Top 4 Best Solar Companies in South Dakota (2023 Reviews)

How Can You Save Money When Hiring A Solar Company In South Dakota

Although the cost per watt for PV equipment is below average in South Dakota — $2.39 as compared to $2.66 in other states — most residents still pay more in total for their systems due to the larger capacity requirements to meet local energy needs. The average cost to convert to solar in SD is $25,095 before incentives — about 20% higher than the U.S. average.

Given the high cost of solar conversion, most South Dakota property owners will look for ways to reduce their up-front costs and maximize their long-term energy savings. There are some things we recommend doing to bring your conversion costs down, including:

• Taking advantage of the solar perks available to you
• Considering installing a solar battery
• Choosing a high-efficiency panel brand
• Getting multiple solar quotes

We’ll explain how these tips can save you money on your PV equipment in the sections below.

Take All the Solar Incentives You Can

Solar incentives are some of the best options for reducing your initial conversion costs and boosting your long-term savings. Unfortunately, South Dakota has far fewer benefit programs than most states, but the perks that are available can help save you thousands on your system.

We’ll provide a brief explanation of South Dakota’s incentives in the table below, but you can read more about these perks and how to take full advantage of them in our guide to solar benefit programs in SD.

Consider Installing a Solar Storage Solution

Next, we strongly recommend considering installing a solar battery — like a Tesla Powerwall — alongside your panels. Doing so will increase your initial solar panel system costs, but it’s very often a worthwhile investment in South Dakota.

The reason is that The Mount Rushmore State doesn’t mandate net metering through interconnection. Net metering credits you for the excess energy your panels produce and send to the electric grid. The credits normally offset the energy you take from the grid — for instance at night or when your panels are covered in snow and production plummets.

Installing a battery lets you overproduce energy and store the excess for later use. You can maximize your energy savings in this way, even when your panels aren’t generating electricity. This helps maximize long-term savings, which means batteries can pay for themselves in South Dakota.

Choose a Panel Brand With a High Efficiency Rating

We also suggest choosing a company that installs high-efficiency panel brands like SunPower or Tesla. The higher the efficiency rating, the more power your panels will generate given the limited space on your roof. Higher production rates are ideal in South Dakota, as the energy needs in the area are well above the average in the U.S.

Efficient panels are more likely to save you money on your electricity bills, making them more worthwhile in the long run.

Get Multiple Quotes

Finally, we suggest that you get quotes from a few installers for your solar project. Although SD isn’t home to many installers, each will likely quote a different amount for installation services on your home. Getting a few free quotes from installers in your area lets you compare and find the best value for your money.

See Also: Calculate How Much You Can Save By Going Solar

Will Solar Increase Your Home Value In South Dakota?

Yes! One of the major benefits of converting to solar in SD that many property owners forget is that solar panels make your home more valuable.

Specifically, installing panels on your property should boost the value by around 4.1%, according to estimates from Zillow.⁴ With the average home value in South Dakota sitting at around $306,000, that’s an increase of approximately $12,500.⁵

With solar adoption being so slow in South Dakota, your actual value bump could be a bit less. However, you may also see even more value in areas that have taken steps to popularize solar and educate consumers about its benefits.

For example, there was recently a massive community solar farm installed in Oglala Lakota County, suggesting that solar is more widely accepted there than in other areas, so you could see a more significant value bump in this area.

Should South Dakota Residents Hire a Professional Solar Installer Or DIY?

DIY PV panel installation is often an attractive option, especially in areas like South Dakota where professional installation is more expensive than average. Hiring an expert to convert your home in SD will cost around $25,000, while a DIY solar solution would average between $10,000 and $15,000.

Looking at cost alone, DIY solar seems like the way to go. However, there are a few reasons why we recommend against installing your panels yourself. These include:

• Lower panel efficiencies that come with DIY solar kits
• Less attractive solar battery options
• Less appealing warranty coverage
• Greater risk of property damage stemming from issues with inexperienced installers

We’ll discuss why we think these reasons are so compelling and why we recommend against DIY installation in the sections below.

DIY Panels Have Lower Efficiency Ratings

First and foremost, DIY panel brands have efficiency ratings below 18% in most cases, with an average closer to 15%. Not only are they less efficient than professional brands — which average above 20% and push close to 23% — but the efficiency also degrades much more quickly.

As mentioned above, panel efficiency is a crucial thing to consider in South Dakota, as the energy consumption among residents is well above average. High-efficiency professional panels cost more than DIY options, but they will often pay for themselves in energy savings over time.

DIY Solar Batteries Have Much Lower Capacities

We also mentioned above that solar batteries are particularly useful in South Dakota because they ensure no energy your panels generate is lost to the grid, since net metering isn’t mandated in the state. Solar batteries with a high capacity are more likely to have a shorter payback period and save you money on utility bills in the long run.

DIY solar batteries — usually 12-volt batteries — hold minimal charges and may not be able to store enough energy to maximize your savings on your energy bills.

In comparison, professionally installed batteries like the Tesla Powerwall can store several kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy to provide power through the night, cloudy days, snow coverage and blackouts. Therefore, they’re far more likely to provide more energy savings.

DIY Panels Don’t Have Particularly Good Warranty Coverage

Third, DIY panels come with less appealing warranty coverage in some cases. The typical DIY kit includes a 15-year product warranty and a 10-year production warranty. Warranties from professional installers average 25 years for the equipment, 25 years for the production and 10 years for workmanship.

