How much does it cost to start a solar installer?
About $99,000 all in for a small one, opened by one founder in an American city: $56,600 to open the doors and $42,400 to keep going for the 8 months it typically takes to pay its way. Below, every item at low, typical and high with where it comes from — and your own quote, for your country, your town, how you start and the money you have.
To open: $56,600
Used work truck: $28,000 ($15,000–$40,000). Current file (Solar Power World/EnergySage): work truck and trailer $25k-$40k; used pickups from $15k
Equipment trailer: $4,000 ($2,000–$8,000). Our estimate: enclosed or flatbed trailer for panels, racking and ladders
Ladders, lift, fall protection and tools: $10,000 ($5,000–$20,000). Solar startup guides: tools and safety gear $2,500-$50,000; current file $5k-$15k
Electrical licence and NABCEP certification: $2,000 ($1,000–$5,000). Solar startup guides: licensing and certifications $2,000-$10,000; NABCEP certification about $500-$1,500 (current file)
General liability insurance, first year: $2,500 ($1,500–$6,000). Wexford: general liability $500-$2,000/yr for solar firms; Insureon general contractors average $1,950/yr; rooftop work prices higher (high end estimate)
Contractor licence bond: $300 ($100–$1,000). Contractor bond premiums 1-3% of the bond, $100-$1,000 a year (general-contractor guides)
Design and proposal software, first year: $3,000 ($0–$6,000). Current file: Aurora-type design software $2k-$5k a year (Solar Power World); OpenSolar is free (low)
Website, brand and launch lead generation: $6,000 ($2,000–$15,000). estimate; current file $10,000 for website and opening marketing
Forming the company: $800 ($150–$2,500). An LLC's state filing is $50–$500 (state fee schedules), plus an EIN (free) and a registered agent; the World Bank measured the procedures at about 1% of income per capita, about $850 (Doing Business 2020); a lawyer's formation package $500–$2,000.
To keep going until it pays its way: $42,400
Running costs while sales build: $14,000 ($3,080–$50,400). Commercial auto insurance, Fuel, CRM, permitting and monitoring software, Lead generation and advertising, Phone and office supplies, until it breaks even; sales are taken to grow evenly to cover them, so about half is needed. Break-even: Our estimate: each job waits 1-3 months for permits and interconnection and is paid in milestones; building a referral pipeline takes most of a year
Your own living costs until it can pay you: $28,500 ($14,200–$53,400). A one-person household spends about $3,560 a month in America (BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey 2021–22); nothing is paid to you until the business breaks even.
All in: $99,000
About $99,000 all in ($44,100–$207,000): $56,600 to open and $42,400 to keep going for the 8 months it typically takes to pay its way.
With $10,000 of your own you are $89,000 short: borrowed as an SBA 7(a) or bank loan at 11% over 5 years, about $1,940 a month.
The trade's published range, before the months it takes to pay its way: $35,000–$150,000. Solar Power World/EnergySage installer guides: $50k-$150k (current file); Surge PV 2026 playbook: $50k-$100k, a solo sales-only operation about $30k; Wexford Insurance: $35,000 to $600,000+
How much does it cost to start a solar installer?
About $99,000 all in ($44,100–$207,000) for a small one, from home, in an American city. To open: Used work truck $28,000; Equipment trailer $4,000; Ladders, lift, fall protection and tools $10,000; Electrical licence and NABCEP certification $2,000; General liability insurance, first year $2,500; Contractor licence bond $300; Design and proposal software, first year $3,000; Website, brand and launch lead generation $6,000; Forming the company $800 — $56,600. To keep going for the 8 months it typically takes to break even: running costs while sales build $14,000; your own living costs until it can pay you $28,500 — $42,400. The trade's published startup range is $35,000–$150,000 (Solar Power World/EnergySage installer guides: $50k-$150k (current file); Surge PV 2026 playbook: $50k-$100k, a solo sales-only operation about $30k; Wexford Insurance: $35,000 to $600,000+), which leaves the months before it pays its way out.
What does SparkTower's simulator pay to open it?
The simulator pays the one-off opening costs before the first customer — the running costs and the founder's living it plays month by month: Used work truck and trailer $30,000; Ladders, lifts, fall protection and tools $10,000; Electrical contractor's licence and NABCEP certification $2,000; General liability and workers' comp deposit $8,000; Design and proposal software, first year $3,000; Forming the company $500; Website and opening marketing $10,000. A local solar installer: $50k–$150k to open (Solar Power World and EnergySage installer guides): a work truck and trailer $25k–$40k, roof safety gear and tools $5k–$15k, NABCEP certification about $500–$1,500, design software such as Aurora $2k–$5k a year, and roofing-grade insurance $5k–$15k (Insureon).
How much of that do you keep?
$40,000 of it — the kit, fit-out or stock it bought — is still yours afterwards, something a buyer would pay for and a lender would lend against; the other $23,500 is spent.
What if my own money doesn't cover it?
With $10,000 of your own you would be about $89,000 short. Borrowed as an SBA 7(a) or bank loan at 11% over 5 years, that is about $1,940 a month. Most founders borrow the rest. A small-business term loan runs about 11% a year over 5 years (SBA 7(a) loans are the prime rate plus 3 to 6.5 points), repaid every month from the start — before the business has found its customers. In SparkTower's solar installer simulator the founder starts with $70,000 of their own money; the launch costs come out of it and leave $6,500 to trade on, with nothing borrowed.
Can you start a solar installer with no money?
Not in full: lenders want the owner to put in about 20% (the SBA's own floor for a start-up is 10%), and lend against the kit, fit-out and stock a launch buys, not its marketing or a software build. What a founder with nothing does is open smaller — a certified installer subcontracting installs for bigger companies — on about $7,300 of essentials (tools, ladders and fall protection $3,500; nABCEP PV Associate training and exam $1,000; general liability insurance $2,500; forming the company $300), borrowed as a microloan (the SBA's are up to $50,000, at 8–13%) or, for a few thousand dollars, on a card at about 22%. The rest is bought once the business can afford it. Installers start by subcontracting for established companies and dealers, paid by the install: $5k–$10k of tools, roof safety gear, a NABCEP PV Associate credential (about $150 for the exam plus training) and liability cover (NABCEP; Solar Power World installer guides; Insureon).
Will it earn the money back?
That depends on what you charge, how many customers you win and what your rivals do. The free solar installer simulator pays these costs before it opens, borrows what the founder's cash doesn't cover, and plays the business forward against real rivals, so you can see whether it earns them back before you spend them.
What it costs to start others like it
- Cost to start a small-town business — $126,000 all in
- Cost to start a café — $155,000 all in
- Cost to start a restaurant — $223,000 all in
- Cost to start a salon or barber — $128,000 all in
- Cost to start a gym or studio — $208,000 all in
- Cost to start a food truck — $116,000 all in
- Cost to start a bakery — $145,000 all in
- Cost to start a retail shop — $160,000 all in
- Cost to start a cleaning service — $27,100 all in
- Cost to start a landscaping business — $53,900 all in
- Cost to start an auto repair garage — $156,000 all in
- Cost to start a daycare or nursery — $117,000 all in
- Cost to start a plumbing or electrical trade — $55,400 all in
- Cost to start a construction company — $80,700 all in
- Cost to start a trucking company — $113,000 all in
- Cost to start a property developer — $937,000 all in