In this issue:

22 TOP 500 SOLAR CONTRACTORS LIST
Honoring the best of the industry

85 CONTRACTORS BY STATE
Recognizing local solar businesses doing the job right

100 5 YEAR CONGRATULATIONS
How has the solar business evolved in the last 5 years?

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Congratulations, each and every one of you

In solar, it’s easy to get consumed by big numbers and splashy headlines. It’s a good problem. Records are being broken. Huge projects are getting commissioned. More efficient technologies are arriving every day.

The U.S. president regularly highlights our industry’s success. In his most recent State of the Union address, Barack Obama said this about solar:

On rooftops from Arizona to New York,solar is saving Americans tens of millions of dollars a year on their energy bills and employs more Americans than coal [extraction]—in jobs that pay better than average.

With all of this attention on our industry, it’s easy to forget that really big numbers—like the 29.3 GW of total solar installed in the U.S. today—come from the small, unpublicized achievements of individual people following an unwavering passion.

Sometimes we’re asked why we publish the Top 500 Solar Contractors list. We do it for the individual companies that build the solar industry one panel at a time. We do it to recognize the contributions of many.

We’re always astonished by the true passion renewable energy exhibited by the leaders and staff of solar companies. We think they would all agree that a 4-kW solar installation on a house is as important a contribution to the future as a 400-MW installation in the desert.

Robert F. Kennedy once said:

Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events.

The 2016 Top 500 Solar Contractors list recognizes the contractors coast to coast, in the United States and Canada, who are working hard, growing their businesses and contributing positively to the environment. This fifth edition of the list is our way of saying thank you and congratulations.

We can’t wait for you to flip through this issue, which is packed full of stories and opinions, new companies to the list and veterans. We even feature 38 companies that have appeared on the list all five congratulations to them!

Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you at SPI.