 registration fee" and carries "general liability insurance in the amount of not less than $1 million per occurrence and $2 million in the aggregate" (TDLR, solar retailer); a salesperson "the non-refundable $56 registration fee" with "no examination requirements" and "a criminal history background check" (TDLR, solar salesperson).
• Illinois: the state certifies the installer — "DG Certification for installers is required in the state of Illinois" (Illinois Solar Energy Association) — but the Commerce Commission's own page answered an error to every reader we sent, so the exam, the experience and the fee are not printed here. New York: no state solar license; the state incentive program's contractor page and New York City's buildings-department pages refused or did not exist for our reader, so nothing is printed for either. Oregon: the one state with a solar-specific person's license — "A person qualifies for licensing as a limited renewable energy technician if the person completes a two-year apprenticeship program and passes an examination approved by the board", who may then "Install, maintain, replace or repair electrical wiring and electrical products that convey energy from or operate on renewable electrical energy generation systems that use wind, solar energy systems, microhydroelectricity, photovoltaic systems or fuel cells that do not exceed 50 kilowatts AC", including "All DC wiring and DC connections up to the load side of an inverter"; the company is "A limited renewable energy contractor" that "Employs at least one full-time renewable energy technician" and "may not make, direct, supervise or control the making of an electrical installation unless the contractor is licensed for that activity" (ORS 479.630). The building division's fee pages did not open.
• North Carolina: the connection is electrical contracting — "There are 10 different classifications of electrical contracting licenses": "Limited License - $100/year" for "a single electrical contracting project of a value not in excess of sixty thousand dollars ($60,000)", "Intermediate License - $150/year" up to "$150,000", "Unlimited License - $200/year" for "any electrical contracting project regardless of value" (NC Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors); the board's page has no solar classification. Colorado: two registrations. "To perform Electrical Contracting in the State of Colorado, you must be a licensed Electrical Contractor registered with the State of Colorado" and "Hold or employ a licensed master electrician to serve as the responsible individual for the company"; and the one state rule that names NABCEP — "To perform Photovoltaic Installing in the State of Colorado, you must be a licensed Photovoltaic installer registered with the State of Colorado: … Employ at least one NABCEP Certified employee. Have a designated agent(s). If the agent(s) are no longer employed with the Photovoltaic Installer, the registration is invalid and cannot be reinstated" (Colorado DPO, electrical applications); every electrician there "must complete at least 24 hours of Continuing Education (CE) during each 3 year license period" (Colorado DPO). Hawaii: "C-60 Solar power systems contractor. To assemble and install photovoltaic panels, batteries, controls, and related low voltage D.C. wiring", a scope the C-13 electrical license also includes (Hawaii Contractors License Board).
• Nevada: "A licensed contractor is required to construct, repair, maintain, restore, alter, or improve solar systems on single-family residences, including the replacement of existing equipment and installation of new equipment", and "Any person who is advertising or making a solicitation to perform or enter into a contract for residential solar work must have a proper Nevada contractor's license", under rules in force "Effective October 1, 2021" (Nevada State Contractors Board, residential solar); the handyman line excludes the trade — no license is needed only where the work "is less than $1,000.00, including labor and material and does not require a building permit or involve work that is performed by a plumbing, electrical, refrigeration, heating or air conditioning contractor" (NSCB FAQ). Washington: "To learn to be an electrician, you need to begin as a trainee. An electrical trainee must have a trainee certificate and work under the supervision of a certified electrician", and certified electricians "work for a licensed electrical contractor performing electrical installations" (Washington L&I) — the state prints no solar line of its own. Arizona: a Registrar of Contractors license above the same $1,000 line as California, for work "of a casual or minor nature" only (A.R.S. §32-1121); the registrar's own site refused our reader. Connecticut licenses solar installers in two classes, and Louisiana, Utah, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Georgia and Michigan regulate the work too, on pages that refused or did not open, so none of their lines is printed here.

