Checking Out a Solar Company With No Website

Nearly three in ten listings lack one. Of the 161 companies in the index, 48 have no website link on their profile and 113 have one. The 48 are the 28 with no website on record, the same 28 the site's methodology page counts, plus 20 whose website address the site stopped linking after its checks found it unreachable.

On a profile, the two groups look much the same: neither has a website link. So search the company's name yourself before you decide it never had a site.

The site keeps all 48 listed. Its methodology page says being unreachable from a datacentre "is not evidence that anyone stopped trading: the domain may have lapsed while the business carries on". A small installer may never have built a site at all. Either way, you have less to read before you get in touch, and more to ask.

In this index, mostly because the domain no longer resolves or its security certificate is invalid or expired. The site's link check of 26 August 2026 records a reason for each of the 19 addresses it withholds, which are the 19 the methodology page reports as not linked:

• For 7, the domain no longer resolves, so there is nothing to reach.
• For 6, the security certificate is invalid or expired, so a browser refuses to open the page.
• For 5, the server answers that the page is gone.
• For 1, the server returns an error of its own.

The 20th address was dropped after an earlier check, on 19 August 2026, found that it refused connections.

The methodology page also says the site withholds an address that "answers with a business that has nothing to do with the listing, because a lapsed domain gets rebought". None of the 19 withheld today falls in that group, but it is why you should open any website you find yourself and check that the business name and address on it match the company you are dealing with.

Half of them are on the site's Toronto page. Of the 28 companies with no website on record, 14 are among the 49 companies on the Toronto page, so the Toronto page holds about 30 percent of the index but half of these 28. Those 14 include all 7 companies the index places in Scarborough Town Centre, one of seven neighbourhoods whose companies the Toronto page lists together.

The other 14 are spread out: 4 in Mississauga, 2 each in Markham and Oakville, 1 in Richmond Hill, 4 in Toronto neighbourhoods with too few companies for a page of their own, and 1 record with no area. The guide to Mississauga's solar companies covers that city's records one by one. Counting the 20 unreachable websites as well, 21 of the 49 companies on the Toronto page have no website link.

Three: two need only the company's name, and one checks the licence number of whoever does the wiring.

The Google record. Every profile on this site has a View on Google Maps link to the company's Google record. For the 28 companies with no website, the site's record holds an address for 27, opening hours for 18 and 3 or more photos for only 4. Check that the name and address on the Google record match what the company tells you, then read its reviews. The site's guide to reading solar reviews before you book explains what they can and cannot tell you.

The Ontario Business Registry. The Government of Ontario says anyone can search the Ontario Business Registry for free to get basic information about a business. A registered name that matches the one on your quote is a basic sign that you know who you are dealing with. When ordered directly from the ministry, a profile report costs $8 and a certificate of status costs $26, and the province says an intermediary or service provider may charge additional service fees.

The electrical licence lookup. The Electrical Safety Authority (ESA) says Licensed Electrical Contractors "are the only businesses in Ontario legally authorized to do electrical work in your home". The number to ask for is the ECRA/ESA licence number, where ECRA is the Electrical Contractor Registration Agency. The ESA's Finding the Right Contractor page says a Licensed Electrical Contractor has a 7-digit ECRA/ESA licence number, which appears on its vehicles, business cards and estimates, so you can find it without a website. The ESA says to verify the number on its Find a Contractor tool. If the solar company hires another firm for the wiring, use the ESA's advice for working with a general contractor: "Make sure that your General Contractor hires a Licensed Electrical Contractor (LEC) to do any electrical work."

Ask for what a website would normally show you, and get the answers in writing:

1. The legal business name, so you can match it to the registry search.
2. The ECRA/ESA licence number of whoever does the electrical work.
3. Addresses or photos of recent jobs you can see from the street.
4. The area it covers, because the index files each company by where it is based, and none of these 28 has stated a service area anywhere the site could read.
5. Proof of insurance and of WSIB (Workplace Safety and Insurance Board) coverage, because the site checks neither.

A company that answers these clearly and in writing has given you something to check. One that will not has told you something too. For the questions that belong in the contract, from permits to warranties and the payment schedule, use the guide to what to ask before signing.

It misses the points the formula ties to a website, but it stays listed. The site's published formula gives up to 35 of its 100 points for what a company states on its own website, and 10 for a website that answered when the site fetched it. A company with no website on record can earn neither: on all 28 of their profiles, both of those lines read 0.

The methodology page says "A low score is not an accusation." It says a low score usually means a company is young, has few reviews or publishes very little about itself, and that any of those can be true of a company that will do excellent work on your roof. Of the ranking itself, it says: "It builds a shortlist. It does not tell you who should put panels on your roof." Start that shortlist from the solar panel installation list, then let the checks above decide.