Installer profile

Solar Optimum

Provisional grade. Clear California licensing, independently reported 2025 volume, and unusually detailed warranty terms support a B, while 20 BBB complaints in three years keep this from a cleaner grade.

Solar Optimum is a Glendale installer whose company materials date its founding to 2008. California's contractor database lists a clear license with A, B, and C-10 classifications, and Solar Power World ranked it #28 in California for 2025 installed volume. The warranty package is unusually specific: 25 years of residential workmanship coverage and a 25-year performance guarantee. The counterweight is visible: BBB reports 20 complaints over the last three years, including 18 closed in the most recent 12 months. That does not erase the documented operating record, but it makes a contract review and recent customer references necessary, not optional.

The evidence

LongevityVerified

The company says it was founded in 2008. BBB records a business start of January 4, 2009 and incorporation on March 17, 2009, while the CSLB license was issued in 2012. Those dates describe an established operator, not a new entrant.

Source: BBB profile

Complaints and enforcementPending verification

BBB gives Solar Optimum an A+ rating and reports 20 complaints in the last three years, with 18 closed in the last 12 months. No acquisition, bankruptcy, or regulatory action was found in the research. A rating does not settle the complaint question, so read the pattern and ask what changed during the recent closure period.

Source: BBB complaints page

Verifiable volumeVerified

Solar Power World ranked the firm #28 in California in its 2026 list, reporting 16,977.24 kW installed in California during 2025 and 20,912.11 kW nationwide. The company also says it has installed more than 550 MW of solar and storage. That is the company's own number, we treat it as a claim. BBB lists 20 employees, a field that is inconsistent with the reported volume and may be stale.

Source: Solar Power World, 2026 Top California Solar Contractors

License statusVerified

CSLB lists Solar Optimum Design & Electrical as a corporation with license 972228, A, B, and C-10 classifications, CLEAR status, issued April 19, 2012 and expiring April 30, 2028. That is a direct state-record match for the operating name listed by BBB.

Source: CSLB Public Data Portal classification extract

Warranty termsCompany claim

Solar Optimum publishes a 25-year residential workmanship warranty, 25-year panel, microinverter, racking, and roof warranties, plus a 25-year performance guarantee with remediation if production falls below the estimate. Warranties transfer on a home sale. These are the company's published terms, not independently audited terms, so get the current document attached to the contract.

Source: Solar Optimum warranties page

Company facts

Headquarters	Glendale, California
Entity	Solar Optimum Design & Electrical, Corporation; BBB also lists DBA Solar Optimum Design & Electrical
Employees	20 per BBB, likely stale
Service area	California; roofing offered only in California
CSLB license	972228, A \| B \| C-10, CLEAR; expires April 30, 2028
Residential services	Solar, battery storage, and roofing

Data pulled August 18, 2026 from CSLB Public Data Portal, BBB complaints, Solar Power World and Solar Optimum warranties.

How to read this

This is a real, documented operator with a clear state license and meaningful independently reported volume. The complaint count is the part that deserves work from the buyer. Ask for a breakdown of recent complaints by issue type, then speak with customers whose systems were completed in the last year. Also make the production estimate, the warranty document, and the roof-responsibility language part of the signed contract. Do not rely on the 25-year headline alone. Our full rubric, including how our own installation business gets graded on the same scale, is on the methodology page. We are a solar installer and we partner with other solar companies. Grading is structurally separated from revenue; see disclosures.