NABCEP, from its own fee page. The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners is voluntary — no federal rule requires it — and it is the card financiers, some utilities and Colorado's registration look for. The entry credential: "PV ASSOCIATE (PVA) | $25.00 | $125.00* | $125.00 | $150.00 | $50.00" — application, exam, re-exam, renewal and late renewal — with the note that "PVA Candidates qualifying through the Education Pathway with a NABCEP Associate Registered Training Provider may be charged between $125-$180 for a first-time test" (NABCEP fees). Two ways in: "Successfully complete a training course with a NABCEP Associate Registered Training Provider, and pass the relevant NABCEP Associate Examination", or "Document at least six months of full-time equivalent work experience in a job that is directly involved with photovoltaics, operations & maintenance or solar heating technologies, and pass the relevant NABCEP Associate Examination"; passing "qualifies an individual to design, sell, install, or maintain systems in a supervised capacity", and "As of April 7, 2026" the exam carries new content (NABCEP, associate program). The exam is "seventy (70) equally weighted multiple-choice questions" of which "Sixty (60) of the questions are scored", in "up to two hours", and "An average of 40 hours of instruction is proposed to adequately prepare individuals" (NABCEP associate candidate handbook). The board certification: "PV INSTALLATION PROFESSIONAL (PVIP) | $125.00 | $375.00 | $275.00 | $390.00 | $50.00 | $25.00" — application, exam, re-exam, recertification, late fee, printed copy (NABCEP fees); to sit it "every Applicant, regardless of background, education, experience, or geographical location, will need to document: • Completion of a minimum of 10 hours of OSHA Outreach Training Program for the Construction Industry training (or government equivalent); AND • Completion of at least 58 hours of advanced training … AND • Completion of installations equaling at least 6 Project Credits", where "System size of 1 – 999kW = 2 Project Credits", the applicant "shall have performed in a decision-making role (DMR)" — "Lead Installers, System Designers, Project Managers, Site Managers, Foreman, Electricians" — and "Installations must have been completed within the two (2) calendar years prior to the application submission date", "All installations must be complete and have a permit and a final approved inspection" (NABCEP certification handbook); "Our testing vendor, Meazure Learning, charges an additional $75 international fee for exams taken outside of the United States and Canada", and "All fees are non-refundable and non-transferable" (NABCEP fees). Three permitted, inspected home systems in a lead role is the floor, our reading of the credits.

The safety rules a crew will ask about. "Each employee on a walking/working surface (horizontal and vertical surface) with an unprotected side or edge which is 6 feet (1.8 m) or more above a lower level shall be protected from falling by the use of guardrail systems, safety net systems, or personal fall arrest systems" (29 CFR §1926.501); the hardware is rated — "Dee-rings and snaphooks shall have a minimum tensile strength of 5,000 pounds (22.2 kN)" (§1926.502); on a scaffold, "Each employee on a scaffold more than 10 feet (3.1 m) above a lower level shall be protected from falling to that lower level" (§1926.451). The OSHA 10 card NABCEP requires is the course that teaches them.

How you learn it. On a crew, and for the license, in an apprenticeship. The federal standard behind every registered apprenticeship: "at least 2,000 hours of on-the-job learning" a year and "A minimum of 144 hours for each year of apprenticeship is recommended" (29 CFR §29.5). The electrician route is the one the owners below took: "The apprenticeship program at that time was a 5-year program. … If you passed your classes and had 8,000 hours of on-the-job training, you became eligible to take your electrical journeyman test" (Alex Rogers, Luminary Electric and Solar, Utah, VoyageUtah, February 17, 2026). Oregon's solar-specific route is "a two-year apprenticeship program" and an exam (ORS 479.630). The school route exists — the Illinois association lists weekend academies after which "students qualify to sit for the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) PV Associate Exam" and notes that "Many community colleges provide opportunities for renewable energy education" (Illinois Solar Energy Association) — but every priced solar course we reached refused our reader, so no tuition is printed; NABCEP's 40 hours of preparation and the apprenticeship's 2,000 hours a year are the figures that opened.

