SunPower

The experience with SunPower is very positive. I use the app to check the power generation, how much we're using in the house, how much is going to the grid, or the rare occasions when the grid supply most of the power. So, I'm aware of how well our system is performing. On the couple of occasions where I've had questions, they were answered very promptly. So, the customer service was great, not only during the process, but has been since then though there have been very few occasions when I've needed them because everything has worked very well. I was very pleased with all the people I worked with, from the estimator through the project manager, the folks who were on site, and the customer service.

The sales rep was really great, too. It's a shame that he isn't doing it anymore because I have reached out since then wanting to add batteries. And since my original sales rep isn't available, I get put to whoever is doing it now in our area. But I haven't been able to come to an agreement to add batteries because the last call I made was about my inverters . They are over 12 years old and they don't match with current battery technology which is dissatisfying. I also wish that there were more advertisements for cleaning services to clean the panel, because at my age of 78, I don't want to climb on the roof to hose them down and squeegee them.

I researched a lot of companies and I realized there are only two American companies and everything else is fine China. SunPower came in at 24% in terms of efficiency. Their rep helped me along. The setup was the summer of last year and then it was six months later because they were booked up. We also had to wait for our electric company to come and disconnect the power from the post. Other than that, the job was done within a week once everything got okay.

December was when they installed the system. When the electric company came and did the final inspection, I didn't realize that the main panel switch for the electricity to turn on the solar panels was never on. A month later, I got a bill and I realized I was being charged normally. I called SunPower and they told me the system was not on. I thought they were gonna do that. They walked me through how to turn on the system.

That’s the only gripe that I had. SunPower dropped the ball on that. I'm an over-the-road truck driver. I'm gone two, three weeks at a time. I wasn't even home to even physically look at it to see where the switch says 'Off'. It's right next to the electrical panel outside. It's a small electrical panel and it's just a big switch, on-off. When everything is all said and done, go out there and take a look, because SunPower didn't tell me about that. So far, I've gotten my SunPower bill and it's going to be a doozy. They told me that I'm gonna have to pay it in two installments when they add it all up, which is horrible. If you're averaging $200 a month, times 12. And you're gonna have to pay it all in two shots."

I had an issue with the panels from day one. I had one panel that kept showing me it was offline on my app. I called my three-month representative and he kept telling me that it was data migration, this, and that. Everything looks good on the SunPower side. I wasn't buying what the representative said and I was insisting that they send somebody out. But he kept saying that was not necessary so I took it upon myself to call the 800 number for the first time. I was on the phone for more than three hours. Customer service told me there were times when the panel was not producing power, which really upset me because it wasn't what my representative was telling me.

It took another 10 days for SunPower to send a technician out. I said, "I paid for this. It's a $40,000 installation. It's not 100% working. Send him out with every possible part so this gets resolved." But the technician shows up with no parts. I wouldn't let him leave. He somehow he pulled out a microinverter from the back of his van and claimed it was brand new. He replaced that part. Lo and behold, the system's been working fine now for well over a month. On that whole, it was like pulling teeth just getting through customer service, convincing them to send somebody out because everybody wants to do everything remotely, checking the system, and sending an update. I was very frustrated. But I am happy now even though I have two minor issues going on.

I'm an engineer by trade so I understood the whole solar panel, power, and the apps. But I felt SunPower was dismissing that. It was almost like excuses, where they would check the system and say, "It was fine. We'll send a signal." They led me along for months and I really was upset about that. After giving my representative a 5-star rating, he just disappeared. I was really hoping he would be the guy to go and jump on somebody's desk and say, "Hey, we got to send somebody out there to fix this guy's solar system."

A week later, they came out and it took them six hours to install 14 panels. We then had a wait till I got the permit to operate from the utility company, and that took a bit longer than they anticipated. There was a problem with some of the paperwork that had been submitted, so the first round, the PTO was denied. They had to go back and redo the paperwork, then it was approved. For the last 12 months, I’ve generated about 85% of my home usage. The only downside I'm seeing at this point is with changes in utility billing.

When I first signed up, my contract was a net metering so I paid a certain cost of kilowatt-hours used, and the utility company purchased back from me at that same price. If I generated 200 and consumed 200, my net usage was zero, and my bill was essentially zero. My contract ended and I had to renew it. Now, I'm paying 21 cents a kilowatt-hour for usage, and I'm only getting back 10 cents a kilowatt-hour for anything I push back to the grid. There's another $40 a month service fee from the utility company as well. So the incentive isn't quite what it was a year ago. Still, it's a good value.

Since going with SunPower, we've noticed a big difference in our monthly bill. For instance, this month, we have a credit of 150 bucks, so we didn't have to pay our energy bill this month. It's a good thing. The only thing is SunPower could set people up to understand that sometimes the process takes a little longer than you may anticipate, which means not necessarily the install part, but getting that scheduled, then also the followup, getting the permits and then getting PG&E to turn it on.