Sunrun Reviews

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.

It has always been my feeling with Sunrun that they are huge and overextended and have more customers than they can maybe service in a timely fashion. And several times we've had issues where they've had to come out because the equipment wasn't working properly. They came out, and they fixed it, and they notified me. I'm waiting for them now. They're supposed to come out on June 2nd. One of our optimizers needs to be replaced. And they notified me right away that there was a problem. That was about a month ago when they called me. So, there are those kinds of issues where they're so backed up that it takes a while sometimes for them to address issues.

We also lease our system. We don't own it. The savings for us are not as great as those of others. I know my next-door neighbor who also has Sunrun, and they own their system, and it's much more profitable for them. We're in an area where I have sun all day long. My system generates a lot, and it has saved us in utility bills, probably about $1,500 a year. Their app is also very easy to use. They bill me directly through my bank account, so I get a notification that I've paid them. And I can go on to the app and look and see everything, your daily use, your weekly use, and your monthly use. It tells you the energy that you produced, what the environmental impact is of that. I know for a while, they were having a little bit of trouble with the app, but I've always been able to use it without any problem. For the most part, I've been happy with Sunrun, and I would recommend them.

We didn't have quite enough panels on our house because we'd only been in the house for a year. It was kind of hard to identify how many panels we would need. So, we added on some second panels that I had called David back and asked him, and he said he wasn't with Sunrun anymore, but he could give me some information about a company that he felt was good. So, they came over and gave us some more panels.

My last bill was only like $36 for the electric through APS, and then we make the payment to Sunrun and also to the other company. But I'm pleased that Sunrun is still in business. We were noticing where our electric bills were going up just a little bit, but we had heard a loud thunder clap one night, and it sounded like lightning struck somewhere really close. Then a part inside of our solar panel on the side that registers everything wasn't converting the way it should be.

Sunrun saw it on their end and called us up and said, “We see that there's an issue here. Can we come out and check it out?” I told them, “Yeah. We've just noticed our last bill was a little higher than it should have been.” So, they checked it out and got it ordered, and it was at a time when it was really hard to get those chips. It didn't take very long, though. As soon as they got it, they were back out here, got it up and running, and it's been running great ever since. So, our experience with Sunrun has been great.

We have referred Sunrun to several people, too. We got a credit for somebody we referred you to, and they decided to go with Sunrun. Recently, on Nextdoor, people were asking about solar and what did we think. I put in our two cents with Sunrun and said it was a great company, and I've been pleased. We've had them for over 10 years. I gave them an example of my electric bill just last month, and other people were complaining that theirs were really high because we've had unusually hot weather.

If I had to sell the house, I would have to upgrade that electrical panel anyway, with a home inspection. And the roof was 33 years old, so I knew I had to replace that. You got to strip everything right down to the wood. Instead of getting a loan and doing all those other repairs, it was part of the deal with Sunrun. That is of one of my reasons to switch.

The first process is the electric company has to approve it before they can move forward. There are only so many on the same line that they could approve. It would take a while because there's a lot of stuff going on. Once that was approved, the permitting and everything went right along. The installation went well. There was a lot of people here. The roofing project had to happen first, cut the trees first, and the installation of the panels went well.

All the people who worked here were super nice. However, the electrician had an attitude at the end. He switched everything over and said, “Okay, I'm on here.” He had a long day. I understand, he was alone, which is fine, but I didn't have power on a certain area at my house. I have a transfer switch downstairs for a portable generator, and he said, "No, I'm out of here. All my stuff is working.” I called my electrician that night. He came in the morning, and there was one wire that he didn't connect. My electrician traced it, and didn't take long. It might have been $150, but I got reimbursed by Sunrun. That took a while, going back and forth with the office. The office is out of California. It took some chasing, but they eventually came through.

The only delay I had was when that was all said and done, they didn't switch over, after all the inspections. You got electrical inspections that have to happen, and permitting. I said, “When am I actually going on?” Sunrun called me and said, “Everything's up and running. How come it's not running?” I said, “I don't know. Talk to you guys.” It was just a matter of going out and flipping the switch. They said, “Can you go out there and look at the switch to shut it off? Tell me if it's on or off.” I went out there and said, “It's off.” He said, “Can you turn it on for us, please?” That was the only delay, which was a month. It started in August, and we finished in November.

The rep spent a bit of time explaining how the whole system works. He looked at my electric bill. I noticed the electric bill within the last few years have been going crazy, but it's not so much electricity we have been getting, it's all the fees that they keep adding on. But it worked out. And when he said that the rates were going up a certain percentage, and they did, prior to me signing off, they knew this stuff. They worked hard. They knew what they were talking about. It helped that my neighbor has been on that system for a few years, and he has added more solar panels on the back a year ago. But so far, it's working. I would recommend it.

Not everybody qualifies for the simple reason. My neighbor was thinking of doing it, but he has some trees that are in the way. They can measure the sunlight and see if it's worth investing. The trees are big pine trees, and they're not on his property. My other neighbors up there said, “Maybe we'll get solar.” I said, “It may be worth it. It may not be worth it.” It would benefit somebody who uses the average electricity versus an elderly person who is always conserving. So, it depends on the situation. At least investigate it and see if it's right for you.

All transfer documents to the new homeowner were signed by me and received by SunRun with them emailing me confirmation of receipt. My account online shows a zero balance and in the past two months I have spoken to two agents who have confirmed this with me. They opened a case two weeks ago, and today I have ANOTHER monthly charge on my account. I continue to go round and round with these ** people and still have gotten no where. I DO NOT EVER recommend using SunRun for your solar service. You will be so sorry you did. What a nightmare. Why can't people just do their job correctly?

The second reason is leaks. While the panels were being installed it was raining. This is why I was able to draw to their attention that they now caused a waterfall in my garage. I thought it was all fixed on that day of installation, however I had to call them back on three separate occasions regarding leaks. This last time I called in April. It is now June 22 and though there was someone out her to do an assessment of the leak, to date no one has been out to fix it.

To be fair they finally had a date scheduled on June 18th. That morning at 8:15 am I received a call stating that the person scheduled to fix the leak call out but they would be able to put me at the top of the waiting list and they would be able to send someone out in July. That will make it close to 3 months since my call about this particular leak, and multiple days of strong winds and heavy rains. I just responded to an email from them in which they asked if the technician told me that the job is all complete. How is it possible that they could not know that the person scheduled to fix the roof never came. In my last communication with them I told them to come and get all of their panels and I will fix my own roof. Now, this is just my experience. Other people's experiences may be different.

To me each experience is exactly your own and you have to make it your own. Everyone will have opinion which in ok. So please be mindful of what you put out because it’s not always true for everyone. For me I’ve had an amazing experience and very blessed from start to finish and so blessed to have worked with Local crew from SunRun (and Yes I’ve heard that does make the difference). If you’re interested in hearing about it Gabe, Kayden and Justice can come talk story and then Keoni and crew can come and install.