You are self-employed from the first invoice. In the US a one-truck installer is a sole proprietor by default: "Use Schedule C (Form 1040) to report income or (loss) from a business you operated or a profession you practiced as a sole proprietor" (IRS, Schedule C instructions); "The self-employment tax rate is 15.3%" once net earnings reach $400 (IRS), and sole proprietors "generally have to make estimated tax payments if they expect to owe tax of $1,000 or more" (IRS). If you want an LLC: Texas $300 (Tex. Bus. Orgs. Code §4.154); Florida $100 plus $25 for the registered agent and $50 a year (Fla. Stat. §605.0213); New York $200 (N.Y. LLC Law §1101) plus a notice "published once in each week for six successive weeks, in two newspapers of the county" (§206); California $70 (Cal. Gov. Code §12190) and "Every LLC that is doing business or organized in California must pay an annual tax of $800" (Franchise Tax Board). Workers' compensation: "In Texas, private employers can choose to carry workers' compensation insurance coverage, but it is not required in most cases" (Texas Department of Insurance), while "All California employers must provide workers' compensation benefits to their employees under California Labor Code Section 3700" (California DIR) — and a roof crew is two people from the first job.

Sales tax on the work — two states' rules. Florida exempts the hardware: "Solar energy systems. — Also exempt are solar energy systems or any component thereof. The Florida Solar Energy Center shall from time to time certify to the department a list of equipment and requisite hardware considered to be a solar energy system or a component thereof" (Fla. Stat. §212.08). Texas draws its usual line on labor: "the total amount charged for remodeling, repairing, or restoring nonresidential real property is taxable", residential repair and remodeling labor is not (Texas Comptroller, Publication 94-116). Confirm the details with your accountant.

The money to start. Our arithmetic from the pages that print each price. A lean start for the first day on a crew — a Craftsman 3/8-inch click torque wrench at $59.98 (Zoro, read October 27, 2026), a Fluke 323 clamp meter at $176.79 (Zoro), a Klein ratchet crimper for MC4 connectors at $44.99 (Zoro), a Condor roofer's fall-protection kit — harness, lanyard and anchor — at $184.99 (Zoro), a DeWalt 20-volt drill kit at $141.99 (Zoro), a 100-foot chalk line at $6.99 (Zoro), an MSA full-brim hard hat at $84.69 (Zoro) and Class 0 insulating gloves at $88.15 (Zoro) — is $788.57. The fuller start as a company — the same kit, a Louisville 28-foot fiberglass extension ladder at $399.99 (Zoro) and a FallTech reusable roof anchor at $52.19 (Zoro), NABCEP's $25 application and $125 exam for the associate and $125 and $375 for the Installation Professional, a year of general liability at Insureon's $732 electrician median and a year of commercial auto at $3,304 — is $5,926.75. Neither total includes the truck, the panels, the state license or the website — and the insurance is a median for electricians, because Insureon prints no solar page: "Electrician businesses and contractors pay an average of $61 per month, or $732 annually, for contractor general liability insurance", "$100 per month for a business owner's policy, or $1,198 annually", "$140 per month for workers' compensation insurance, or $1,679 annually", "$42 per month for inland marine insurance, or $503 annually" for the tools in the truck, and "$275 per month, or $3,304 annually, for commercial auto insurance" (Insureon, updated July 28, 2026). The plan page for the business side is the solar installation business plan, the prices are in solar pricing, the step after this guide is how to start a solar company, the name goes on the truck from solar business names, and the site from the solar website builder or the solar website design page.

In the UK: the government's career profile puts pay at "£25,000 Starter" to "£47,000 Experienced" on "40 to 45" hours a week, with routes through "a college course" — "electrical installation" — or "an apprenticeship" such as the "Installation and Maintenance Electrician Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship", and "You can apply for a foundation apprenticeship if you're aged 16 to 21" (National Careers Service, GOV.UK); the industry's voluntary mark is MCS, whose "installer and product standards are a benchmark for quality" (MCS). In Australia the principle inverts toward a national scheme: "Solar Accreditation Australia (SAA) is now responsible for ensuring installers and designers have undertaken appropriate training and meet standards" (Clean Energy Council), and the grid connection is a licensed electrician's job under each state's rules — no state regulator's page opened for us, so no figure is printed. Check your own state's electrical board and contractor board, and your utility's interconnection rules, before you quote the first roof.