SolarCity
ConsumerAffairs Unaccredited BrandSince 2006, SolarCity has strived to be the national leader in clean energy services and has become America’s largest solar provider. We specialize in residential and commercial solar systems. We provide energy at a lower cost than paying for energy generated by burning coal, oil and natural gas.
Our mission is to see millions adopt clean energy services, which in the long run will save them from rising electricity costs. We will work with you through the entire process and will provide ongoing monitoring and repair services. Call today for more information!
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519 SolarCity Consumer Reviews and Complaints
Our roof was damaged by hail. We contacted SolarCity to advise them that the panels would need to be removed so the roof could be repaired per the terms of the contract. To be brief, every telephone contact with the company resulted in a promise of a return call or action in 48 hours, but they consistently fail to follow up. They refuse to provide any documentation that we are even on a waiting list. They say they cannot remove the panels until 2019. Obviously, the roof cannot be repaired in January or February, so repairs cannot begin for more than 6 months. It is clear SolarCity is trying to avoid their responsibility to remove the panel as they are obligated to do under the contract. Terrible customer service. Do not deal with this company for any service whatsoever.
My husband was approached by a SolarCity representative Heather ** at the HOME DEPOT. She showed up at my house with the pitch of a 30% system with the indication that most systems generate more than proposed. With the intention of OWNING our SREC's to trade them and pay for the system, we purchased a system instead of leasing it. When we received the paperwork concerning the SREC's it indicated we were turning them over to SolarCity. We refused to sign the paperwork for 5 months trying to get it corrected. Customer Care representative Rosie ** told us that the program generating the paperwork would not let her change it so for us to sign it and she would get it corrected with management. Heather ** also went to management several times on our behalf with the result of her being fired along with all of the other HOME DEPOT representatives.
When I called SolarCity I was told numerous times that in fact I did own my SREC's and that I needed to register with a trade company and get an ID# from the state. It was then I found out that SolarCity owns my address and there is nothing I can do or that the state can do as I signed them over - even if we were coerced into signing them. Solar City needs to fill out a form to transfer them back. They refuse to do so, they refuse to communicate with me on the matter so I SHUT MY SYSTEM OFF! Amazingly they sent me an email wanting to know why my system is not working. I explained my experience and all they had to say was that they understood my frustration but we did sign them over and how counterproductive it is to stop generating power.
I explained that it is counterproductive to save less money on my electric bill than my loan payment is and how unethical their tactics are and now it is the principle of NOT GENERATING INCOME FOR SOLARCITY. This is suppose to be a government program to benefit the homeowner - not a major corporation. Gratefully I am only out $12,000.00 as I have to pay the 3rd party loan to preserve my credit - even more grateful that my in-laws at my meeting with Heather decided to go with MOMENTUM SOLAR for their $40,000.00 system. I recommend them now even though they are not my company as they will give me referral fee and that's how I am paying for my unproductive system!!! If you decide to go with MOMENTUM - tell them Roberta ** in New Jersey recommended them.
Maybe time for a class action? Their customer service repeats the same line... 7-15 days. That isn't customer service. No repair parts kept in Las Vegas for expedited system repairs. Their go to answer... 7-15 days to order parts. They sell us these solar systems and pull all their service staff out of this market. Effectively no customer service.
Worst company ever. Last year when they came and sold me solar panel, my only concern was that sooner or later I will have to get the roof replaced so what will happen and then assured me that all I will have to do is make a call a day or two ahead of scheduled date and they will come and uninstall and once roof is done they will install the panels immediately. Now that I have my roof scheduled for this Thursday on Monday when I called they told me it will take them 24 to 48 hours to return my call and when my roofer called they told him they can't do it till 2019. Please if you are getting Solar Panels there are much cheaper options. Don't get into the scam of Tesla name.
My bills don't arrive. The charges are ridiculous. I thought it was a save money situation not a get ripped off situation. I want the damn things off. It's costing me more and yes they do cause roof leaks that were not there before. Just a scam business.
