Solar Energy Systems Listings
The Solar Installation Authority listings index organizes photovoltaic and solar thermal installations across residential, commercial, industrial, and specialty deployment categories. This page defines what qualifies for inclusion in the directory, how verification status is assigned, where geographic and system-type gaps exist, and how listing categories are structured. Understanding these boundaries helps contractors, property owners, and researchers interpret directory entries accurately and locate the right classification for any given installation type.
What listings include and exclude
Listings on this directory cover grid-tied, off-grid, and hybrid photovoltaic systems installed on US properties, along with solar thermal systems where the installation involves a licensed or certified contractor and documented permitting records. The scope extends to residential solar energy systems, commercial solar energy systems, and industrial solar energy systems, as well as specialty mounting configurations such as ground-mount arrays, carports, and agrivoltaic installations.
The following categories are explicitly excluded from listings:
- Solar installations with no verified permit record at any jurisdictional authority
- Portable or transportable solar units below 1 kilowatt (kW) capacity
- Solar water heaters not paired with a photovoltaic component or licensed electrical contractor
- Installations under active code violation orders from an Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ)
- Systems installed before the 2005 revision of the National Electrical Code (NEC) Article 690, unless a subsequent inspection has confirmed upgrade compliance
- Off-grid systems located outside US jurisdiction
Listings do not constitute endorsement of any contractor, manufacturer, or financing arrangement. A listing reflects documented installation activity against publicly verifiable criteria — not a quality rating. Directory entries referencing solar installer certifications only display credentials that appear in the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) public registry or an equivalent state-level licensing database.
Verification status
Each listing carries one of three verification status designations, which reflect the depth of documentation available at the time of indexing:
Verified — The installation has a confirmed permit record from the local AHJ, a utility interconnection agreement on file (where applicable), and at least one named certified installer credential matched to a public registry. Grid-tied solar systems require a utility Permission to Operate (PTO) letter to reach Verified status.
Pending — Documentation has been submitted but one or more elements remain unconfirmed. This status applies most frequently during the gap between final inspection and utility interconnection approval, a window that averaged 30 to 90 days in California under Pacific Gas & Electric's 2022 interconnection queue data.
Unverified — The installation is cataloged from secondary sources — contractor filings, property records, or self-reported data — but no independent permit or inspection record has been matched. Unverified listings are published with explicit status labeling and are excluded from filtered searches that require full documentation.
Verification is not a one-time event. Listings are subject to status downgrade if an AHJ posts a code violation, if a contractor's NABCEP credential lapses, or if a utility rescinds an interconnection agreement. Solar system monitoring data, where shared by system owners, can serve as supplementary evidence of ongoing operational compliance but does not substitute for permit and interconnection documentation.
Coverage gaps
The directory does not achieve uniform national coverage across all 50 states. As of the most recent indexing cycle, permit data integration is strongest in states with centralized permitting databases — California (through the California Solar Permitting Guidebook framework), New York (NY-Sun program records), and New Jersey (NJ Clean Energy Program filings) — and weakest in states where permitting authority is fragmented across township and county levels without a consolidated digital record system.
Community solar programs present a structural coverage gap. Subscriber-level participation in a community solar project does not generate a discrete installation record tied to a subscriber's address, meaning the directory captures the host-site installation but not individual subscriber relationships.
Agricultural solar installations are undercounted in states where agrivoltaic projects are permitted through agricultural rather than building departments, producing records that do not appear in standard permit searches. Ground-mount systems on rural parcels in states without statewide solar permitting requirements — including portions of Texas and Montana — show the lowest verification rates in the index.
Systems installed under the federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC), codified at 26 U.S.C. § 48(a), do not generate a public record accessible to the directory. IRS filings are not a data source. Coverage of solar federal tax credit ITC eligible installations therefore reflects permit and interconnection records only, not tax credit claim volume.
Listing categories
The directory organizes listings into four primary classification tiers, with secondary tags applied for mounting type, inverter configuration, and storage integration.
Primary classification (by site type):
- Residential (systems ≤ 25 kW AC capacity on single-family or multi-family structures)
- Commercial (systems from 25 kW to 1 megawatt AC on commercial or institutional properties)
- Industrial / Utility-Scale (systems above 1 MW AC, including front-of-meter installations)
- Specialty (carports, floating solar, building-integrated PV, and agrivoltaic configurations)
Secondary tags (applied independently of primary class):
- Grid-tied vs. off-grid solar systems vs. hybrid solar systems
- Battery storage integrated (systems paired with solar battery storage systems)
- EV charging integrated (see solar plus EV charging integration)
- Solar tracker systems (single-axis or dual-axis tracking confirmed)
- Bifacial solar panels specified in installation record
The distinction between residential and commercial classification follows the NEC Article 690 and Article 705 boundary conditions, not simply the property's land-use zoning. A 30 kW system on a residential parcel is classified as commercial for directory purposes. Dual-use systems that serve both on-site load and export power under a net metering tariff — governed by utility-specific tariff schedules and state net metering rules — receive a grid-tied tag and a notation referencing the applicable utility. Full background on tariff structures is covered in net metering explained.
Safety standard compliance tags reference UL 1703 (flat-plate photovoltaic modules), UL 9540 (energy storage systems), and IEC 61730 (PV module safety qualification) where those certifications appear in installation documentation. The solar installation safety standards page provides the full compliance framework against which these tags are assigned.