Solar Installation Contractors

Rooftop commercial solar runs on scissor lift time. A flat-roof ballasted racking system for a 500-kilowatt commercial project can put six to eight platforms on the roof at once, each one cycling through panel placement, wire management, and inverter work. The rate the job moves is the rate those decks move, not the rate the crew walks. Owning that iron versus renting it over a 30-to-45-day installation window is often a straightforward cost comparison, and the owned unit earns on the next job too.

We fund aerial equipment for solar EPC contractors, roofing-and-solar firms, and O&M service providers. $50k minimum, most deals closed in one to two weeks. Statement-led review below roughly $400k keeps the paperwork manageable for contractors who don't want to dig up three years of tax returns for a scissor lift purchase.

Utility-scale ground-mount solar is a different animal. String inverter installation and tracker rail work runs on rough-terrain scissors and boom lifts that can handle graded sites, soft soil on tracker rows, and the kind of access roads that are really just tire tracks through a field. If your fleet needs to handle both a flat commercial roof and an 80-acre ground-mount project in the same quarter, we can fund a mixed fleet as one order.

Lifts That Match Solar Work

Flat-roof commercial solar is the biggest driver of slab electric scissor demand in the solar space. A 26-foot slab electric sits inside most building load limits, doesn't mark finished roofing membranes when fitted with foam-filled non-marking tires, and can carry two workers plus panel bundles with room left for tools. The Genie GS-3246 and JLG 2632ES are both common on commercial solar sites for this reason. Multi-unit deals on slab electrics qualify for fleet pricing and we fund all of them together off one application.

Ground-mount sites need RT capability. Soft soil between tracker rows will bog down a slab machine. A diesel or dual-fuel rough-terrain scissor gets you the clearance and traction for that environment without requiring a full boom lift mobilization. For elevated work on utility-scale sites where the inverter pads are poured and access is established, a 40-foot boom lift on rough-terrain drive covers the reach that a scissor can't.

O&M crews servicing existing solar arrays use smaller, lighter units. A push-around lift or vertical mast works for rooftop panel cleaning and string troubleshooting where a full-size platform would be overkill. We finance those too, though they tend to land below the $50k floor as single units; bundle with a larger unit purchase and we can often work them into the deal.

Deal Structures for Solar Contractors

Solar contractors often run variable cash flow tied to project completion milestones and interconnection timelines. A utility-scale project that was supposed to hit permission-to-operate in Q2 can slide to Q4 without warning. That irregularity is real, and it matters for how you structure lift financing.

A deferred-payment structure lets you take delivery of the equipment now and defer the first payment 60 or 90 days, giving the project time to generate milestone cash before the lift payment starts. We offer that where it fits the credit profile. A standard term loan on a 48- or 60-month schedule also works for contractors who have consistent project flow and want a clean payoff.

Section 179 and bonus depreciation are worth a conversation with your accountant before the deal closes. Equipment placed in service before year-end qualifies, and the deduction can offset a significant portion of the purchase price in the first year. We don't give tax advice, but we can time the funding close to help you hit the calendar year you need.

For contractors who already own lifts and need working capital for a large project mobilization, a sale-leaseback on existing units pulls cash without adding new iron. The equipment stays on your sites; the equity converts to cash. That structure has worked well for solar EPCs who win a large utility contract and need to mobilize crew and materials before the first project payment arrives.

Can we finance a mix of scissor lifts and a boom lift on one deal?

Yes. We bundle multi-unit, mixed-type orders under one application and one approval. Give us the full equipment list and total invoice and we'll structure it as one deal. This is common for solar EPCs who need platform scissors for the roof work and a rough-terrain boom for the ground-mount portion of the same project.

Our project cashflow is milestone-based and the first payment hits in 90 days. Can the lift payment be structured to match?

A deferred first-payment structure is available on qualifying deals. 60 or 90 days is typical, which lets you take delivery and get the unit on the job before the first payment comes due. Credit profile and deal size affect whether deferred payments are available, but it's worth asking about upfront.

We want to buy used scissor lifts from a rental yard that's selling off a portion of its fleet. Does that work?

Absolutely. Fleet purchases from rental yards are common in this market. We fund used units from commercial sellers. We'll need the VIN or serial numbers, a condition description or inspection report if available, and the seller's invoice. Rental yard units with documented maintenance history underwrite cleanly.

Does challenged credit close us out, or can we still get funded?

Prior credit issues are reviewed in context. We underwrite on cash flow, not just the score. If the business is generating revenue and the bank statements show consistent deposits, we can often structure a deal even when the score doesn't meet a traditional bank's threshold. We may ask for a larger down payment on thinner credit files, but we work with contractors across the credit spectrum.

How do we handle a scissor lift that gets damaged on a utility-scale site? Does that affect the financing?

Equipment insurance is required on any financed unit, so a damaged unit triggers an insurance claim that pays off or repairs the machine. Make sure your policy covers the replacement value or outstanding loan balance, not just the depreciated book value. We can tell you the minimum coverage requirements when the deal closes.