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I relate to the experience of Michele of Media, PA. We put Solar Panels on in 2012. Exactly the same thing has happened as for you Michele: we also thought that when SolarCity's engineers said our roof was ok for solar panels, that meant for the term of use, meaning 20 years. It never occurred to us to hire our OWN ROOF GUY, who is a knowledgeable professional and roof whisperer, to check the roof ALSO. It had already been checked, right? NOTE: Hire your own guy to check whether your roof is young enough, or needs to be replaced, before you put on solar panels. After the installation, our roof guy saw me and said he had serious concerns about our roof under those solar panels, because it was too old to make it for the life of the panels. What could I say?
Now we are having leaking. We need to replace the roof. To our shock and horror, we are being quoted $8,000 - yes EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS - to remove those panels and then replace them after the roof is repaired. How is this possible, when other people are being quoted $400 for the same thing? Our roof is big, but not that big. Prior to this, our experience was very positive. We have had our panels for 6 years, with no problems. Any problems, they come and repair. My husband estimates we have saved $3-4,000 in electric costs. We loved doing this for the environment.
When Solar City put them up, they damaged our roof, and they paid to have our roof guy repair it. All good. But $3-4000 savings doesn't make up for $8000. There is clearly a conflict of interest for SolarCity Engineers, who want to make a sale. And there is clearly confusion for the buyer, who hears these engineers report that the roof is fine for solar panels. And this lack of clarity is hurting everyone. Why doesn't SolarCity / Tesla REQUIRE new owners to get their own independent evaluation of their roof, as part of the deal? Rather than being in such a hurry to get the sale, why don't they make sure the thing will work? For everyone? I am not a suing person. But I think this calls for a class action suit.
3 weeks after install the roof leaked badly. Tesla provided "courtesy/goodwill patches". They claim the interior damage is not their problem. Many emails, at least three visits for patches resulting in courtesy/goodwill patches, whatever that means. Ceiling wall floor and insulation damage.
Met a guy from Tesla SolarCity in Home Depot, thought it was worth checking out. First time the sales rep came out seemed interesting so decided to have the house checked out for the quote. Guys came out to check the roof and electric. After they left starting having electrical issues, turns out they damaged a main breaker while inspecting. Sales rep said that they would fix it. Second time sales rep was supposed to come out, he showed up 2 and a half hours late for appointment without calling till he showed up wondering why it was no longer a good time. Still have not been able to get a hold of anyone to take care of the bill for the damage. I’ve now canceled any further dealings but very unhappy that they won’t take care of the damage that they caused.
In December of 2013. We met a nice young lady in Home Depot, an agent for Solar City. I was going to be retiring soon and my husband was already retired. My husband had been living in our 1,700-sq. ft. home by himself as I lived on site at my job. We explained to her that when I was retired and home we would be using a lot more electricity. We would be entertaining guests, more cooking and my hot tub, it was important to have the system designed to cover the extra usage and the size of our home.
In January of 2014 we began using the solar system that was installed on our roof. We were excited when every month when we received a bill from Edison, showing that we had a credit. My husband thought the panels were wonderful and told his friends. In December 2014, our Edison bill was $1,400.00. My husband was so upset! I asked where the bills were and he replied that he threw them away because they showed a credit. I called Edison to see if it was a mistake, they replied that it was correct, that our net generated was very low compared to our consumption. I asked why it showed a credit every month and I was told that an overpayment had been made in December 2013. I asked them to send copies of all of the statements for the year.
When we received the statements, and examined them closely, we discovered the “Notice” stating how much extra we owed Edison each month for consuming more than we generated in small 6 or 8 print type. We were not given the opportunity to pay it each month. It was an annual accumulation of fees that we knew nothing about. They suggested I contact a tech person at Edison, he had the information for our solar panels and told me that what had been installed was enough to run a big screen TV and two refrigerators.
This was a mistake in design by Solar City, that we ended up having to pay for. We contacted Solar City to see if they would pay for their design mistake and were told that they would send a manager out to get the problem resolved. This took some time on their part and I had returned to work, so we could pay the $1400.00 Edison bill. So much for being on a fixed income.
