Pretty proposals are easy. Value is a 20-year math problem.

Solar Value Review scores systems the way an owner lives with them: production versus promise, quote versus street price, and payback after the incentives that still exist — not the ones on last year’s flyer.

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Median reviewed payback 7.4 yrs after current federal credit

$2.68per watt, reviewed street range

94%of reviewed systems hit year-1 estimate ±8%

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The value lens

We don’t rate sunshine. We rate the deal attached to it.

Quote vs. street

The same 8 kW kit can swing thousands depending on who knocks. We compare the number on the proposal to what neighbors actually paid.

Payback after policy

Credits change. Net metering changes. We recast the model with what is law now in your utility territory — not a national average from a blog.

Production vs. promise

Year-1 kWh against the sales deck. If a company consistently misses, that becomes the review — not the glossy irradiance map.

Sample value reviews

Systems in the wild, scored for owners.

Value grade A-

Phoenix 7.6 kW · 2024 install

Hit 97% of year-1 estimate. Cash price sat 11% under the first three quotes. Payback modeled at 6.9 years with current ITC and SRP export rules.

Value grade C

New England 10.2 kW + battery

Production on track. The battery was sold as “backup + savings” — savings only appear on 14 storm days a year. Fine resilience buy; weak bill-cut story.

How a review is built

A value score is not a star rating for salespeople.

Each published review starts with documents, not vibes: the signed proposal, first-year production, incentive affidavits, and utility tariff in force on interconnection day. Companies can reply. They cannot edit the math.

Hardware matched to datasheets (degradation, temp coefficient)
Incentives stacked only if the owner actually received them
Avoided-cost modeled on the real tariff, including demand or TOU
Installer pattern notes when quotes diverge from delivered kWh

Example value stack

8.4 kW · mid-Atlantic · cash

Hardware & labor

Federal credit applied

Avoided kWh, year 1–10

Residual production value

Net present value stays green only if export credit holds. We show the break if it doesn’t.

Owner briefing

Send the proposal. Get the value read.

During preview we take a limited number of systems per week. Email is enough to join the queue — attach a proposal later if you want a full write-up.

Queue noted. We’ll send a short intake — no installer will see this address.

FAQ

Straight answers.

Are you an installer or a lead marketplace?

Neither. Solar Value Review does not sell homeowner leads and does not install panels. If that ever changes, this sentence will change first.

Do you only publish systems that “won”?

No. A C-grade system that was the wrong product (oversold battery, undersized array, tariff mismatch) is more useful than another victory lap.

Can a company pay for a better score?

No paid placements, no sponsored grades. Companies may purchase a right-of-reply block under a review. The score stays ours.

What if incentives change after I sign?

We timestamp every model. Reviews include a “policy risk” note so you can see what happens if export credit or the federal credit steps down.