Solar Power World March 2020 Digital Edition is sponsored by CPS North America | Chint Power Global

The world has changed, but the 2020 class of Top Solar Contractors keeps pushing forward

To say 2020 didn’t unfold the way we thought it would is quite the understatement. But despite everything that’s changed since mid-March, our annual Top Solar Contractors issue is still here.

The three of us talked to contractors for the past few months from each of our home offices, separate but united by the mission to showcase our country’s best solar installers, both big and small.

This year’s collection of over 400 Top Solar Contractors is facing obstacles that this industry has never seen before. The first quarter of 2020 was the country’s biggest ever, with 3.6 GW of new solar capacity added. But COVID-19 impacts showed their force in Q2, and Wood Mackenzie is forecasting residential and non-residential markets will see 25% and 38% decreases in year-over-year installation volumes this year.

That’s why it was more important than ever for us to put this issue together, to talk to contractors from coast to coast and tell the stories of what makes them unique.

In this issue, you’ll find stories on a company that employs deaf solar installers, contractors adding ancillary services like EV sales and complete roofing solutions to their offerings, an installer using its background in research and development to come up with new community solar models for low-income populations, and much more.

We want you to know we appreciate the work you do every day to make this country a greener place and get ahead of the second crisis facing us: climate change.

Congratulations to the 2020 class of Top Solar Contractors! We know there’s a long road to recovery ahead, and we will be here to keep telling your stories and sharing all the news and information we can to help you get through this time and continue innovating.

– Solar Power World Editors