In April 2015 their so called manager came to our house, I took the day off to be there when he arrived. "the Manager" was very nice and he said that Solar City would fix everything. Because a lot of time has gone by I don’t remember all that was said. But he seemed very nice and willing to help us. He had us sign some papers and said not to worry that he would get everything taken care of. He was really sorry that he couldn’t do anything about the $1400 that we had paid Edison.
Thinking back all I can think of was he had two senior citizens that he twisted around his finger. I was under the impression that the new panels that would be added were to make our system workable, to repair their design flaw. I was still working and living on the job site so I didn’t realize that the new panels were on a totally new contract. My husband was paying the bills and until recently I didn’t know we had two contracts.
Not only do I feel that we are being ripped off, but my husband and I are ill and old and our son wants us to move closer to him. Now we can’t sell our house because no one wants to take over two Solar City contracts. We thought we would live here for the rest of our lives and the payments were bearable. Now we are dealing with Tesla and we have two choices. We can pay off the contracts, somewhere around $25,000.00 or we can buy the panels, per our contracts after 5 years.
Now we find out that we can’t buy them because the first contract will be 5 years in December and the second contract will be 5 years in 4 of 2019. Second contract once again because of Solar City’s bad design. And in my opinion because of their slick salesman who we thought was here from the company to help us, and all he did was sell us another set of panels! I'm attaching 3 pictures. (2453) not very easy to see but our first panels that were supposed to serve our needs. (2454) panels to fix the original mistake. (Also notice the location and shade from our trees) (2455) Larger picture.
My roof recently was damaged by a hail storm. Roofers cannot get the job done until SolarCity goes and removes the solar panels. It turns out SolarCity is booked for 3 months. They gave me the option to hire a 3rd party contractor and made sure they told me I would be responsible for any damage. SolarCity did not care if the roof is causing further damage to the inside of my house, but was quick to let me know that they would not be responsible for further damage to my house due to the damaged roof. I asked them, why don't they hire a 3rd party contractor since they are the ones that are backed up and they be responsible for any damage. Needless to say, that they would not do that. Because of this experience I would most defiantly not recommend SolarCity to my worst enemy. Nowadays there are a lot more choices out there for solar energy, don't get caught up with SolarCity like I did. I am stuck with them for 20 years, with no way out of the contract.
If I could have given less than one star I would have, but let's start... SolarCity, now Tesla, is by far THE WORST customer experience on the planet. For the 3rd day in a row I have waited on hold for over an hour to PAY MY BILL, yes, pay a bill. Oh did I mention I did speak to someone in new sales that promptly answered my call but could not assist me with my situation. And when I asked for her to promptly send me to a supervisor about this issue I was promptly placed on hold... which no one answered.
I know you are probably thinking why not log into the system and pay the bill. I would have love to do that but wait for it... My online portal has been down for over 2 years. And when I ask when the problem will be corrected no one knows. Before this, they refused to send me monthly payments in a timely fashion. During that horrific event, I met two managers named Amy ** and Rebbecca ** that SWORE if I ever needed anything they would assist. I have called, left messages and this is day 3 that I haven't received a single soul. So I guess I'll wait to hear from whomever reads these reviews so I can pay my bill because I refuse to wait on hold for a third day, and waste a third hour of my life that I cannot get back. I please urge any perspective solar panel buyer not to purchase from this company. Worse in the business!!!
Since the install of my solar panels, the production of KW Hours produced does not match with the production listed by Edison not even close! We have a written guarantee in our contract to produce at least a certain amount of KW Hours per year and what we actually produce is less than 2/3 rds of guarantee. We have had to pay Edison over $900 a year for power used since installation. They broke my skylight. It took 4 months to get a new one installed, since they installed it the roof leaks and now I have mold in my drywall. I would not recommend this company to anyone!
We purchased in 2016 that already had panels from SolarCity. We had considered solar and so having this was a plus, we thought. But the system works on some strange plan that I do not understand. We have an issue with our internet provider regarding SolarCity monitoring the energy produced. I requested a visit in person but was told they didn't come to homes. How then was the service sold and installed in the first place???
