Arkansas has affordable electricity rates, at less than 12 cents per kilowatt-hour in June 2023 — but solar panels might still make sense for your individual home energy situation.
Plenty of sunlight, strong net metering policies and affordable solar panel price make the path to energy independence a little easier in the Natural State. Arkansas averages 4.69 hours of peak sun per day, which is great for solar energy generation, and residential solar costs have decreased by 52% in the past 10 years.
The Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress in 2022 put forward a federal tax credit arming residents with more solar buying power. This credit, the residential clean energy credit, lets homeowners take advantage of a 30% rebate on all of the clean energy additions they make to their homes; that includes solar panel systems and solar batteries.
If you’re looking to go solar and save money on your energy bills, here’s what you need to know, starting with the best solar companies operating within Arkansas.
Arkansas solar panel companies
Freedom Forever
Best for cash customers
Include Freedom Forever in your search if you want the backing of a national company that installs a wide variety of the most popular solar equipment available. Freedom Forever also extends a couple of products that take some of the pain and risk out of going solar, like a production guarantee and an escrow option with cash purchases. Online reviews say customer satisfaction has been low of late, though the company says that’s changing.
Located in Russellville, Arkansas, Perihelion Solar is an employee-owned solar company founded in 2018. In addition to solar panel installations, Perihelion provides education about solar energy and advocates for reforms. The company’s certified professionals install name-brand products from SunPower and REC.
Since 2015, Seal Solar has performed more than 850 residential solar system installations for homes in Arkansas. Following an instant price estimate, Seal Solar has a five-step process to install a solar system. The company’s certified professionals will help determine the exact size your home needs and provide financing options with contracts ranging from five to 25 years. In addition to manufacturer warranties, Seal Solar adds a 25-year quality of work warranty.
Shine Solar has installed solar panels on more than 1,800 homes in Arkansas and some surrounding states, like Oklahoma. The company provides the Shine Promise, which includes lifetime monitoring, a 12-year quality of work warranty, a 25-year minimum production guarantee and a 50% panel buy-back for upgrades.
The companies we listed above as “the best” are curated from CNET’s best solar companies list. Companies making the best list are scored on the equipment, warranties and customer service they offer. Then, we make sure these recommendations are available in your state. You can read a full breakdown of how we review solar companies here.
Companies listed under the local installers were chosen in a less rigorous way. We chose them because they offered something unique or notable to customers in the state, they seemed well-regarded by internet reviewers or because they were one of the few installers we could find information on in the state.
Whether we’ve completed a full review on a company or not, it’s always a good idea to get multiple quotes from different installers before choosing a company.
