Sunrun Reviews

Fast forward to a few years later, and Felix ** from Sunrun showed up. I was already frustrated and walking out the door, and I let him have it. I told him exactly how I felt about solar salesmen. But Felix just stood there, took it calmly, and didn't get defensive. He let me vent, then respectfully asked if he could just show me the numbers. And I'm glad he did.

We're on PG&E's CARE program and still paying $700–$900 a month – more than all our neighbors. We always knew something was off but felt stuck. Felix didn't just give us a sales pitch; he guaranteed we'd do better and helped us prepare for the future when nobody knows what rates will do. We've watched our bills climb for years, so we knew we had to try something.

Now we have a 50-panel system with 4 Powerwalls. The install crew (5 vans!) showed up and knocked it out in one day. We were fully up and running on solar in less than a month. Now we can actually see what we use, what we send back to the grid, and we even have the option to go off-grid entirely. What really stood out? Felix showed up DURING the install and bought lunch for the whole crew. You don't see that kind of care and follow-through much anymore. Thank you, Sunrun, and especially thank you, Felix **. You earned our business the right way.

I started with Vivint. Our roof needed to be replaced, and they replaced the front roof where the solar panels are at no cost to me. They were on time. They did a professional job, and it was over before you knew it. And I was already generating electricity. I don't think raplace roofs at no cost now that they have become Sunrun. They would have replaced the electric panel too if it required it, but it didn't.

I pay for what I use, and I've been maintaining a $1,500 credit with Eversource. I'm here alone, so I don't use all the electricity that it produces. It's worth it. However, Sunrun stopped sending me the bill a couple months ago. Last month I got a copy of the bill again in my email, but I don't know why they stopped. If they keep stopping, I will have to keep calling them. They email me a production on one email and sends me a copy of my bill on another email. I can look at the meter if I want to, but I don't bother. It goes by the weather and how long the days are. Because naturally, in the winter time, you don't generate anywhere near as much electricity.

The service has been outstanding since it has been on. I've been here going on seven years. The first year, it was rough because trying to get somebody to come out was the issue to turn it on. It took a minute the first time. But since then, it has been working perfectly. They came through like soldiers. Took care of everything. I was so grateful for that. They came out, did whatever they needed to do, they reconnected it once I had the roof done, the whole nine yards. I've not had any issues in the last six years. It has been a great experience.

The utilities have been very good. They vary from year to year. Last year, for two months consecutively, it was $8, $8.90. I don't have a big place. It's 1,800 square feet, but it's a good size place. I keep the AC because it's so hot here. The AC is on all day. This month I paid 13. But during the summer months are my best months. It is the winter that it's not because I also pay for water, gas, and energy. My gas bill can be $40 versus the NV Energy bill. So, it offsets. If one is very low, the other one is high.

Every month, you can go on the website and see the difference. You get something emailed every month and they tell you. When you get your bill electronically, it's all there. It's all laid out that this is how much you saved compared to last year. They don't have anything to do with the solar. Because if they had, they would prefer people didn't have solar because that means more money in their pocket.

I referred five of my neighbors there and all five of them ended up getting solar panels. The problem is because I don't own the unit, I didn't get anything back. I got nothing for making the referral. Although I'm the homeowner, I don't own that equipment. I don't know how that works. I'm sure it can't go back to the owner because the home is in my name. My next door neighbors both got it together. So at that point, when the owner made the referral, she got the difference. But I have neighbors on the street and they always ask me and I show them the bill. I said, "And you guys have more in your homes than I do. There's only two of us. But you guys have kids and this, that, and the other. You could save a bundle." They told me they've been paying $600. That's one bill. That doesn't include the gas, the water, the trash, and all that other stuff that you have to pay. These people are paying a fortune for NV Energy.

We have an app that Sunrun set me up with it. It shows an actual comparison between production versus usage. And production is usually higher than my usage. That's one good thing I like about it. Also, it shows me what I produce per day, week, month, and year. I get a monthly printout that comes through the email showing me what my actual monthly usage was. They're informative as far as keeping me informed with what my usage and production rate is. Sunrun also got me involved in this Energy Alliance Program where I sell some of my energy back to the grid when I'm not using it. That works out good too. And I get credits for that sometimes. There's one coming later on this summer. They said they would pay it at the beginning of the summer, but they decided they would wait until later on in the summer to pay us.

Comparing what I used to pay with what I’m paying now, I’m glad I got the solar system. I've referred several friends and neighbors to them, and they have to make their own decisions, whether they wanna go through it. The first thing that hits them is cost. I advised them, “You don't really want to buy the system. You wanna rent it,” because that is what I'm doing. It’s no good to have solar panels unless you have the battery backup system to go with it beause you're defeating the purpose of having a solar system. I didn't notice we had a power outage until I went outside to see what was going on. I was the only house on the whole street that had lights. Shortly after that, I found out my neighbors started getting solar on their houses. Get Sunrun.

My only complaint is they won't put my third battery on. I don't know why. And even though I complained. I was willing to pay whatever the price would be to add to the lease. They told me I didn't need it. They said I could get it after I got the system installed if I needed it. When I got the system installed, I was running out of juice of batteries at night. Two of my boys are up all night long because they work. I called Sunrun to get an extra battery put on my lease, but they wouldn't let me, and I felt betrayed by them, but there was nothing I could do. At first, I was doing good with Sunrun, as far as not having a power bill. Now, I am getting between a $70 and a $30 power bill every month.

I have a giant tree in front of the house. Everybody knows about it. I went through many companies, and they all send a digital thing of where they would put the panels, and Sunrun was the only company that put the panels on the part of my roof where the tree shade is, and maybe that's why. I don't know why they put the panels there. I went back and forth with them. My son moved out since then. He bought a house in Simi Valley, he just got solar and picked Sunrun because I told him to.

This is why I told my son to go with Sunrun. I looked through different companies, and I went to all the big ones. Everybody said, “You got a 25-year warranty on this or a 30-year warranty on that,” but if the company goes out of business, where do you go with the warranty? These companies also said, "You just call the manufacturer.” So, I called a couple of the manufacturers of different panels, and they they tell you to go through a contractor. And if you tell them the contractor goes out of business, they tell you to get another contractor and have them contact. A lot of these manufacturers don't want to work direct with the person, and the warranty is worth nothing. I live in an expensive neighborhood, and a lot of people have already gone solar. I went door-to-door asking all my neighbors, and a lot of them had the results that the company who put them in had gone out of business. Those companies do not stay in business for a long time.

Out of all the companies, Sunrun has the longevity of staying in business. That's why I went for a lease instead of buying it out. I could have paid cash, but by leasing it, at least if the warranty doesn't come through, I could stop paying my lease. Even though the lease may be sold to a different company, other than Sunrun, it gives you some kind of leverage to have them come out with the warranty. I spoke to a lawyer who said that.

After his review of my system he told me it was designed at 88%. Explaining to him what I was told from my sales rep and not being 100% solar I was disappointed. His answer to me was was the contract was valid. Never acknowledging the fact that I was misled from my sales rep taking no accountability. He was quick to point out what I did save regardless of having two bills. 88% is not what I signed up for but he feels it's good enough. When I asked about expanding my system like I was told I could he shut it down. With my experience with sunrun and the staff especially Carlton it's my opinion to strongly steer clear of sunrun!