I have talked with several sales people, in person and over the phone, and asked that my complaint go to their supervisor but no calls back. So I didn't pay their bill (which was as much as my utility bill and I don't know why I was paying double for power) and they suspended the service - of course, making money off of the panels on my roof. Now I want to re-establish service (after my utility company explained the situation to me) and I can't even reach anyone to pay the balance, not on the phone or even on-line. For a tech type company, they can't even keep their bill paying service going on-line. I may have them just come and remove the panels.
Totally disappointed with this company. The salesman's quote about monthly charges was way more than stated. When I spoke to him, he stated that he will get back to me and that I should not pay the bill until then, it has been a year and a half since that conversation and now I am in debt to SolarCity... do not recommend this company.
SolarCity 901 Page Avenue Fremont, CA 94538. On August 5, 2017 I entered into a contract with ** on behalf of your firm. I signed all the paperwork, and provided my electric bill. The last activity on your part was October 16, 2017. I have called numerous times to find the status of this installation. I was told there was a work permit problem with the NYC Department of Buildings, due to your electrician not being licensed in New York City, and I would be contacted for installation within 30 to 45 days. That was in late January 2018. I was never contacted by anyone. I followed up at the end of March, and no one was able to give me any answer as to what was going on. The monthly cost of solar service has risen significantly during your inaction. I do not expect to bear the increased cost. I intend to hold SolarCity to its agreement. Kindly contact me to advise when the installation will begin pursuant to the terms of our agreement.
This company is full of scammers beginning from the sales reps to the owner. When we signed up for the panels my credit was not approved. The sales rep told us we can have another co-signer and they would add me later on replacing the 2nd co-signer. Now we have a non working system that disconnects to their servers every month. So they bill us whatever they feel is appropriate (last bill over $200). The panels are now under my mother in law's name and she is not on my lien. Solar City basically coerced me on committing a federal fraudulent crime.
In 2017 we tried selling the house and was told if we cannot get a buyer to agree to 'transfer' the lease we can get it removed for $3000. Forward a year later the house has not been able to sell and I tried contacting Solar City to pay the $3000 and was told I am on a 20 year contact. Has anyone been able to successfully get the panels removed? I have been searching for days. Next search is for a Consumer Protection Attorney.
Our meter device or monitor failed. A Solar City affiliated technician came out and said we needed to replace but no more were in stock. Not a big deal but over a year later I called Solar City representatives again inquiring when I would get a new monitor. Apparently, I will not. Apparently the monitor was out of warranty. The sell is for 20 years they will service and maintain the system. Monitors, cost from $300-$600. I would think Solar City produces these however, they are only sold through dealers - seems like a scam. The price seem exorbitant. Although not necessary it also seems suspect that the company would not encourage the owner/lessee to know how much money they are saving based on the efficiency of the system.
I have had my solar panels for 2 years now. Starting about 8 months ago, I would get emails from Tesla about every 2 weeks that there was a problem with my panels and I had to call from home, while it was light out. Hard to do when you work and it's winter. I would call and they would just have me reset the button. This happened about every 2 weeks for about 2 months. I continuously asked to have someone out but was told it was not necessary. Finally, about 3 months ago they came out and told me everything was fixed.
On June 15th I get an email again about a problem. Service tech came out 6/19 and told me there was water in the panel box and it was unsafe so they had to shut down the panels and replace the box-at a future date of course. Makes me wonder how long it was unsafe before they finally realized it. Panels were shut down in height of energy season and service scheduled for July 3 from 12-2. Technician called at 3 to say it was too hot and he would need to reschedule. Next available date is 7/16 which means a month without the panels and no compensation. Would not recommend this company to anyone.
Be prepared to pay almost double in what you paid before believing in SolarCity. Yes your "electric" bill will be less BUT what you pay to SolarCity for the panels is almost double the normal electric bill. I am trapped. Don't be like me.
