Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2025-05-16

Plain-English summary

  • We collect the information you submit to get solar quotes (contact info, home details, electricity bill).
  • We share that information with solar installers in your area so they can contact you with quotes.
  • Sharing leads with installers is considered a "sale" under California and other US state privacy laws.
  • You can opt out of having your information sold or shared at any time using our privacy rights form.

1. Who we are

SolarSavingsCompare.com ("we", "our", or "the Service") is a free comparison marketplace that connects homeowners with pre-screened solar installers. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, share, and protect personal information. By using the Service, you accept the practices described here.

We are based in the United States. The Service is intended for US residents only.

2. Information we collect

Information you provide

When you use our solar calculator, request quotes, or submit a privacy rights request, we collect:

  • Identifiers: name, email address, phone number, postal address, and ZIP code
  • Property details: property type, ownership status, address (used to query Google Solar API for roof analysis), shading information, roof age
  • Energy and financial preferences: monthly electricity bill, planned future appliances, battery interest, financing preference, purchase timeline
  • Consent records: the specific consent text you accepted when submitting a request

Information we collect automatically

  • Device and usage data: IP address, browser type, device type, pages visited, referring URL, timestamps
  • Marketing attribution data: UTM parameters (source, medium, campaign), landing page
  • Cookies and similar technologies: session cookies, analytics cookies (Google Analytics or similar), preference cookies

Information from third parties

  • Google Solar API: when you enter your address, we query Google's Solar API to retrieve roof analysis data (sunshine hours, panel layout, solar potential). This data is associated with your address, not with you personally, until you submit a quote request.
  • Google Places: when you use address autocomplete, address suggestions and structured address data come from Google.

Categories of personal information we collect (CCPA)

For California residents, the categories of personal information we collect map to CCPA categories as follows:

  • Identifiers (§1798.140(o)(1)(A)): name, email, phone, IP, postal address
  • Customer records (§1798.140(o)(1)(B)): physical address, financial preferences relating to solar purchase
  • Commercial information (§1798.140(o)(1)(D)): purchase interest, timeline, financing preference
  • Internet activity (§1798.140(o)(1)(F)): browsing on our Service, referring URLs, interactions with content
  • Geolocation (§1798.140(o)(1)(G)): approximate location from IP and ZIP, precise location from address geocoding
  • Inferences (§1798.140(o)(1)(K)): predicted qualification level for installer matching

We do not knowingly collect "sensitive personal information" as defined under CPRA (such as government IDs, financial account numbers, biometric data, health data, racial/ethnic origin, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation).

3. How we use your information

We use the information we collect to:

  • Match you with one or more pre-screened solar Installer Partners in your area
  • Generate personalised solar estimates using Google Solar API and our calculator
  • Communicate with you about your request, your account, and our service
  • Verify and respond to privacy rights requests
  • Prevent fraud, abuse, and unauthorised access
  • Operate, maintain, debug, secure, and improve the Service
  • Comply with applicable law and regulatory obligations
  • Aggregate and analyse data to understand usage patterns (using de-identified data only)

4. How we share your information

Solar Installer Partners

When you submit a quote request, we transmit the information you provided to one or more pre-screened solar installers ("Installer Partners"). The information transmitted typically includes your name, contact information, ZIP code or address, property type, electricity bill, ownership status, and timeline. Installer Partners use this information to contact you with quotes and to assess whether you are a good fit for their services.

Under California's CCPA/CPRA and similar US state privacy laws, this transmission of personal information in exchange for monetary or other valuable consideration is considered a "sale" of personal information. We are required to disclose this, and you have the right to opt out — see section 7.

Service providers

We use third-party service providers to operate the Service. These providers process information only as needed to provide their services and under contractual confidentiality obligations. Categories include:

  • Database and hosting: Supabase, Netlify
  • Address and solar analysis: Google Solar API, Google Places, Google Maps
  • Analytics: Google Analytics or equivalent
  • Email delivery and communications: transactional email providers

Legal and safety

We may disclose information if we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to: comply with a law, regulation, subpoena, or court order; enforce our Terms of Service; investigate fraud or security incidents; protect the rights, property, or safety of us, our users, or others.

Business transfers

If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganisation, bankruptcy, or sale of assets, information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify users by email or banner if such a transaction will materially affect this Privacy Policy.

We do not share with

  • Unrelated marketers or data brokers (outside of the Installer Partner program)
  • Anyone, if you have opted out of sale/sharing under section 7

5. How long we keep information

We retain personal information as long as necessary to provide the Service and to comply with legal obligations. Specifically:

  • Quote requests and leads: retained for up to 24 months from submission for service delivery, dispute resolution, and regulatory compliance
  • Consent records: retained indefinitely as proof of consent (legally required under TCPA)
  • Privacy rights requests: retained for 24 months minimum (legally required)
  • Solar API cache: retained for up to 90 days, then refreshed
  • Web analytics: retained for up to 26 months

You can request earlier deletion using our privacy rights form, subject to legal exceptions.

6. Cookies and tracking

We use cookies and similar technologies for:

  • Essential session management (required for the Service to function)
  • Analytics (to understand how the Service is used)
  • Marketing attribution (to measure the effectiveness of marketing)

You can disable cookies in your browser settings. Disabling cookies may impair Service functionality. We honour the Global Privacy Control (GPC) browser signal as a Do Not Sell or Share opt-out (see section 7).

We do not currently use third-party advertising cookies. If we add advertising in future, we will update this policy.

7. Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

  • Right to Know: request a copy of the personal information we have about you, including categories, sources, purposes, and recipients
  • Right to Delete: request deletion of personal information we have collected, subject to exceptions
  • Right to Correct: request correction of inaccurate information
  • Right to Opt Out of Sale or Sharing: opt out of having your personal information sold or shared with third parties (including Installer Partners)
  • Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information: restrict how we use any sensitive information
  • Right to Non-Discrimination: we will not deny services, charge different prices, or provide a different level of service based on your decision to exercise these rights

How to exercise your rights

Submit a request via our privacy rights form, or email info@solarsavingscompare.com. We will respond within 15 business days and fulfil verifiable requests within 45 calendar days (extendable to 90 days for complex requests, with notice).

Verification

We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling a request. Typical verification involves matching the email or phone number on your request to information in our records. For sensitive requests (like deletion), we may ask additional verification questions.

Authorised agents

You may use an authorised agent to submit a request on your behalf. The agent must provide written, signed authorisation from you. We may contact you to verify the agent's authority.

State-specific rights

Residents of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Delaware, Iowa, Tennessee, Montana, New Jersey, Nebraska, and other states with similar laws have rights under their state's privacy law. The rights and procedures above apply to all such residents.

8. Children's privacy

The Service is not intended for users under 18 years of age, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn we have collected information from a child under 13, we will delete it. If you believe a child has provided information to us, please contact info@solarsavingscompare.com.

9. Security

We use industry-standard administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information from unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. This includes TLS encryption in transit, encrypted database storage, and access controls limiting who can view personal information. No security system is perfect; we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. International users

The Service is intended for US residents only and our infrastructure is hosted in the United States. If you access the Service from outside the US, you do so at your own risk and you understand that your information will be transferred to and processed in the US.

11. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent change. If a change materially affects how we use or share your information, we will give reasonable notice — for example by email (if you have provided one) or by a banner on the Service. Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of any change constitutes acceptance.

12. Contact us

Questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy? Email info@solarsavingscompare.com. To exercise your privacy rights, use our privacy rights form.