Freedom Energy and Roof Solutions delivers

by John Dowd

Public opinion seems to be shifting towards “greener” options when it comes to energy and the environment. As energy prices continue to rise, traditional thinking would say that being more eco-friendly would mean paying more. However, one local solar company says we can have our cake and eat it too.

Freedom Energy and Roof Solutions does a lot more for its customers than just put solar panels on roof-tops. The company has won numerous recognitions, including Silfab Solar’s nomination as the installer of the month of June for all of the United States in 2024. EnergySage, a customer awareness website, named them Montana’s installer of the year in 2025 and Solar World Magazine, for the last two years, featured them in their list of the top 500 solar companies. In 2024 they were the only Montana based company to make that list.

They are also the leading installer for western Montana, and are growing every day. According to Kyle Carnes, co-owner, Ryan Tolley, president and co-owner, and Jerret Goodale, the team’s marketing wizard, the reason goes beyond the product and the service. For them, it is all about their company philosophy.

Tolley opened Freedom Energy in the valley in 2020. Later, in 2023, he added the roofing solutions partnership with Carnes. Before that, Tolley worked with solar panels for 18 years. He said it all started with the idea of saving people money. He was concerned with the problem of how to make a roof last longer, rather than tearing it off. It seemed the simple answer was to add the roofing component into what they were already doing. That way they could control the quality of the roof, as well as the solar. After that, Tolley said, they began to think about how they could be a different kind of roofing company.

Their philosophy is all about saving people money and helping them make good investments in their homes. As Tolley explained, all that “green stuff” is really just a nice byproduct.

When people look at getting a solar system added to their home, half of that equation is the roof. The roof should obviously be sound enough to support the solar system, but additionally, Tolley said every few years a family has to renew their roof. If they have solar, there is an added cost of removing and reinstalling the solar system. “Why not take care of it all at once?” said Tolley.

That’s why they added the roofing component. When they started with roofing, according to Carnes, they originally focused on preservation, but soon they just started doing every aspect of roofing. However, Carnes said they still work from that preservation mindset to save people money. Why redo the roof if a customer doesn’t have to spend that money?

The key piece of their preservation tool-kit is their Nano Roof Sealer, which is a spray-on sealant that helps preserve roof shingles so that that last longer. The installation of this coating bonds to the shingles, keeping them together. Shingles fall apart over time, and this is exacerbated by wind, rain and sun. The spray coats and sticks them together, significantly lengthening their effective lifetime. According to Carnes, the Freedom team will also come out to check on the shingles every two years. On top of that, their coating is a third the cost of re-roofing.

Carnes added that roofing shingles are often advertised to last over 30 years, but as they break down, and with Montana weather, it really means they will only get about 15 years. Plus, these shingles are not waterproof until they are saturated with water. With the spray, they become immediately 100 percent waterproof and water-repellant. Beyond the Nano Sealer, they now offer services for any type of room, not just shingles. “Our goal is always to start with a preservation model,” said Carnes.

The team spoke about why they do what they do, and why they are so driven about their business model. For Carnes, it fell to “being good stewards of the earth.” For Tolley, a lot of it was about “being a part of the community we are in.” Tolley added that they are constantly looking for new things, and mentioned how they just discovered solar powered mini-splits. According to him, they strive to “help others and grow our business at the same time.”

And that model is working. So far they have 25 employees, and do work all over the western part of the state, out-performing many companies from out of state that cover Montana in their service area.

Goodale said their mission and philosophy goes right along with the solar industry potential. He has been in the industry for 20 years, and he said there are so many “pros” for getting into solar. When he started and was looking at what he wanted to do, he saw that solar was, and still is, a growing industry. He saw that it saved people money, plus it’s good for the environment and, “it was making a difference in the world.” He really could not see any downside.

When people come into Freedom Energy and Roof Solutions, they often have more than one goal in mind. First off, it is usually about saving money on their power bill. This is why one of the first things the team does is look at a customer’s actual power bills. This way they can gauge usage on a monthly basis, which helps them figure out a plan of attack. There are a lot of factors for each individual home, from panel angle, house shading, roof tilt, direction and more, that can drastically affect how many panels are needed and how they are installed.

The team ends up with a custom design for each home for “that house and that home owner,” said Tolley. However, he added that saving money is far from the only reason a person benefits from getting into solar. According to the team, adding a solar system adds direct value to the home. It can replace or supplement power usage; doing so gives customers security for grid failures or inclement weather and it really provides general independence from the grid. All of this, Tolley said, grants a level of “peace of mind.”

Additionally, the team works with the home owners to “look for solutions that the homeowner is looking for,” said Tolley. Some people may want to be fully powered off-grid, while the majority are looking for some savings and peace of mind. Those decisions affect the overall cost of the system added. However, according to the guys at Freedom Energy and Roof Solutions, solar power, even in Montana, can be a lot more effective than many people may realize.

They have seen many people underestimate how well solar systems can work these days. According to Goodale, with Montana having very short winter days, but a surplus of daylight in the summer, the overall “sun hours” produced in Montana are surprisingly comparable to states like Florida. They also tie customers’ systems into the grid about 90 percent of the time. This is because customers can often “overproduce” in the summer. This excess energy can then be pushed back into the grid and can earn a customer “credits” on their power from the power company. This means that, should something go wrong with their system or they underproduce in times like winter, they still don’t need to pay for power as those credits are cached in. This is a program called “net metering,” which any customer can ask more about.

As far as affordability, the Freedom guys spoke on how a person can go about getting a system set up, and how it can actually be a lot more affordable than many customers may realize. Tolley quoted a general price for a standard system on a standard home, not considering an expensive system on a huge mansion. He said these systems can be around $14,000, roughly. But again, it all depends on what a customer is looking for in their system, and how much power their household consumes. 

Freedom has also partnered with Clearwater Credit Union for loans. Their goal is to get a customer’s solar loan payments down lower than their current power bills. This way, the customer sees the benefits immediately, though this also depends on each individual situation. So far, customers are seeing an eight to 10 percent return on their investment within the first year, not including the home value increase they get from adding solar systems to their homes. As for that, according to sites like Zillow, homes with solar systems see a conservative average of a four percent increase in a home’s overall value.

Also, utility rates constantly go up, but when solar panels are paid off, they continue to work and produce power. The return then goes up astronomically, and these systems can last several lifetimes, if cared for properly. Tolley added that customers see around $40,000 in savings over a 25-year period for the average sized home. Again, this number goes up once the system is paid off. To top all that off, there is a 30 percent tax credit in Montana available for solar systems.

Carnes and Tolley are extremely proud of their team and what they are accomplishing. They wanted to recognize their team that makes this a reality. “We have one of the best teams I’ve seen,” said Tolley, in all his time in the industry. He said that a high level of work can be found in every one of their employees, including every step from customer service, to installation and more. 

For more information about Freedom Energy and Roof Solution, interested parties can visit their website, gofreedomenergy.com or they can call (406) 309-6206.