Sunrun Reviews

I'm trying to get more heaters in here so that I can keep my gas furnace from running. I got a couple more space heaters coming and I'm gonna run those throughout the house. I just leave the gas furnace set low enough so that it stays off most of the time, but if it gets so cold and the heater can’t keep up, it will kick on periodically for a little bit. That was the main objective. I want to get rid of the high price of the $400 or $500 a month for the Ameren bill. The initial interactions with Sunrun representatives were positive. However, there was some confusion regarding an energy company switch I needed to make on my end. I thought Sunrun would handle the arrangements but found out later that I was not credited for the electricity my panels produced before I canceled with the previous energy company.

Since the installation, my understanding was that the system would store excess energy produced on sunny days and use it during less sunny periods. However, there's been a bit of frustration because I haven't seen the financial benefits I anticipated, and my monthly payments increased from $138 to $150. Although I'm satisfied with the installation team's work, some aspects of the communication and expectations around the benefits were not as clear. Overall, I'd rate my experience with Sunrun a 4 out of 5. There were some things that were vaguely discussed. You had to make a decision fast. They were going around through the neighborhood and I had to act on it quickly to do it. I would recommend Sunrun for their service and installation to anyone who asks, but advise them to clarify all terms and understand the process thoroughly before proceeding.

Nick told me, "The cost of living is gonna go up, your payment's gonna go up, but only this percent. Now, JCP&L can raise you this." He said, "We will raise you 2% every so often. JCP&L will raise you 3% to 5%." Sunrun put a new roof on my house as well. My roof went through a tornado and it was really bad. I told Nick, "I can't afford a new roof right now. I don't know what I'm gonna do." He said, "You go with Sunrun and we'll put a new roof on your house." I couldn't say no to him. It was impossible. It's been roughly about a year and a half since the system was installed, and I don't have an electric bill anymore. I pay Sunrun the same bill every month and I don't have any problem. Plus, Nick is the head salesman. I have his personal number, and he said I could call him any time.

Other than that, the biggest benefit of going solar is you're paying upfront for a system that is going to last at least 12 years at zero cost down the line. With the rising prices of energy, it mathematically makes sense to do it. If you're going to sell your home in the next couple of years, I would not suggest it because you don't get the value out of it on a resale. But the loan that I took out to get the solar is annually less than what I would pay for electricity. So it pays for itself in that sense. Aside from that, through the Tesla App, I can look at my daily usage and tracking of the system. I have a backup battery, so it makes it very nice to be able to adjust the way the battery is used as well as the amount of residual capacity that I'm able to tap into every day. Then monthly, PG&E provides an extensive report.

On the other hand, a number of my neighbors have also installed solar panels and they have their batteries stored in a garage. How other companies could install batteries inside the garage in my neighborhood and Sunrun could not is something that still is a question for me. When they said that the city is not allowing installing batteries inside the garage, I took that. This may make sense because it may be a safety issue. Maybe it's a fire issue because battery is something loaded with all kinds of energy storage and sometimes, batteries can heat up and explode and be a higher fire hazard. Maybe that is the case. And I was making up reasons to convince myself that what Sunrun is telling me is making sense.

But as I saw the others installing batteries inside their garages, I thought about how sincere Sunrun’s feedback was and how solid the reasoning for that was. You can be cynical and say that at that time, Sunrun did not have enough batteries in their stock and they just wanted to just weasel out. Or installing a battery did not make financial sense to someone at that point. And therefore, they just moved my project forward by giving me a bunch of mumbo jumbo. Maybe someday, somebody will help me understand that.

The price of the batteries was approximately $10,000. The cost of everything is going up and will keep going up. Maybe the competition will drive the cost of the battery down. But on the other hand, with all the EVs and the additional need for storage of electrical power, it's very likely that the cost of the battery will go up rather than down. So, even if Sunrun comes back to me and says they’re ready to put a battery inside our garage, I'm gonna be paying a high price for that because of the cost difference between 2023 and hypothetically 2025.

