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Alex Hawkins is a writer for USA TODAY Homefront. He has worked on consumer surveys with over 5,000 homeowners, conducted in-depth interviews with solar and windows industry experts and has experienced ride-alongs with professional window installers. His work has also been featured on This Old House, MarketWatch and Architectural Digest. Alex has a Masters in English language and literature from Texas Tech University but now lives in Knoxville, Tennessee. In his free time, Alex explores the Smoky Mountains or publishes video essays and book reviews on his YouTube channel.
Trinity Solar features some of the best customer support tools we’ve encountered in our research. Past customers comment on its quality service, and it only works with certified installers.
Although its customer support and personable staff help you once you contact the company, Trinity’s online presence is vague compared to other top solar providers. Its website discloses practically no information about its product selection and service options. Trinity also seems to try to offset its meager labor warranty with its highly rated customer service, but this still means you miss out on some coverage.
In this review, we get past the company’s scarce digital presence and assess Trinity’s solar panel products and services. We based our assessment on hundreds of customer reviews, our survey of 1,000 homeowners, and interviews with residential solar energy experts.
Based on our methodology, Trinity scored 4.8 out of 5 stars, and we recognize it as one of the best solar installation companies in the country.
We appreciate that the company focuses on hiring certified and vetted solar panel installers. We also like that it offers ample customer support and security for your solar investment. Trinity’s highly regarded customer service helped it beat out major providers on our list, such as SunPower and Palmetto Solar, but its service options remain limited compared to Elevation.
The company features fairly standard warranty coverage, though its labor warranty is five years shorter than other highly rated companies. Overall, we feel that if you fall within Trinity’s service area, you can receive some of the best customer service in the solar industry.
We like that Trinity limits its service area to focus on providing high-quality solar panel installation and monitoring services. Though the company doesn’t disclose what brand of solar panels it primarily uses, we’ve noticed through our customer review analysis that it has used Qcells. Trinity’s limited service area also allows it to be successful at operating more locally than a larger provider, such as SunPower. This means it has a knowledgeable staff regarding local tax incentives and rebates.
Trinity furthers its involvement and focus on local communities through its partnership program. The company partners with local nonprofits to help them raise money while providing no-cost solar installation.
All of the company’s installations include Trinity’s NABCEP-certified installers. According to Will White, solar application specialist at Fluke Corporation, this certification guarantees you’re dealing with a trustworthy and reliable company. “[NABCEP is] not really well known on the homeowner front, but they’re well known in the solar industry,” he said. He also mentioned that companies that hire NABCEP-certified installers guarantee further peace of mind.
Most of Trinity’s warranties align with industry standards, such as its 25-year manufacturer’s warranty and power production guarantee. Unfortunately, the company’s workmanship warranty only lasts five years. Many other providers offer at least a 10-year workmanship warranty.
The other major downside of Trinity is its lack of upfront information. To get a better idea of what solar panels or solar batteries the company might be able to offer you, you’ll have to contact the company and engage further in its sales funnel. Most other solar providers allow you to know something about their product selection and certain components before contacting them.
We like that Trinity includes a power production guarantee, meaning your panels are protected at a certain performance for some time, but its workmanship warranty is lacking compared to other brands.
Trinity collaborates with different solar panel manufacturers to offer high-efficiency, monocrystalline solar panels with an average life span of 25–40 years and efficiency rates of up to 20.6%. In our research, we found that Trinity has provided Qcells solar panels, a well-known, reliable brand of solar panels across the industry. Other major providers, such as Tesla, use Qcells for solar projects. However, the brand of solar panels you receive from Trinity depends on the availability in your area at the time of installation.
While Trinity provides reputable and reliable solar panel brands, we recommend asking for the specific brand of solar panel your project would receive.
Like its solar panel installation, Trinity doesn’t provide much information about its solar backup battery installation services. Though it doesn’t explain the specifics of its solar battery options, such as what brands or unique integration features it offers, the company outlines an industry-standard approach to solar battery installation.
Trinity follows the same standard steps for solar battery installation, such as handling permits, electrical work, battery configuration and system activation. The company claims its solar batteries are quiet, low-maintenance and seamlessly integrate with a solar panel system. Despite the lack of upfront information, we feel that you’ll receive a high-quality solar battery with Trinity.
