Sungevity

I looked at a couple of different things and one was the difference between Trinity Solar Company, Vivint and Sungevity. I went into the customer testimonials, their replies and what they had to say about the companies. When I looked at the ratings, Sungevity was up at 8.9. while the other ones were down at 6.2 and 6.8 and they had some real horror stories in there. I also went online and saw Sungevity's website. They talked about mounting the systems, just kind of showing off a lot, whereas the other ones just talked about how they were the biggest company and installer. There was no fine tune. I like to take a look and see how things are being worked, and that was well-explained in Sungevity.

Plus when I asked the other company what kind their panels were, they said that the panels just come out of China and that everybody uses the same thing. But no, they don't. This was after I had done a little bit of research and found Sungevity's is German-engineered and Korean-built. I like the idea of that aspect of it as well. Christina and Alex were the two main people that I was dealing with at Sungevity and they were very good to work with. When I left a message, they called me back as long as Alex wasn’t on vacation and Christina was pretty good.

The company whose people did the install was Solar Mate and I had to leave them a little bit of a nastygram. But the owner of the company called me back and did an awful lot of reassurance that they were gonna get a particular item taken care of and they did so rapidly. So that was dealt with pretty well. They said they were gonna be here at 7:30 in the morning, and they were. They did what they said they were gonna do.

The federal tax deal, the 30% back, was good although it could have been explained a little bit better. But I was lucky because I got into the 15-year deal just before our Governor changed it to 10. The way that works is that although you do get a 30% credit on the cost of your system, they use the tax credit to offset whatever taxes you would pay for the year. For this particular year, my personal taxes came out to be about $7,000. What they do is they use a tax credit to offset that $7,000 then from there, they cover the liability. That means the federal government would refund me back money and the other eight or seven and a half, that's hold on to for the next year or the year after that. So the credit is there. It just deteriorates. So you don’t get that back in one year. It takes a couple of years more to do it.

The other thing about signing up for SREC is that in terms of the company for trading them, it seems like there are multiple companies that you sign up on for those. You sign up for one but you can pick one. But I still haven’t done that. I’m still kinda lost on it in terms of what I’m supposed to do and who I’m supposed to sign up with. Sungevity told me I had to get signed up but they can't tell me with whom. I gotta shop around and figure out who does what.

My energy bill normally was at about $225 to 250 a month, and it's down to $2.38 right now. The panels went online the first of November. That was going right into the winter season. We had an extremely wet and damp couple of months, and my November bill was $35. December bill was something like $50. Right now, I have over 2,200 kilowatt hours banked in the system. The other thing that’s pretty cool is that because I’m on the solar, I also watch how much electricity I’m burning. That helps out an awful lot. So it’s doing exceptionally well and I’ve told a lot of people about Sungevity's deal.

I went out to bid for three companies, and Solar Spectrum was one of those three companies.They were large and I felt like they would have the greatest likelihood of being in business 20 years from now, when I need to replace my converters. However, their initial bid was the highest and they had all the same hardware that I was familiar with and wanted. The price was too high, so I tried to negotiate with them. They negotiated and it got to where they were a fraction low. Having the hardware that I recognized and felt like I wanted to put on the house, having good warranties, being large, and finally giving me a good price, I felt like I got what I wanted.

The enrollment process was very similar to my other solar experience and they took care of the paperwork fairly well. They sent me documents to sign up for the funding and offered me a good interest rate. Paperwork seemed to be typical for what solar is but their contract was much longer than the other one that I had on my Concord house, and I thought it was a little contradictory. So, I spent a lot of time on the phone with someone from Sungevity getting comfortable with the contract and I did, so I signed it. Financing was straightforward and easy. Then, the rest was them working with the city permitting agency to get the permits approved, and with PG&E to get approval to turn it on. Both did not take very long and they were the front man on all that, which went well.

I live out in the country and their subcontractor showed up with no identification. The truck wasn’t marked, he wouldn’t show me his driver’s license, he wouldn’t give me his full name, he didn’t have a business card and he didn’t have any proof that he was a subcontractor for Sungevity. It’s like you’re 99% sure that they’re there to do the work because they show up with all the equipment, but still, you expect them to be able to identify themselves. I almost told him to go away. I was really upset with him but he had the project manager’s phone number on his cellphone, and he called them, and I knew who that was. So, she confirmed that he was their subcontractor. I told her that the guy should come prepared and he should be able to identify himself and demonstrate that he works for Sungevity.

