When it comes to designing your energy ecosystem, there’s no one-size fits all approach. Just as every home is different and deserves a customized analysis, no two installers are alike.
While we at Cape Fear Energy Systems would, of course, love for you to go with us, our primary goal is to serve as educators so you can be confident in whichever decision you choose.
With this being said, there are several factors to keep in mind when it comes to choosing a reputable installer:
The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners®, or NABCEP® for short, is the highest accreditation a company or individual can get in the solar and energy storage industry. Certifications range from sales and design to installation and commissioning. What not mandatory to be considered an industry professional, achieving such an honor requires a mixture of academic knowledge and hands-on experience, and is a clear indicator of dedication in the field and a superior work ethic.
Similarly, manufacturers have their own product certification processes for installers, and utilities usually have a list of recommended installers. Utilities cannot 'partner' with individual installers; however, they can recommend installers in your area and even have a certification process for incentive or demand response programs. Failure to work with an installer that is not certified by the manufacturer or for a utility incentive program typically voids both your products' manufacturer warranties and your eligibility for the utility incentives.
✅ The team at Cape Fear Energy Systems is proud to have had various NABCEP certifications since we first launched in 2007. We are committed to educating our employees to the highest standards and even include the NABCEP PV Associate certification as a milestone built into our career pathway for installers to advance in the field.
✅ Additionally, we have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, are a recommended installer for our the utilities across the NC and SC, and are certified installers with manufacturers such as Tesla, FranklinWH, Generac, and Enphase.
While "local" can be subjective, the main thing you need to consider is whether the installer specializes in your region or is a national organization. Many doorknockers will show up in the warmer months, serving as seasonal reps for installers that are out-of-state or even halfway across the country. In this case, "bigger" doesn't necessarily mean "better," as a national organization probably won't be as familiar with the nuances of your area. They also most likely will subcontract the work out to one company and the servicing to another, if they service it at all.
The installer you choose should:
Be familiar with your area and how certain neighborhoods fair with the coastal storms and grid outages, allowing them to recommend the right products to meet your goals
✅ Cape Fear Energy Systems is locally owned and operated out of Wilmington, NC with additional reps in central NC, allowing us to service a 3- to 3.5-hour radius, from the Outerbanks to Charleston, SC. This-sized territory gives us the ability to respond quickly and efficiently, should our customers ever run into any issues, while also giving us the experience of how one community fairs during inclement weather compared to another and the ability to customize systems accordingly, engineering them appropriately for our coastal hurricanes.
Choosing a national company means choosing an installer who will sub out the labor to install your system and then move on to the next community. Some may go the extra step and set up a satellite office, but there are no real community ties.
When you get installed by your neighbor you get treated as a neighbor; and when you get installed by a national brand, you're just another sale. Choosing someone who is local means also supporting your community, as local installers are more likely to hire local and sponsor local programs and nonprofits.
Some questions to consider:
Do they hire their own employees from your community or is everything sub-contracted out?
Are they active in your chamber of commerce, Home Builders' Association, or other local industry groups, giving them ties to your community?
✅ Cape Fear Energy Systems' team is made up of your neighbors, friends, and family members. When we’re not bringing energy solutions to your home or business, we’re participating in the community, raising families, and making this place our home.
✅ Our reps are active in both NC and SC Chambers of Commerce and Home Builders' Associations, and organizations like Cape Fear CREW, NAWIC, and the Greater Wilmington Business Journal.
✅ We're also proud to have worked on Project Grace, GLOW, Murray Middle School, NourishNC, and the New Hanover Outreach Clinic. We know that every dollar counts for schools and nonprofits and love helping them reduce their monthly energy bills.
Anyone can buy reviews and AI is definitely making it harder to tell fact from fiction these days, that's why it's so important to do your research when comparing installers.
Reviews should be recent, from profiles that have a history of posting more than one review, and with a variety of writing styles and lengths. Of course there are outliers, but you should be able to clearly see individualized experiences, not just a variation of the same story.
Some questions to consider:
Do the reviews mention different aspects of their customer experience or even their experience post-installation?
Does it seem like the installer takes care of their customers when something goes wrong?
Is everyone too positive, or are there challenges mentioned that the installer was able to overcome?
If an installer has a perfect 5.0 rating on Google, it may be worth taking a second look, as no one is "perfect," and this could be a clear indication of purchased reviews--especially if it's a perfect rating out of quite a number of reviews.
An added bonus is if the installer posts any testimonial videos on their social media platforms. Yes, these videos can be faked too, but they aren't faked as often in this industry as the written reviews.
✅ Cape Fear Energy Systems can be found on all major social media platforms and our customer testimonials are featured on our YouTube channel. We'll let the reviews speak for themselves.
Overall, batteries have a 10 to 15-year warranty and solar a 25-year warranty--both with even longer life expectancies. This means that you'll be in a relationship with your installer for well over a decade, making it that much more critical to know who you'll be working with for years to come.