Solar
Solar sits 4th of 6 in electrical and technology on net profit, and carries heavier overhead than the 48-trade average. Here is every figure, across all 7 revenue bands.
Solar by revenue band
| Metric | $1M–$5M | $5M–$10M | $10M–$25M | $25M–$50M | $50M–$100M | $100M–$500M | $500M+ | CFOS target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overhead | 15% | 14% | 13% | 12% | 11% | 10% | 9% | 14% |
| Gross margin | 22% | 23% | 24% | 25% | 27% | 28% | 30% | 24% |
| Net profit | 7% | 9% | 11% | 13% | 16% | 18% | 21% | 10% |
- 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker, Executive Summary, Construction Financial Management Association, 2024. The survey puts gross profit margin at 21.8%, SG&A at 11.8%, and net income before taxes at 6.3% across all respondents. The best-in-class top quartile reaches 11.9% net income before taxes. Those figures are the whole-population reading, so a single trade can sit well either side of them.
- 2025 Performance Benchmarks, Construction Companies, Jones Maresca and Company, 2025. This study reports specialty contractor gross margin between 15% and 25%. It puts net profit at 5% to 8% for a well managed company, and total indirect cost between 8% and 15%. The indirect cost band is the one worth reading twice, because it's the number most owners have never calculated for their own shop.
- SPM Trade Benchmark Reference, Sulphur Prairie Operations LLC, 2026. The reference holds 48 trades, and net profit in it is stated before taxes. It publishes here as 47 trade pages, because landscaping and irrigation share an identical benchmark profile and are one market, so they're presented together. Everything else carries its own row.
How these figures were built. Gross margin and overhead come from CFMA's 2024 and 2025 financial survey data, plus a January 2026 specialty trade study. Net profit comes from a 48 trade master dataset that covers 24 served trades and 24 adjacent trades. The reference holds 48 trades and the site publishes 47 pages, because landscaping and irrigation carry the same figures and are the same market. Where the survey and the master disagree on net profit, the master carries it. Benchmarks are reviewed against each new CFMA survey release and reconciled before publication.
5 problems specific to solar
Your panels came in three weeks and the pad-mount transformer is quoted at a year. You sold at a fixed dollar per watt in March and bought steps in June, and a trade ruling in between moved the cost. The physical work ended months ago. You bid one mobilization and the job pulled six: survey, panel upgrade, racking and set, inspection, meter swap, and commissioning.
Each one below points at the item, the unit, the clock, or the party that makes it a solar problem, and it says which step fixes it.
Solar against the other 47 trades
| Metric | Solar | Electrical and technology average | All 48 average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overhead | 15% | 15.5% | 15.1% | 17th of 48 |
| Gross margin | 22% | 22.8% | 22.1% | 20th of 48 |
| Net profit | 7% | 7.3% | 7% | 21st of 48 |
Solar sheds 6 points of overhead between $1M–$5M and $500M+, against 6 for electrical and technology as a group. Inside that group, Electrical keeps the most at 9% and Fiber runs the leanest overhead at 15%. Solar is neither, which is the usual position and the one with the most room in it.
Other electrical and technology trades
What owners ask
What overhead should a solar contractor run?
Solar shares its overhead figure with 13 other trades at this revenue, which is what the published data resolves to. It runs 15% at $1M–$5M and 9% at $500M+, as a percentage of revenue. That sits 0.5 points below the electrical and technology average of 15.5%. The CFOS target at $1M–$5M is 14%. The CFOS target is one point leaner than your trade's average at your revenue.
What gross margin should a solar contractor run?
Solar shares its gross margin figure with 11 other trades at this revenue, which is what the published data resolves to. It runs 22% at $1M–$5M and 30% at $500M+, as a percentage of revenue. That sits 0.8 points below the electrical and technology average of 22.8%. The CFOS target at $1M–$5M is 24%. The CFOS target is published at $1M to $5M. It's set at whatever gross margin produces the net profit target once overhead is paid, and never below your trade's own average.
What net profit should a solar contractor run?
Solar shares its net profit figure with 15 other trades at this revenue, which is what the published data resolves to. It runs 7% at $1M–$5M and 21% at $500M+, before taxes, as a percentage of revenue. That sits 0.3 points below the electrical and technology average of 7.3%. The CFOS target at $1M–$5M is 10%. The CFOS target is published at $1M to $5M.
Does solar get more profitable as it grows?
Overhead is the number that moves. Solar sheds 6 points between $1M–$5M and $500M+, which is in line with the 6 points electrical and technology sheds as a group. Net profit starts 0.1 points under the 48-trade average, so the room is in the overhead line before it's anywhere else.
Where does solar sit against the other trades?
Solar is 4th of 6 in electrical and technology on net profit. Electrical keeps the most at 9%. Fiber runs the leanest overhead at 15%. Gross margin ranks 17th of 48 and overhead ranks 21st.
Josh Luebker ran commercial construction projects before he ran the numbers behind them, on data centres, military bases, hospitals, and high-rises. He wrote CONTROL: The Construction Financial Operating System, which is an eight-step framework for commercial subcontractors, and it publishes on October 1, 2026. He is a master electrician who moved into the office and kept the field vocabulary.
Sulphur Prairie Operations LLC maintains the benchmark reference behind these figures. Every edition is reconciled against the newest CFMA survey release before it publishes here. Where a figure changes between editions, the older edition keeps its year in the title so a citation to it stays correct.