Once Sungevity got started, they were very effective. I’m an old roofing contractor and I saw a ladder leaning up against the house which wasn’t tied off. They weren’t on it yet and so, I reminded them to tie it off and they did. They were very efficient, safe and they did a good job. They also cleaned up. They did all of the things I would expect them to do. The only issue I had with the whole experience was that they were a little impersonal. Sungevity does everything over the phone. If you wanna see a body, or if you wanted to have a feel-good feeling, you don’t get that. It’s kind of very corporate, very internet-oriented. I would recommend Sungevity. I would suggest to anyone to make sure that they’re getting a good price. So, they have to do their research. I had to do some negotiating but it was a fair price, and it’s producing.

However, their installers were behind. They had so many projects that they weren't keeping up. The project manager at that point was who I was dealing with was calling and pushing them. But they could only do what they could do. I had hoped of getting it started, installed, and up and running last year so I could put it on my taxes this year. That didn't happen. It actually didn't get put into service until January 18th. But we were dealing with the holidays too.

Once they came, they installed quickly. It took them two days 'cause it's a pretty big system. Everybody was really polite. We had to get the inspectors to come out and then we got to get the approval. They failed to notify me that a hedge that I had that was in front of where the main box is, had to be cut back like three feet. I got like an email thing saying that I needed to do it. I said that it was the first time hearing it and the guy said that I was supposed to have been notified a little while back, and I wasn't. So then I cut that, which then opened up the back area. From the street, one could then see the pipes through the water system and so there was a reason why that hedge was there, but for safety reasons, it had to be done because the County wouldn't approve it otherwise.

When Sungevity first hooked me up, they gave me a website to go to. I thought they actually had an app because the other companies do so I wasn't happy with that. I didn't want to go in and sign up. Sometimes it wouldn't work properly so I complained about that and this other guy called me and gave me an app. He gave me the link and told me to follow it. I could put the app on all my devices and it would show me everything. So that was another little misstep on their part. They also mentioned that they were gonna send me a gift card of some kind, which they never did. Alex said that he'd talk to them as I had some inconveniences, and see if he could get them to send me a gift card. There were definitely bumps in the road but nothing that horrible. Their customer service is really nice and I would recommend them.

I kept dealing with other companies and finding more information as I went and not having them agree to my terms. I realized I'm the one who has the power because I could say, "Yes" or "No" so I have to find somebody that's gonna be transparent. I told them that I wanted complete transparency and they kinda waffled here and there. I wanted the prices later when I make the final purchase or decide to go with one. After going through so many procedures, I ran into Solar Spectrum. I asked them questions that I didn't get answers to so I was impressed with that. They piqued my curiosity and I told them that I'm gonna go further and we'll talk as it goes. I also told them to be patient and I'll be patient as well.

They kept coming back and I would ask more questions and they would answer more, but I was not giving in yet. Then a friend of mine did a background check on them for me and through the BBC and she said that Solar Spectrum has really good to high rating. She said it looks like a very reputable company, and she gave me the green light. That kind of did it to my final decision to go for it.

Solar Spectrum worked with me to customize my solar system. In the beginning, the process was going pretty smoothly with the gentleman that I started working with. Our interactions were open and honest. They went through the step-by-step process of giving me the best thing for the buck. They told me what solar panel to use and how many I'd need. They strategized on the roof and they showed me examples and comparison of how much I would get when I put these so many panels in a day.

They tried to find the best situation for me and I asked them for a connection to the battery. I wanted that put in place until further notice when I could afford to get a battery if it's feasible, and they didn't. They said it was gonna cost and that was the hold back as well. I told them that I would not move forward because every other company I've talked to did not do this. To their credit, this was what finally would seal the deal even further.

The gentleman called back and said they found out that it was actually cheaper and it could be done, but I was the first customer to ever ask for something like that. I thought I was just trying to be proactive. I know it's gonna cost me again to get someone else to do it, so I'd rather do this whole thing now and be ready for that time when I can put a battery in there when I need it. I just wanna have that option. So they finally did it and they got it at a cheaper cost.

