Best Solar Installers in Nelson
We assessed 13 solar installers in Nelson and ranked the top 5 on public rating quality, review volume and how recent the reviews are. The businesses listed below hold 454 Google reviews between them. No business can pay for a place in these rankings. Last updated 22 September 2026. How we rank →
Before you hire
Whether you use a dedicated solar power company or an electrician who installs solar panels, panel quality and installer experience vary significantly. Ask for the payback period calculation based on your actual power bills, check whether they use tier-1 panels, and confirm what happens to your warranty if the installer goes out of business.
Top 5 Solar Installers in Nelson
The top 5 solar installers in Nelson are #1 Fusion Plumbing and Solar, #2 Bluewater Electrics Solar, #3 Solar Sure, #4 Think Solar Nelson, and #5 E-Solar, ranked by Top5 score. Scroll for our take on each, plus what to ask before you hire.
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1
Fusion Plumbing and Solar
★ 4.9 124 reviews Top5 Score 1615★ 113 4★ 10 1★ 1Fusion Plumbing and Solar covers solar panel and hot water system removal, new tank installation, and solar-related upgrades, keeping clients informed and giving them sign-off before work proceeds. Jobs come in on budget or under, and sites are left tidy, with one reviewer noting even cut asphalt was reinstated after the repair.
location_on 10/20 Forests Road, Stoke, Nelson
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2
BLUEWATER ELECTRICS SOLAR AND MARINE SERVICES
★ 5.0 100 reviews Top5 Score 1605★ 95 4★ 5Bluewater Electrics Solar coordinates new residential solar installs, battery additions, EV charging integration, system upgrades, and fault resolution on existing setups. Jon walks clients through monitoring apps before leaving, handles council permitting and hardware selection, and has returned across multiple years for the same households as they expand their systems.
location_on Nelson Marina Service Hub Green Site Container 142 Akersten St Near Marina, Office, Port Nelson, Nelson
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3
Solar Sure
★ 5.0 92 reviews Top5 Score 1595★ 90 4★ 1 3★ 1Solar Sure installs residential solar arrays, battery backup systems, and Tesla Powerwalls, and will reposition poorly placed panels from previous installs to improve output. When complications arise mid-job, the team works through them directly rather than walking away, and post-install follow-up to check system performance is built into how they operate.
location_on Unit 23/24 Harbourside Marine Facility, 219 Akersten Street, Port Nelson, Nelson
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4
Think Solar Nelson (formerly Nelson Solar)
★ 5.0 38 reviews Top5 Score 1475★ 38Think Solar Nelson pairs solar panel, battery, and EV charger installs with a level of pre-sale tailoring that extends to comparing electricity providers and modelling financial returns for each household. Post-install, Toby stays in contact to resolve firmware issues, push for better export limits with the network, and answer ongoing questions, often months after the job is done.
location_on 443a Nayland Road, Stoke, Nelson
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5
E-Solar
★ 5.0 35 reviews Top5 Score 1465★ 34 4★ 1E-Solar installs grid-tied and off-grid solar systems, battery storage, EV chargers, and hybrid setups including micro-hydro combined with PV panels. Lance and Sean work through sizing and usage data with clients before quoting, and multiple reviewers report actual savings that met or exceeded the original estimates within the first year.
location_on 27 Redwood Road, Appleby, Richmond
Before you hire a solar installer in Nelson
Drawn from 160 customer reviews collected for this page. The first answer is what it costs.
What does a solar installation typically cost in New Zealand? expand_more
A standard 5kW to 6.6kW residential system costs between $10,000 and $14,000 installed, covering panels, inverter, and labour. Larger systems up to 10kW can reach $20,000 depending on roof complexity, shading constraints, and inverter brand.
Adding battery storage pushes costs significantly higher, with some Nelson reviewers commissioning 9kW to 13kW battery setups on top of their panel arrays. There is no government subsidy for residential solar in New Zealand as of 2025, so you fund the full cost yourself or through financing.
How do I check if a solar installer is properly accredited? expand_more
Every installer connecting a solar system to the grid must hold a current Registered Electrician licence issued by the Electrical Workers Registration Board (EWRB), and you can verify this before signing anything through the public register at ewrb.govt.nz. Beyond that legal baseline, look for membership of SEANZ, the Sustainable Energy Association of New Zealand, which requires members to meet competency and conduct standards, and ask whether the installer holds SolarCert certification, a programme that tests solar-specific knowledge rather than just general electrical competence.
Both credentials matter for grid connection approvals, because your local lines company will want confirmation the installation meets its technical requirements. Nelson reviewers who reported the smoothest experiences chose installers who handled council permitting, lines company applications, and final inspection without passing that paperwork burden to the homeowner.
How accurate are the payback period and savings estimates I'm being given? expand_more
Payback estimates in New Zealand range from around 8 to 12 years for a solar-only system and stretch to 15 years or more once battery storage is added, and those figures shift considerably based on how much generation you actually use yourself. Export buy-back rates from retailers sit around 8 to 17 cents per kWh, while you pay 28 to 35 cents to import power, so self-consumption is far more valuable than selling surplus back to the grid.
One Nelson reviewer reported their actual bills dropped to a credit position after 12 months, while another saw the system exceed its contracted generation estimate by 10 percent across the first two months. Before accepting any savings projection, ask the installer what export rate and self-consumption ratio they assumed, and whether the estimate was based on your actual historical consumption data rather than a generic household profile.
