New star rating reports were emailed to all participating solar trade allies based on your participation from August 1, 2016, to July 31, 2017. Star ratings are re-evaluated every three months based on applications submitted and installations completed over the past 12 months.

Highlights from this rating period

• A total of 118 solar trade ally contractors were enrolled in the Energy Trust Trade Ally Network. Of those, 74 solar trade allies submitted applications or completed projects during the current rating period, qualifying them to receive a star rating—three more than the previous rating period.
• In this rating period, 48 solar trade ally contractors have a star rating of two-and-a-half or three stars—nearly two-thirds of the trade allies rated during this period.
• The most common corrections issued were for missing System Labels (2.3.17) and missing Customer Manuals (3.1.1).

Program Enhancements

In response to solar trade ally feedback, beginning this rating period and going forward, projects placed in Pending Paperwork status will not be counted in the Program Service score. The Program Service score will be solely based on the number of applications that have corrections found during the technical design review and enter Design Rejected status. Projects placed in Pending Paperwork status will no longer have an impact on a solar trade ally’s star rating score, although trade allies will still be expected to meet all application requirements. This program enhancement is part of Energy Trust’s ongoing solar soft costs reduction initiative, which is designed to reduce the cost of solar installations in Oregon.

For complete details on how the star rating is determined, see the Solar Trade Ally Rating System document. The next rating period ends October 31, 2017.