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Sunlight Solar is the original grid-tied solar company in Central Oregon, according to president/founder Paul Israel. (Grid-tied means a solar energy setup that maintains a connection to the electricity grid.)

Sunlight Solar sells, designs and installs everything in-house, with its 17 employees. The company must be doing something right, as Source Weekly readers voted it the Best Solar Company in this year’s Best Of Central Oregon readers’ poll.

Imagine that instead of paying for your electricity, the power company pays you for the extra energy that you generate through solar panels on the roof of your home. After the initial investment, which can be reduced through federal and state incentive programs, homeowners can save tens of thousands of dollars on energy bills over the life of their systems. That solar power can also be used to charge the electric vehicle parked in the garage.

Israel says the company’s clients run about 70% residential and 30% commercial, including a lot of the new construction projects going on around Bend.

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For its clients, the company’s goal is “to spin their utility meter backwards,” says Israel. For anyone considering investing in a solar system, he says, “It’s time to get off the fence. It’s an amazing, evolving technology that has become very reliable,” he adds.

Israel credits the company’s success to its employees and its customers, “who are everything,” he says.

Sunlight Solar

150 NE Hawthorne Ave., Bend

541-322-1910

sunlightsolar.com

Second place: Purelight Power of Bend

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This article appears in Best of Central Oregon 2023.

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Best Solar Company

by Richard Sitts, The Source - Bend, Oregon
August 16, 2023

<h1>Best Solar Company</h1> <p class="byline">by Richard Sitts, The Source - Bend, Oregon <br />August 16, 2023</p> <br /> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full alignright alignright"><a href="https://www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/goods-and-services-badge-copy.png"><img src="https://www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/goods-and-services-badge-copy.png" alt="" class="wp-image-49872" /></a></figure> <p> <span class="fdnDropCap">S</span>unlight Solar is the original grid-tied solar company in Central Oregon, according to president/founder Paul Israel. (Grid-tied means a solar energy setup that maintains a connection to the electricity grid.) </p> <p> Sunlight Solar sells, designs and installs everything in-house, with its 17 employees. The company must be doing something right, as Source Weekly readers voted it the Best Solar Company in this year's Best Of Central Oregon readers' poll. </p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full alignleft alignleft"><a href="https://www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/goods1-2-d56f533cb678b2d7.webp"><img src="https://www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/goods1-2-d56f533cb678b2d7.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-49868" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A drone's-eye view of rooftop solar at Korazon, Rooted Homes' (formerly Kor) development on the east side.</figcaption></figure> <p> Imagine that instead of paying for your electricity, the power company pays you for the extra energy that you generate through solar panels on the roof of your home. After the initial investment, which can be reduced through federal and state incentive programs, homeowners can save tens of thousands of dollars on energy bills over the life of their systems. That solar power can also be used to charge the electric vehicle parked in the garage. </p> <p> Israel says the company's clients run about 70% residential and 30% commercial, including a lot of the new construction projects going on around Bend. </p> <div class="wp-block-group is-style-border fdn-in-article-related"> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Related</h3> </p></div> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full alignright alignright"><a href="https://www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/goods1-1-f4a374703ab35621.webp"><img src="https://www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/goods1-1-f4a374703ab35621.webp" alt="" class="wp-image-49866" /></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Sunlight Solar crew is ready to outfit your home or business.</figcaption></figure> <p> For its clients, the company's goal is "to spin their utility meter backwards," says Israel. For anyone considering investing in a solar system, he says, "It's time to get off the fence. It's an amazing, evolving technology that has become very reliable," he adds. </p> <p> Israel credits the company's success to its employees and its customers, "who are everything," he says. </p> <p> <b> Sunlight Solar</b> </p> <p> 150 NE Hawthorne Ave., Bend </p> <p> 541-322-1910 </p> <p> <a href="http://sunlightsolar.com" target="_blank">sunlightsolar.com</a> </p> <p> <i><b>Second place:</b></i> Purelight Power of Bend </p> <div class="wp-block-group fdn-after-article-related"> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Related Stories</h3> </p></div> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/bestof/best-solar-company-19674572/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com&quot;&gt;The Source - Bend, Oregon&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-Untitled-design-4.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=49862&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.bendsource.com/bestof/best-solar-company-19674572/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/bendsource.com/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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