Trinity offers active monitoring, which is an industry-standard option. Active monitoring involves the real-time and continuous assessment of various parameters related to the performance and functioning of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. The process uses advanced monitoring technologies such as sensors, data loggers and software systems to gather and analyze data on factors such as energy production, temperature, voltage and current.
The specific app and company the active monitoring system works through depends on what brand of solar panels Trinity provides you. Active monitoring allows early detection of potential issues or anomalies in the solar panels or the overall system, enabling prompt troubleshooting and maintenance.
Trinity follows the same installation steps as many solar installation companies. We like that previous customers mentioned how professional, personable and timely Trinity’s technicians were during their installations.
Here’s a breakdown of Trinity’s installation process:
Trinity provides shorter warranties than many other solar companies, although you can extend them to 25 years after the initial purchase. The company’s workmanship warranty is good for five years, significantly less than many solar energy companies offering warranties ranging from 10–25 years.
The company’s inverter warranty lasts 12 years, but you can extend it to 20 or 25 years at purchase. However, the company’s Qcells solar panels are protected by the industry-standard 25-year warranty. If you opt to purchase solar energy storage, Trinity offers the Tesla Powerwall and Generac solar batteries, which come with 10-year warranties.
In summary, Trinity offers a workmanship warranty of five years and an inverter warranty of 12 years, both of which fall short compared to other companies that offer 25-year warranties for both workmanship and equipment.
Thirty Trinity customers shared their quoted prices with us during our October 2023 survey. We found that the average solar panel installation cost with Trinity is $11,253. This price is below recent reports from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory that show the average cost for a 6-kilowatt system to be $18,960. Remember that your project’s total cost could greatly exceed this price, depending on its specifications and your location.
Trinity provides various payment options that can give you full system ownership. Its customer service representatives can also guide you through obtaining the federal solar investment tax credit (ITC). The ITC is an incentive the Department of Energy and IRS offers for solar energy systems. It enables you to deduct some of the qualified solar expenses from your federal income tax returns. As of December 2023, the ITC covers 26% of the installation cost for solar systems.
Trinity doesn’t provide information on its website about financing plans. However, it offers various financing options to accommodate diverse budgets.
Eleven Trinity customers reported during our survey that they went with a solar lease. These decisions aligned with some excellent advice we received from JD Dillon, chief marketing officer at Tigo Energy. He shared that power purchase agreements (PPAs) and leases can seem attractive because you have less to deal with and get a no-money-down option.
However, he went on to share that the long-term benefits of these options are less desirable for many homeowners. Namely, it can make selling your home more challenging. “When you go to sell your house, the person buying it is going to have to qualify for a loan for you and pay the bills on the roof. And realtors who know that avoid it,” he said. We recommend you closely weigh your financial goals to determine what plan is best for you.
As of December 2023, Trinity is available in nine states: Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
Trinity has an A+ rating and accreditation from the Better Business Bureau but only a 2.72-out-of-5-star customer rating based on just under 100 reviews. We found Trinity highly responsive to all customer reviews. Other than the most recent review, Trinity responded to all present reviews, which is uncommon in the solar industry. The company’s Trustpilot page also features a mixed score but only a few reviews.
There are a lot of negative comments about Trinity that focus on its persistent sales tactics, such as spam calls. Additionally, customers are frustrated by the long wait times for follow-up repairs.
Positive reviews mention the professionalism and approachability of Trinity’s customer support team and the convenient communication tools the company provides.
Trinity’s ample customer support tools allow it to maintain an overall positive reputation. Although the company doesn’t offer the best labor warranty we’ve encountered or disclose much information upfront, it provides a hands-on, dedicated support team to make going solar more accessible and easy.
We recommend getting at least three solar quotes before deciding which company to hire. This approach lets you compare costs and offerings closely to achieve the most optimized experience possible.
We rate and compare solar installers using our in-depth methodology. Installers are scored out of 100, and we then divide the final score by 20 to get the 5-star rating we include in our reviews.
We evaluate solar installers on a variety of key factors, including their customer service, breadth of services, consultation process, website experience, panel quality, payment options, financing availability and warranty coverage.
BBB information is current as of June 2024.
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