But then there were some things that did not go very well. My account went through different hands because the reps' hours are different. Then they ran into a certain wall. They were supposed to have the panels installed sometime mid-summer and it didn't happen. It took longer than it should have but I was extremely patient. I was getting frustrated though and I was short of yelling sometimes. Still, I've been trying to be understanding but then it started getting stressful later when I wasn't getting any calls anymore.

Finally, I got a call from the last guy. He was very polite and he apologized for the delay. Things were going according to plan except for the waiting for PG&E to do their part which was most of the issue. They stopped because they had to do some upgrade or change in the system. I'm a responder for oil spills and I'm on a ship for three weeks, so I gotta live there and then come back, and then I get three weeks off. So I lose connection and a lot of things felt like they were trying to get that figured out as it went. But they coordinated with my family who's here.

My interactions with Solar Spectrum could have been improved, however, if they had told me the truth. I know it was hard when they got everything done and they were not getting a response from PG&E. It made them look like they were holding back although they were doing their part. It was a hard thing to answer for PG&E. But I was freaking out because there were no calls from Solar Spectrum. I kept calling but it would've been nice if they had updated me and reassured me. But when they were no longer answering, I wanted to default. They dropped the ball and they were not communicating in the end. That almost cost me to call an attorney because I was getting worried that I'm gonna get stuck.

I called the HERO Program and told them I didn't know what was going on. They told me to call Solar Spectrum too and see if they can hold up and make arrangements to change things. HERO was confused too, so they ended up calling and they probed as well. The installation happened only last month or so when I finally got the green on it. Things were running differently than from before when the gentleman was there the last time they were installing. He brought something like a processor and in the end, they replaced it with another one. Going solar is a good thing and I really like Solar Spectrum. I haven't received the bill yet but going solar feels good right now. I feel comfortable with it and I'm hoping to feel like I made the wisest choice.

I’m not in the position to buy equipment, so I was sort of giving up. And he explained then that I could kind of work out a lease basis. I’m still not quite sure how that all works out but at any rate, I got a solar system without any out of pocket expense, and I appreciated that enormously. They came and installed the system very nicely. They were very, very nice people that come and do the installation. But they had trouble with my roof because it’s cement tile, which is very old and very brittle.

They were careful, but they couldn't help damaging the tiles up there. And the repairs were not permanent-type repairs. They were kinda glued-down-type repairs. Fortunately, I have a handyman who knows my roof and has repaired it a couple of times, and he sort of took over. So I would recommend that Horizon Solar have people who are very much more expert in roof installation, at least with old-style roofs like mine. Mike repaired everything, but they provided a lot of equipment. They were here. They brought a pallet of tiles, which I appreciated, and they worked along with Mike. Between his work and their work, I explained to the workmen who came how delicate those tiles were. Overall, did a wonderful job of installation.

They had to come back a couple of times because they repaired my big box. There were two units that they installed. One, the main box, and then there’s the control mechanism and the big box had to be in the place where they had put the control mechanism. There was a delay reinstalling the equipment and a couple of crews came out, but with incomplete information and no resources to do the work. They were given not very good information about what they were expected to do.

The third crew came out after I called and explained that I was getting a little frustrated. They sent a very professional young fellow out who brought a handy back-up person with him to do some of the work. He knew exactly what to do. He installed the equipment and the house met all of the code inspections from the city. And it is clearly working well, so I’m very, very happy with it. He did a wonderful job. I have a little paint to put on the wall. But other than that, the house looks just fine.

The unit is now working. My first power bill from Edison was for $5 and 2 cents so that was better than I could imagine. I don’t know how long that will go, but we’ve had lots of sunny days, and I appreciate having the solar system. I feel very good about having it up there and Horizon does a very fine job of follow-up. Bob, from Horizon, came by this morning to convey the contract and to give me a quick overview of the equipment. He’s a very nice man. I’m 84 and not as sharp as I used to be but he was very clear and very patient. I appreciated the time and energy he put in on his explanations and left me good documentation. Everyone who made an appointment showed up on time. I will highly recommend Horizon Solar.