Aurora Solar launches quarterly residential solar ‘trust tracker’
Aurora Solar has launched its Trust Signal initiative, a new quarterly benchmark to track U.S. homeowner experiences with solar energy firms.
The tool launches as a response to a common renewable energy research finding: homeowner desire to find the “good” solar companies. The Aurora Solar Snapshot found that in 2023, 22% of responses said “trustworthiness of solar companies” was a concern, and that number nearly doubled the next year, hitting 43% in 2024.
With more than 8,000 homeowners polled, surveys show that trust in solar companies is improving as of September 2026. After a slight improvement in trust levels in 2025, ticking down to 41% of responses, this year’s survey showed another dip to 36%.
“When it comes to going solar and electrifying a house, homeowners are making a decision about technology they’ll live with for 25 years or more, often without enough information to assess the offer in front of them,” says Aurora Solar co-founder Chris Hopper. “That’s a hard position to be in as a buyer, and a tough one to sell into.
“The Aurora Solar Trust Signal is how we measure this gap, and the Aurora Solar Marketplace is how we close it: by putting real production estimates and side-by-side installer comparisons in a homeowner’s hands.”
Behind the numbers
The Aurora Solar Trust Signal aims to dig deeper into the findings the San Franciscan company has been finding in its customer data for years.
The quarterly health check gauges homeowner trust, and shows the solar industry is making positive in-roads in the residential sector. From August 2025 to July 2026, a growing share of homeowners reported “no negative experience” with a solar company, with those numbers improving every quarter.
“The numbers point to a useful theme,” the company says. “Homeowners want to know how to best evaluate a solar company, and better-informed homeowners are less likely to judge installers by the reputation of a few industry outliers.
Other findings from Aurora Solar’s recent research include the outline of a generational divide, with 46% of Gen Z and 41% of Millennials being open to solar, compared to 33% of Gen X and just 18% of Baby Boomers. About one third of homeowners surveyed listed keeping costs down as their foremost reason for interest in solar, as demand for electricity from AI data centers continues to spike.
Perhaps the most promising data point, however, is that 71% of homeowners are open to going solar, as of Aurora’s most recent survey. The company aims to use this data point to help residential customers keep their trust in the practice going forward.
Aurora Solar will publish an updated Trust Signal every quarter, alongside its annual Aurora Solar Snapshot. The firm will also offer a “no-pressure estimate” through its online quoting service.
