by Bret Biggart
I believe in this solar power the way Edison believed in electricity. I’ve seen what solar can do and how it helps keep everyone — from homeowners to business owners to grid operators — free and safe from high bills and blackouts.
More than that, tens of millions of roofs in this country lend themselves to solar but don’t have panels yet. Solar can bring so many benefits to the owners of those homes and buildings that its continued growth is inevitable.
So if you ask me whether it’s a good time to be in solar power, my answer’s pretty much always yes.
That said, this is definitely a weird time to be in solar.
Our company, Freedom Solar Power, experienced incredible growth over first part of this decade. Then, over the last couple of years, business slowed way down, largely due to inflation (making systems more expensive) and rising interest rates (making it more expensive to install them).
This wasn’t just our problem: every solar company has faced much tougher sledding over the last couple of years. A whole lot of those companies didn’t make it — that’s a shame, but it also means the ones that did make it are really well-positioned for the future.
Freedom Solar made it. While our residential business dipped last year, increased work for commercial clients offset that loss, and we’re again projecting growth this year as more homeowners turn to solar.
Longer term, the future is even brighter. Again, a lot of that has to do with costs.
First, the price of solar panels has dropped dramatically. Technology keeps getting better and cheaper, and federal investments in U.S. solar panel manufacturing are accelerating the trend.
Second, interest rates are coming down. That means more homeowners can affordably finance solar systems.
Third, energy isn’t getting any cheaper. Even with the Trump Administration’s wave of anti-renewables executive orders this month, it’s very unlikely that power bills will decrease, and natural gas prices will always be volatile. Homeowners who generate their own no-cost electricity from the sun — and especially those who store the extra energy in batteries such as Tesla Powerwalls — have certainty on their power costs. And again, solar and storage investments keep getting cheaper.
I’m also confident because Freedom Solar has a great, great team. These are, hands down, the smartest, most creative people I’ve ever worked with anywhere.
We’re aligned in a really rare way, all pulling in the same direction to help every homeowner achieve energy freedom. And we’re doubling down on customer service. Just at Freedom Solar, we’re reworking incentives with contractors and increasing accountability measures to ensure that every customer has a great experience.
Don’t get me wrong: the industry still has challenges. At the end of the day, solar installations require a lot of work, and installers have to be a combination of roofers, electricians, arborists, and financial experts.
There also continues to be a lot of good and important media coverage about bad actors who use solar scams to cheat customers. A lot of industry leaders — very much including me — will spend 2025 working with legislators in Texas and elsewhere to protect consumers from unscrupulous, unethical, and illegal business practices.
But this is also a very young industry. I’m beyond confident that a lot of these issues will clear up as the industry matures and responsible leaders work together to make sure solar power is truly serving consumers.
Beyond that, the future is golden. Solar power just makes sense for millions and millions of people who don’t have it yet.
As tough as the last couple of years have been, we’re very excited for what’s coming.