It’s true that some installers in South Dakota don’t offer much in the way of a workmanship warranty, but even the product warranty from the manufacturer alone is significantly longer than what you’d get with a DIY system.

DIY Installation Puts You at Greater Risk of Property Damage

Finally, penetrating your roof and installing PV panels is inherently risky — but especially so if you don’t have experience. DIYers that are new to solar setups are far more likely to make mistakes. Unfortunately, those errors could lead to roof leaks and resulting property damage that could negate the initial savings on your DIY system.

What Should South Dakota Residents Look For in a Solar Installer?

There are a few things we recommend prioritizing when choosing a PV panel installation company in South Dakota. These include:

• Panel brand selection
• Price and payment options
• Experience

We’ll explain why we believe these factors are so important in the sections below.

Panel Brand Selection

First and foremost, we recommend choosing an installer that carries tier-one panel brands with above-average efficiency ratings. Having efficient panels on your home will help ensure that your PV system produces sufficient energy to meet the above-average energy demands in your area.

Ultimately, an efficient panel can help effectively bring down your overall electricity rates, which improves the value of your system and allows you to pay it off more quickly.

Price and Payment Options

Next, since solar PV systems in South Dakota are significantly more expensive than they are in most other states, we suggest prioritizing your installer choices based on price and payment options.

Companies with average or below-average pricing will help maximize the value and return on investment you see from your equipment. Choosing an installer with a payment option that works for you also means your system will be accessible and will fit within your budget.

Local Experience

Finally, we suggest choosing an installer with years of experience in the solar industry, if at all possible. Since solar adoption is really just starting to pick up in SD, new companies have been popping up over the last few years to meet demand.

Young companies aren’t inherently bad, but they are more likely to leave the industry and void your warranties in the process. Choosing an experienced installer also means you’re more likely to get a professional installation that is done properly the first time around.

Outstanding Regional Installer

4.5/5

NABCEP-certified techniciansCompetitive pricingMultitude of products and services

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Solar Veteran

4/5

Representatives are experts on local policiesFocus on sustainable livingHighly trained technicians

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Outstanding Local Installer

4/5

Outstanding customer serviceMultitude of products and servicesNABCEP-certified technicians

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Methodology: How We Ranked South Dakota’s Solar Companies

When we’re ranking the top solar providers in South Dakota, our primary goal is to bring you providers that are most likely to meet your needs and exceed your expectations. That’s why we use a unique rating system with factors that we believe are most important to South Dakotans, specifically. Below is a quick look at how we rank SD installers:

• Solar Equipment & Services (20%) 
• Price & Payment Options (20%)
• Experience (15%)
• Availability (15%)
• Qualifications, Reputation & Certifications (10%)
• Solar Warranty & Customer Support (10%)
• Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Factors (10%)

We also never let our commercial partnerships affect our methodology, so each company is rated solely based on how likely they are to provide a system suited to your home. We’ll explain why we believe these factors are most crucial in SD below.

Solar Equipment & Services

First, we look at the services and equipment brands offered by each provider. As we explained previously, high-efficiency panels like those from SunPower are crucial in South Dakota, as they are most likely to offset the high energy consumption in the state. We prioritize installers who carry top-tier, efficient panels.

We also rank companies higher if they offer a good selection of solar batteries. Since South Dakota doesn’t offer net metering to solar customers, having a battery to store the energy you can call on at any time is a great way to reduce energy costs and save money over time with your PV system.

Price & Payment Options

Next, we look at the relative pricing of each provider as well as the payment options afforded to customers.

Companies that have average or below-average pricing can score higher, but we also prioritize installers who keep clean energy accessible by accepting multiple, flexible payment options. Since we don’t recommend leases or power purchase agreements (PPAs), we don’t dock companies that don’t offer these options.

Experience in South Dakota

Next, we prioritize experience. South Dakota’s local solar industry is just now starting to bloom, so new companies are more prevalent than ever before. We give precedence to installers with at least five years of experience. Those that have ten or more years get a perfect score in this category.

Availability

Since solar isn’t terribly popular throughout SD, some installers focus their efforts on larger cities where the demand is naturally higher. Since companies with wider service areas appeal to more consumers, we rank companies higher if they serve the entire state.

Qualifications, Reputation & Certifications

Other things we look for to avoid recommending companies that provide below-average service include qualifications, certifications and signs of a positive reputation that set installers apart from others. We rank companies higher if they hold:

• Accreditation from the BBB
• Few customer complaints on BBB and other solar review sites
• NABCEP certification
• Certification from the Leaders in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
• At least 100 4-star-or-better reviews on Google

Solar Warranty & Customer Support

Warranties for solar energy systems help protect your equipment and the structure on which they’re installed. Longer and more robust warranty coverage is always better, so we use the industry averages below to compare installers in South Dakota:

• 25-year warranty for equipment
• 20- to 25-year warranty for energy efficiency
• 10-year warranty for workmanship

Unfortunately, many of the installers in the area don’t provide particularly good warranty coverage options, and most just include the manufacturer’s warranty. Still, this is all the more reason for us to highlight those that provide superior coverage.

Environmental, Social & Corporate Governance Factors

Finally, we like to promote companies that have a positive impact on the environment and the areas they serve. Some things that suggest this include:

• A solution for PV panel recycling
• Affordable options for low-income solar customers
• Sustainable business practices