What are the warning signs of a solar installer you shouldn't hire? expand_more
- –An installer who does the full site assessment remotely using satellite imagery rather than visiting in person may miss shading, roof orientation issues, or structural constraints that affect system performance.
- –Vague or verbal-only timelines, with no written schedule for installation and grid connection, are a reliable predictor of delays that leave you exposed financially.
- –Salespeople who pressure you for a quick decision or who conduct the entire sales process by phone without a site visit should be avoided, as multiple Nelson reviewers flagged this as a red flag when comparing quotes.
- –An installer who does not walk you through the monitoring app before leaving the job has not completed the handover, and you will struggle to identify faults or verify your system is performing as promised.
- –Slow or absent communication after a fault or failure is a serious risk: one local reviewer experienced a system outage lasting over four months with inconsistent support and no compensation for the additional power costs incurred.
- –Refusing to provide a fully itemised invoice or being evasive about labour hours charged are conduct issues that have appeared in Nelson reviews and warrant walking away.
What should you ask before hiring a solar installer? expand_more
- –Ask whether the installer holds a current Registered Electrician licence with the Electrical Workers Registration Board (EWRB) and whether they are a member of SEANZ, the Sustainable Energy Association of New Zealand, and request their registration number so you can verify it yourself.
- –Ask what assumptions underpin the savings estimate, specifically the export buy-back rate used, the self-consumption percentage assumed, and whether the projection was based on your actual power bills rather than an average household figure.
- –Ask who handles the lines company application, metering changes, and council permits, since the best-reviewed Nelson installers managed all of this on behalf of the homeowner.
- –Ask whether app setup, monitoring walkthrough, and a post-installation check-in are included as standard, not optional extras, because reviewers who received this reported far greater confidence in their systems.
- –Ask separately about the workmanship warranty the installer stands behind versus the manufacturer warranties on panels, inverter, and battery, as these are different obligations and the installer's own warranty is what protects you if workmanship causes a fault.
- –Ask for at least three references from installations completed in the past 12 months on homes with a similar roof type or power setup to yours.
Also recommended solar installers in Nelson
Ranked 6 to 10 on the same public review record.
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6
Horizon Solar & Electrical LTD
★ 5.0 19 reviews Top5 Score 1385★ 19Horizon Solar does in-person site assessments before quoting, then adapts panel placement, phase configuration, and battery sizing to each property's specific conditions rather than working from satellite images. Joe walks clients through system monitoring before handover and follows up after installation to confirm performance, with multiple households reporting savings that matched or improved on expectations.
location_on 25 Douglas Road, Wakatu, Nelson
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7
Nexus Electrical Solutions
★ 5.0 18 reviews Top5 Score 1375★ 18Nexus Electrical Solutions delivered a 6kW solar system that performed at or above what the client was promised, at a price that came in below competing quotes from other local installers. Drew keeps clients informed throughout and turns up when he says he will, which matters when coordinating grid connection and inspector visits around a solar job.
location_on 5 Mules Street, Stoke, Nelson
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8
Current Generation
★ 5.0 14 reviews Top5 Score 1345★ 14Current Generation gets residential solar across the line for both grid-tied and fully off-grid setups, including battery storage additions to systems they installed years earlier. David and Ben are named repeatedly for clear pre-install communication, and multiple households report actual power bills running well below what they modelled before going ahead.
location_on 129 Pascoe Street, Annesbrook, Nelson
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9
Lightforce Solar - Nelson Tasman
★ 4.7 10 reviews Top5 Score 1275★ 9 2★ 1Lightforce Solar coordinates the full process from quoting through design, installation, and final inspection, with reviewers citing specific team members like Hector, Callum, and Linda for keeping communication timely at each stage. Post-install, their monitoring app lets owners track generation in real time, and multiple households report power bills halving within the first billing cycle.
location_on 106A Tahunanui Drive, Tāhunanui, Nelson
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10
Carl Stanley Plumbing
★ 4.8 4 reviews Top5 Score 1175★ 3 4★ 1We generate summaries once a business has enough reviews for a reliable sample.
About this ranking
What the 10 solar installers listed above hold, at the 22 September 2026 check.
Across the 14 locations we assess solar installers in, the 129 businesses listed have a median rating of 5.0, and one-star reviews are 2.1% of their total.
How are the top solar installers in Nelson chosen? expand_more
We build this page from Google Maps results for solar installers in Nelson. Each one is scored on its public rating and review record. Businesses outside the area, or whose reviews describe a different line of work, are left out. Every category and city is rechecked on a rolling cycle, about every two to three months. A location with a subscribing business is rechecked every month, and the whole page updates with it. See how we rank for the full method.
What does a business subscription offer? expand_more
No business can pay for a place in these rankings. Claiming and verifying a listing is free. It adds a phone number to the card and a small trust bonus (+3 points) to its score, for confirming a real operator stands behind the listing. The owner also gets a dashboard showing how their score is made up. A paid subscription provides an enhanced card with more ways to reach the business, including a website link and a detailed profile page. It also refreshes this page monthly and adds ranking history and competitor analysis to the owner's dashboard. The subscription adds nothing to the score. Claim your listing or see what a subscription includes.
Why isn't my business listed? expand_more
We build this page from Google Maps results for solar installers in Nelson. The usual reasons for missing out are a Google Business category that does not match, too few reviews to score near the top, or an address outside the area we cover. Sometimes we miss a business that should be here. Check where you rank first. If you are not there and think you should be, get in touch.