Solar installations in Santa Barbara County, CA
20,852 recorded installations in Santa Barbara County, California — capacity, prices and the installers doing the work.
Dataset updated . Sources: LBNL Tracking the Sun + city permit records + state programs + USGS/EIA utility-scale.
Severe-weather exposure: solar sites here have been matched to an average of 0 hail and 1.5 high-wind NOAA storm events — a regional inspection/maintenance signal (proximity, not confirmed damage).
Search every recorded installation in Santa Barbara County by installer, size, date and equipment.
Search sites →Independent check:Stanford's DeepSolar detected about 10,028 solar arrays here from 2018 satellite imagery — our recorded data covers roughly 208% of that. A yardstick, not dated records.
Most active
Top installers in Santa Barbara County
| # | Installer | Installs here |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunrun | 5,705 |
| 2 | Tesla | 3,041 |
| 3 | Brighten Solar | 955 |
| 4 | Sunpower | 783 |
| 5 | Planet Solar | 621 |
| 6 | Sun Pacific Solar Electric | 594 |
| 7 | California Solar Electric Systems | 435 |
| 8 | Solarponics | 410 |
| 9 | Rec Solar Commercial | 386 |
| 10 | Action Energy | 362 |
Growth
Installations by year
Frequently asked questions
How many homes have solar in Santa Barbara County?
PanelCensus records 20,852 solar installations in Santa Barbara County, California (258.4 MW of capacity) — about 13.1% of the county's 159,766 housing units (U.S. Census ACS). Dataset coverage depends on California's reporting programs, so the true total is higher.
How much does solar cost in Santa Barbara County?
The median installed price for recorded systems in Santa Barbara County is $4.61/W pre-incentive; the median system runs 4.7 kW.
Who installs solar in Santa Barbara County?
The most active recorded installers in Santa Barbara County are Sunrun, Tesla, Brighten Solar.
County assignment is derived from installation ZIP codes via the Census 2020 ZCTA↔county crosswalk (primary county by land-area overlap) — approximate at county boundaries. Market penetration = recorded installations ÷ housing units (U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year, Table B25001); it undercounts where dataset coverage is partial. See methodology.