Solar Panels Lakeside
Put a system on your roof and you own your electricity at a price that never goes up, no matter what the co-op does next year.
Is solar worth it in Lakeside?
Your power bill only ever moves in one direction. Flathead Electric raised its rates again in June 2026, and the more you use, the more each kilowatt costs you.
A solar system on your roof puts a stop to that. The power your own panels make costs the same in year twenty as it does the day we switch it on, so every rate increase after that is one you read about instead of pay. Most homes in Lakeside can cover most of what they use, year in and year out. Above Flathead Lake, plenty of homes sit on open, sunny slopes, and a south-facing roof up there is about as good as a solar roof gets.
You do not have to take our word for any of it. We will design a system for your house and put your savings in writing, free, before you decide anything.
Projects we’re proud of
You have driven past our work. Since 2017 we have installed more than a hundred systems across the Flathead Valley, on homes, on businesses, and on places you already know.
Nelson’s Ace Hardware
Seventy-eight panels on the busiest road in Whitefish, with a USDA grant we helped the owners win.
O’Shaughnessy Cultural Arts Center
A 44-panel array we are installing now on the Whitefish Theatre Company’s home.
Legacy Bike Park
Panels on the roof of the park building, powering a place built for people who live outside.
What Lakeside customers say
Twenty-three Google reviews, and every one of them is five stars.
“It was great working with Northstone Solar. Friendly, accommodating, flexible, responsive. Got answers to all my questions. They were willing to explain things, and discuss the project and work with me to understand any special requests I had. Communication was clear and uncluttered, and never any hard-sell or manipulation, just direct and forthright information. Kind of rare these days. It was a very positive and even fun experience all around, and was that way from the start. I give them my highest recommendation.”
“We started to look at installing solar panels on our home in late Spring 2020. I contacted 3 companies. Two, simply took a snapshot of our roof from a Google satellite photo, slapped some panels on it and provided a very optimistic “analysis” of the payback period. Lee and Curran with Northstone Solar were different. They actually came out to the house, climbed on the roof, took measurements to determine the actual solar exposure and then provided a realistic analysis of what we might expect for solar production and payback period. Throughout the design and installation process they were detail oriented and treated it like they were putting the system on their own home. They took into account roof loading, the length of electrical runs to minimize losses and the ease of access for a potential future battery installation. The results have been more than we hoped for. We are into our second full year of the system’s operation and from April/May through Jan/Feb our electric bill consists of the basic monthly fee/demand charge all Flathead Electric Coop customers pay and nothing for actual electricity. If you are looking for a solar company that is honest, straightforward and will do the job right the first time, you can’t do better than Northstone Solar!”
What solar costs in Lakeside
It costs less than you probably think, and you do not have to guess. In one visit we design a system for your house and put the cost, the savings and the financing in writing, free, so you can decide with the real numbers in front of you.
Solar installation services in Lakeside
Residential solar
Your roof, sized to your house, paying you back every month.
Battery backup
Keep the lights, the fridge and the furnace running when the line goes down.
Ground mounts
Acreage outside town? Put the array where the sun is best and leave the roof alone.
Commercial solar
Cut the biggest bill your Lakeside business pays, and lock in what your power costs for decades.
Off-grid systems
Power where the utility does not go, built to run on its own year‑round.
EV charging
Charge at home on power your roof made.
Why Lakeside homeowners choose Northstone
Because the people who sell you the system are the same people who install it, and the same people who will pick up the phone in year eight.
Our own crew designs and installs every system and looks after it afterward. We specialize in Enphase equipment, which means every panel works on its own and you can watch each one from your phone. The array on the roof of the Legacy Bike Park building is ours, so you have already seen our work if you have been to the park. We have been building for Flathead winters since 2017, so a Lakeside winter is already part of the design.
It takes one visit for us to design a system for your house and put your savings in writing. After that, the decision is yours.
Questions about solar in Lakeside
Is solar worth it in Lakeside?
It is, and the reason is your power bill. Flathead Electric raised its rates again in June 2026, and the co-op charges you more for every kilowatt the more you use. A solar system on your roof locks in what your electricity costs for decades, so every rate increase after that is one you get to skip. If you would like to see what that means for your own house, book a free consultation and we will show you the numbers.
How much do solar panels cost in Lakeside?
Usually less than people expect, but the honest answer depends on your house. In one visit we design a system for your roof and your usage, then put the cost, the savings and the financing in writing so you can look it over at your kitchen table. That is the number worth having, and it costs you nothing to get it.
Who is the best solar company in Lakeside?
The best way to answer that is to ask who actually does the work and who picks up the phone afterward. At Northstone, our own crew installs every system and looks after it for as long as you own it. We have put in more than a hundred systems across this valley, every one of our Google reviews is five stars, and our customers still hear from us years after the install.
What solar incentives are available in Lakeside?
Montana still helps pay for solar with the state property-tax exemption and the state clean‑energy loan, and we handle the paperwork for both. Farms and rural businesses can also use USDA’s REAP program; its grants are paused right now, but its guaranteed loans are open, and we will tell you where it stands when we meet. The old 30% federal credit ended after 2025, and we would rather tell you that plainly than advertise it the way some companies still do.
Does solar work through a Lakeside winter?
It does. We have been installing through Flathead Valley winters since 2017, and we size every system for the whole year so the short days are already accounted for. The panels shed snow on their own. Ask us and we will show you a real local system’s twelve months.
Can I add a battery later?
Yes. We design every system so that a battery can be added later without rebuilding anything, and plenty of our customers start with panels and add backup when they are ready.
Does solar make my house harder to sell?
Not when you own the system. It sells with the house like the roof does, and the next owner inherits a lower power bill. The stories you hear about come from leased panels, where a buyer has to take over someone else’s contract. We do not sell leases, so what we install is yours.
Find out what your Lakeside roof would do
In one visit we will design a system for your house and put your savings in writing, free.