SolarCity installed solar panels on my house in January 2017. I live in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. The sales pitch I was given and sold on was the reduction in cost for electricity. I have analyzed/compared my bills for the same period(s) and my electricity bills (SolarCity & PEPCO combined) are much more than they were with PEPCO alone, even with the fees PEPCO charges. I know NO ONE that is willing to agree to pay more for electricity. I have spoken with SolarCity customers, visited several sites showing reviews on SolarCity and the sentiments are the same, misrepresentation of cost/savings.
The representatives fail to tell you if your home is all electric you will receive massive bills from your current carrier (mine being PEPCO), in addition to their bill, when using your heating system. The onus is on SolarCity to inform the consumer of this fact. Their failure to disclose this information has resulted in financial strains on the consumer. SolarCity needs to be held accountable!!! Their customer service is poor and offers no help to remedy the problem, requesting something in writing from the representative that sold the panels to substantiate your claim. WELL, they FAILED TO DISCLOSE THIS INFORMATION.
Again, the onus is on SolarCity to fully disclose ALL known information... and this fact IS KNOWN by solar companies. As consumers, we should not absorb the cost for their dereliction of duty. I feel that there are three ways of resolving this issue... TURN THE SYSTEM OFF at the panel box, DO NOT PAY THEIR BILL and force them into bankruptcy, or file a CLASS ACTION SUIT for their willful misrepresentation!!! I have set up a Gmail account to review our options. If you have experienced this misrepresentation, send me an email and let's put a stop to this NOW!!!
Solar associates at The Home Depot claim they work for Tesla. On day of appointment, they stated that their technicians were busy so they chose to call me instead. The number showed up as a toll free number but showed as unknown. I asked if they can send me a brochure and a business card, but the associate stated that ELON MUSK prohibits to do business like that. Right away, it smelled like a scam.
Solar City and Tesla... all fine until you need a roof replaced. It June 6 and I was told that I must wait until August 21 to take them down to replace my roof. They could care less about the roof damages or my home, just so l long as they get their monthly fee. Don't do it! It's not worth the trouble. It's simply not!
In July 2015 we decided to lease a solar system from Solar City because they partnered with Sacramento Municipal Utilities District (SMUD). Everything went smoothly, we loved being energy conscious citizens. By the end of the first year we realized we were not saving as much money as we were lead to believe we would. In fact, we had saved $150! OK, so long conversations with our solar rep, presentations, etc., we continued as somewhat happy customers. Then, we bought our retirement property and decided to sell our Sacramento house to save money. Contacted Solar City which is now Tesla, told them, our situation to which they referred us to the Tesla Transfer Team.
After a few messages left, I received a call from my rep, given my options (with the omission of solar system removal costs). Our best bet is having the buyers purchase the lease with some tempting offers. The buyers tried to contact our rep, it appears he was out of town, so his colleague said she would have someone call our buyer back. No one called our buyers! No one, even after I left a message on the department manager's voicemail. This inexcusable exercise in poor customer service which upset our buyers and now they don’t want the system. Spoke with my rep who denies their calls were left unanswered and then hits me with the “system removal cost” card! “How much is that!” He doesn’t know! How could he not know, he knew all the other answers!
By now I am red with anger but controlled with him, gave him my demands for system removal, to which I was told it will take 3-7 business days to get an answer. My escrow closes soon! What happens now? Obviously, Solar City/Tesla doesn’t care! What happened to all the friendly faces, happy sales reps, people eager to take our money but not eager to help solve my problem? I am so unhappy with Solar City/Tesla’s lack of customer follow-up, incomplete solar system parameters for optimization of the system and will never recommend Solar City or Tesla.
Numerous problems since the install. The installers broke several tiles and attempted to cover it up by using silicone to piece some back together. They have been out several times since and still have not repaired all of the broken tiles. Now, we are experiencing a major problem with pigeons roosting under the panels. Our rain gutters are full to the top with pigeon poop near every section of panels on our roof. A neighbor of mine who has a lease through SolarCity was having a similar issue and called them up. They said they would send someone out to her to do a cleanup, and install a barrier around the panels to keep the pigeons out at no charge. I called SolarCity only to find that they wanted to charge me $985 to send someone out to do the work once they found out that I had purchased the panels and not leased them. This is something that should have been done during installation, as they knew this would become an issue.
