Best solar shopping tools for solar and battery buyers
Adding a battery creates a second design question. Solar production tells you about generation; it does not by itself tell you which circuits will remain powered or for how long. Choose tools and advisors that help keep the storage objective visible in the proposal.
| Tool | Best fit in this guide | Access and tradeoffs |
|---|---|---|
| EnergyPal | Best fit for a person helping you interpret solar and battery options. | Request advisor help through its website; confirm the applicable service and financing terms. |
| EnergySage | Useful for comparing solar-plus-storage offers with consistent requirements. | Free for shoppers; participating providers support the marketplace. |
| CleanFuture (ours) | Useful for preparing a list of goals, loads and unanswered storage questions. | Account required to save; saved AI estimates currently require an active subscription. |
What matters for homeowners considering solar and batteries
Name the job for storage
Describe whether your priority is selected loads during outages, energy shifting or another objective. Do not assume one configuration optimizes every goal.
Get the complete scope
Ask which circuits and equipment are included, what switching or electrical work is required, and which loads are excluded. A battery model name is not a backup plan.
Demand explicit assumptions
Ask how any stated runtime or bill savings was calculated. Compare the load profile, operating settings and applicable tariff before comparing results.
EnergyPal
- Category
- Advisor-assisted solar shopping
- Best for
- Best fit for a person helping you interpret solar and battery options.
- Access
- Request advisor help through its website; confirm the applicable service and financing terms.
EnergyPal describes dedicated advisors who help households compare solar and battery offers, equipment, warranties and financing.
What to weigh before choosing
Confirm the advisor’s scope and ask for written details from the installer responsible for the design.
Check service availability and the providers considered. Read the contact consent before requesting help; the reviewed form includes calls and texts.
EnergySage
- Category
- Homeowner quote marketplace
- Best for
- Useful for comparing solar-plus-storage offers with consistent requirements.
- Access
- Free for shoppers; participating providers support the marketplace.
EnergySage organizes installer quotes and lets shoppers compare equipment, warranties and financing with advisor support.
What to weigh before choosing
Check the appropriate workflow for battery-only shopping and local provider availability.
A marketplace shortlist is not every installer in your area. Confirm local availability and the scope of each proposal.
CleanFuture (ours)
- Category
- Conversational household planning
- Best for
- Useful for preparing a list of goals, loads and unanswered storage questions.
- Access
- Account required to save; saved AI estimates currently require an active subscription.
Discuss your energy plan in Chat, explore supporting Map and Data pages, and keep preliminary estimate versions inside My system. You can explicitly publish a limited read-only snapshot.
What to weigh before choosing
Do not interpret a regional solar estimate as a battery dispatch simulation or a guaranteed outage result.
Not installer bidding, professional roof design or a guaranteed savings calculation. A regional solar estimate excludes battery costs and detailed tariff modeling.
A practical next-step checklist
- List the loads you want backed up and how long you want them to operate.
- Ask each installer to state the included circuits and excluded loads.
- Compare equipment, electrical work and operating assumptions together.
- Keep any savings illustration separate from the promised installation scope.
A situation to watch for
Keeping a refrigerator and selected outlets running is a different brief from backing up every circuit. Give all bidders the same list before deciding that a smaller or cheaper storage system is equivalent.
This checklist is our planning advice, not a claim that any listed tool automatically performs every step.
Questions worth asking
Does annual solar production establish backup runtime?
No. Runtime depends on the specified storage system, available energy and the loads being served. Ask for the assumptions behind the proposed backup scenario.
Does CleanFuture’s solar estimate include battery costs?
The regional solar estimate does not include battery costs or a battery design. Keep storage as a separate scope that requires further evaluation.
Turn the reading into a plan
Bring your questions to Chat and keep the assumptions tied to your system.
Discuss my plan in ChatYour question and this article’s context will be prefilled for you to review and send. Account required to save a system; saved AI estimates currently require an active subscription. Preliminary guidance, not an installation quote.
Sources and review method
We make CleanFuture. These are our editorial recommendations based on first-party documentation and our own product’s scope, not hands-on performance tests. We recommend other products when they fit the job better. US-focused; local availability and terms need checking.
We selected five overlapping solar workflows: quote comparison, installer research, advisor-led buying, production modeling and professional design. PVWatts and OpenSolar are adjacent tools, not equivalent homeowner services. This is a focused shortlist, not an exhaustive market survey or an objective top-five company ranking.
Recommendations weigh the task, required inputs, output, access terms and limitations. We did not test purchases, installation quality, model accuracy or response times. Product descriptions come from the linked official documentation; workflow advice and rankings by fit are our editorial judgment. We do not use numeric ratings or vendor savings claims to choose winners.
For broader whole-home electrification, also consider QuitCarbon’s planning and coaching. Solar.com is another shopping service outside this five-tool selection. Exclusion is not a negative evaluation.
Sources: EnergyPal: solar and battery advisor service; EnergyPal: advisor request and contact terms; EnergySage: marketplace process; EnergySage: getting and managing quotes; EnergySage: company and marketplace model; CleanFuture: solar estimate workflow.
Capabilities and terms can change. Check the provider’s current documentation and your actual proposal before committing.