We just have the panels and it's connected to the network and they don't pay a lot for that. So, we are producing energy and sending it to the network for a lower price. And we're getting them for a higher price from the network. We have no storage capacity so, we're at their mercy. When you have storage, it will reduce the dependence on the higher-cost electrical power that you're receiving from them. But overall, Sunrun did well. The product is great and everything seems to be functioning well. I hope it will be functioning the same in the future, at least for some time. I have the app and I don't do that regularly but once in a while, I go to it. In Southern California, we have months of May and June overcast. So, we don't have a whole lot of sunshine until later on in the day, and that piqued my curiosity to see if the system is producing or not. I go to it and when I do, I see how much we're producing, which is good and it is all I need.

As far as changes in our bills, it was almost immediate because my roof gets a lot of southern exposure from the sun, so we were able to take advantage of that. As long as there's not that many clouds in the sky but if it is, it's still able to produce some wattage. So there's only been three electric bills in the last two years that I've had to pay like $50. Mostly it's just a fee to keep the account open, which is 13. My original electric bills were never crazy outrageous. The highest we paid was close to $300 one summer during August, which would have been the worst of the months. But on average, I’m maybe $100 to $200 a month with my average bill. Going solar was cost effective because I got a 20-year loan but I could pay it off sooner and it's just a 2% rate. After the 20 years is up and I would have paid it off, the solar products are guaranteed after 30 years to still be 87% effective.

For a while, we struggled to get used to understanding the system's emissions, but it's worth mentioning that there was an unexpected rise in our electric bills last winter. This puzzled us since we barely changed our routine. The only variable contributing to our previously high bills was a new pool heater, which we understood, but we didn't understand the other four months. Then, oddly enough, our last bill decreased. Other than that, we've had no issues where Sunrun is concerned. I have told a neighbor about Sunrun and they have it.

Even though I'm single and living alone, I did notice a difference in my energy regulation, particularly my heating and air conditioning, though nothing radical. My main motivation was to reduce my carbon footprint, and the panels are helping with that.

Sunrun’s service has been satisfying. They provide monthly updates directly to my phone, detailing kilowatt-hour production and usage, which keeps me informed on the system's performance. Knowing I didn't have to pay out of pocket added to my favorable view of them. Overall, I am very satisfied with my Sunrun experience.

The signup process with Sunrun felt convoluted due to a lot of fine print to wade through. This made it difficult to understand completely what I was agreeing to. During installation, they determined the number of solar panels needed by estimating from my bill, although I still have no exact idea how many panels were installed.

To track the energy I am producing with the panels, I receive an email with updates. As long as my standard bill remains consistent, I'm content.

In terms of recommending Sunrun, it's a mixed opinion for me. If you don't consume much electricity, their service might work for you, but for me, the changes in billing have been a bit frustrating as they slowly increase their charges.

I was formerly spending $400-$500 monthly on PG&E, but now my solar payments are capped at just $395. After accounting solely for gas presently, my system not only powers my home efficiently but also enables me to sell electricity back. My home, even at 33 years old, operates more efficiently than some new homes. Once the system is paid off in four years, it's essentially money saved each month.

While additional technologies like Tesla batteries were proposed to me, notably for $30,000 to maintain power through outages, it didn't seem worth it given it only provides a day's worth of power. Instead, I opted for a backup generator from Costco for $1,000 which stands ready should there be a power failure.

Being retired from the Air Force has instilled in me the importance of forward-thinking and planning. Overall, I couldn't recommend Sunrun enough. Their service meets my standard of judging whether I'd make the same choice again or on another property—and the answer is a resounding yes.

Since having Sunrun solar panels, I've not experienced any interruptions in electricity in my house. In fact, it's been incredibly reliable and useful. Overall, I've had a positive experience with Sunrun and would recommend it to others.