May 23, 2018... Over 8 months ago, I inquired about adding some solar panels to our existing SolarCity system and through delay after delay, 8 months worth, I am informed, "We won't; be able to add any panels to your roof". The original installation left us generating over 3000 kw's SHORT of our needed annual energy needs. I then had a SDGE monthly bill, settled on an annual basis, PLUS the SolarCity bill. I was saving practically nothing... in fact, I had to pay SDGE $760 MORE for use of their energy for 2017.
The constant delay, after I wanted more panels, involved no return of communication for questions I had, phone calls never answered by a person/always by a machine, and usually no return call, sending in countless SDGE copies/bills, etc, as per their request, an estimated cost to me of $6200 to dig a trench about 200 ft long, (I refused), and finally a call that said, "We cannot install any more panels on your existing roof:.." what a total waste of time with this rep of SolarCity. I have a 20 yr lease with SolarCity and will honor it, as I keep my word/trust, BUT... I will make other arrangements to offset my ever increasing costs from SDGE because SolarCity DID NOT alleviate the situation in any way. I am totally upset that they could not? Would not... first, have a responsible person on this project and 2nd... the total waste of their time and mine for 8 months. Such a poor connection to their customers... or maybe just for me???
Very disappointed with SolarCity. We installed this system in the spring of 2013. After some initial problems with the inverter it has worked flawlessly until March 24th of 2018. It shorted out that day due to heavy rain. I contacted SolarCity (now Tesla Solar). They did some checks on their side and determined that the system had shorted out. The remedy was to replace all of the solar panels with new panels. I thought ok, no problem. After all they would pay for all of it. Then communication with Tesla Solar became difficult. I received an email asking for my approval for the new install plan. I replied twice granting my approval.
I finally called customer support because I did not receive a confirmation back from them. They said they had not received my emails and confirmed my verbal agreement to the new installation plan. Since that conversation I have received no calls or emails about my problem. I finally called two days ago and asked for an update. They said there was a production problem due to failure of so many of their panels. I asked if they could use panels from one of the installations of a new customer to fix mine. They said they would check on that but no guarantee. So I currently have a five year old system sitting on my roof producing zero power. I am not a happy solar camper at this point.
From start to finish we had the best overall experience with the purchase, design, installation and use of our solar panel system. We went this route after 3 other friends recommended this to us (actual users). The process went smoothly, they kept us informed every step of the way and never missed being on time for any appointments. Every bit of email and phone contact that we have had with this company has been professional, informative, timely and accurate. I had no issues setting up automatic payments and never felt as though my personal information was compromised. Yes, they do charge a fee if you do not accept the autopay feature, but that is true with a lot of other industries as well. Look at ANY of your insurance contracts, you'll see the same terms, but most likely they are not as upfront as this company, so if the terms are hidden you probably don't even realize it.
The other positive is the app that we can monitor our system with. Our system has outperformed all the specs that we received prior to moving forward. I believe if you are considering this switch, at least in Pennsylvania, you need to look deeper than a few online reviews. SolarCity was acquired by Tesla, and that is who installed our system. Maybe these complaints are from systems purchased prior to that acquisition. SolarCity has installed nearly 400,000 systems throughout the US. I am sure it depends on the market region.
We first started the paperwork with Solar City in February. We went live in late August. Within just a couple of weeks we started getting high voltage error messages every other week or so. Solar City said, not their problem, "It's your electric service." After a couple of weeks of this, (with Delmarva coming out twice to change out our output lines) then, we started getting that message every day, and it was at that time that we had several electrical failures of appliances, well bladder tank, both freezers, computer etc. Still, no one would take responsibility. Solar City actually told me, the electric company doesn't understand solar, they just send guys out to stand around for 20 minutes. It's not on our end, it's on theirs.
Delmarva Power came out again, did something on their lines, and our problems stopped. This was in late fall. All winter we did not have a problem. As soon as we started getting longer, warmer days, it started up again. I called Delmarva Power last week. The same poor guy showed back up. He took me outside and said look: he showed me the voltage coming into the system was peaking at 261. As soon as he shut down the solar system, it went back down into the acceptable range around 120/140. He turned it on, and shortly thereafter it was peaking again over 250. I called Solar City and they scheduled an appointment 10 days out. So my system has been off during the first sunny warm spell of the season.
I called today to see how reimbursement works. Guess what? It doesn't. They will do a performance review every 2 years. If at that point my performance is average, then it's all good for them. If it's below average, they will reimburse me. (At this point about 18 months down the road.) Yes, I still have to make my monthly lease payments. Yes, I had to pay for every single repair, replacement of things that got fried. This is so frustrating.
My system was installed late 2015, problem after problem. From billing to my system being offline for long periods of time. Difficult to get someone out to figure out why the system keeps going offline. After about a year they finally put a receiver in my laundry room and that solved the problem. My production has never met their calculations, I pay just about as much as I did for electricity. They damaged my tile roof installing the system, assured me they would repair any broken tiles. After about a month they finally came out and repaired the tiles.
Fast forward to 2018, my roof had a large leak where they "repaired broken tiles". Come to find out they used a sticky mastic to gingerbread tiles together, what a joke then said the leak was caused by me. Unbelievable, there are so many issues I don't even know what to list. I do know they were high pressure sales and install and having me sign the contract. DO NOT FALL FOR THE LIES! IT'S A SHAM. You can see for yourself with the dozens on complaints listed on this website. Very unfortunate for a homeowner that's trying to do the right thing, then being taken advantage of after trusting a company to do professional work and stand behind their product.
Worst customer service AFTER they lock you in for a TWENTY-YEAR contract. I called 12 months after we had our panels installed because we weren't saving as much energy as they promised they would. These panels are really ugly, so I didn't want them at first but figured if they saved us SO MUCH MONEY on power that is was worth a try. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. They suckered me into adding even more ugly panels onto the roof. One year after that, we had roof damage due to a bad wind storm and they want to charge me double for removing the roof when they duped me into getting two systems in the first place. I am currently trying to find a way to get out of it.
SolarCity expert review by Zachary Shahan
SolarCity is by far the largest residential solar installation company in the United States. It is also one of only a few companies vertically integrated, offering installation and financing while also including a manufacturing arm.
Market share: With 26 percent of the residential solar market in 2013, SolarCity had more than 3 times the market share of #2 Vivint Solar and about 4.5 times the market share of #3 Verengo Solar. A strong market share indicates the company is performing well and attracting customers, and the wealth of experience can also be very useful for customers.
Vertical integration: Vertical integration can (theoretically) allow SolarCity to offer customers a better deal. Greater efficiencies, economies of scale and a more secure process can mean lower prices for customers.
Various financing options: Homeowners, businesses, or organizations can get solar leases, PPAs, loans, or pay for their systems in cash with SolarCity.
Leasing: SolarCity has a strong preference for solar leasing and PPAs, as it makes more money from these options. SolarCity may try to steer customers towards leasing or PPAs when it would actually be in the customer's best interest to use a loan to purchase a system.
Acquisition: SolarCity reportedly has relatively high customer acquisition costs, which could result in higher costs for consumers.
Best for: homeowners, small and large businesses, government agencies, nonprofits, leasing and PPA customers, solar beginners and cash and loan consumers.
Solar Energy Contributing Editor
Zachary Shahan is the director of CleanTechnica, and his key areas of focus are solar energy and electric vehicles. He has been referenced or interviewed by essentially every major media organization as a recognized global thought leader on solar energy.
SolarCity Company Information
- Company Name:
- SolarCity
- Address:
- 3055 Clearview Way
- City:
- San Mateo
- State/Province:
- CA
- Postal Code:
- 94402
- Country:
- United States
- Phone:
- (888) 765-2489
- Website:
- www.solarcity.com
