Sunrun Reviews

In Summer, '09 my southerly neighbor confronted me angrily about a "glare" he was experiencing. He said I never should have been allowed to have this installation without his approval. Then soon afterward a public controversy developed about a ground-mounted solar array proposal for our neighborhood elementary school. Here the vast majority of my neighbors took a similar stance with the school board: no accommodations, compromises; we don't want it, we'll sabotage it if it's built, etc. Incredulous, I decided I'd chosen a backwater reactionary neighborhood that was unable to give up on it's fond carbon-based memories. In other words, I decided they were all crazy and ignored them.

Over the subsequent years my southerly neighbor demonstrated his dissatisfaction with ever-increasing encroachment plant growth and illegal height modifications to our jointly-owned lot line fence. When I pointed this out to the county zoning/building department they took no action. But my attempt to slow him down led the neighbor have an attorney write a demand letter threatening a nuisance-based lawsuit unless I removed the panels. This has gone back & forth for almost a year now with lot of money spent but no agreement.

What does this have to do with REC Solar (now Sunrun)? Well, in the process of seeing what this supposed "glare" issue was all about, I did regular observations in 2014 and saw that for a limited time on cloud-free afternoons there is a strong reflection into my neighbor's property from late April to mid-August that is distinct from the sunset. The panels are spec'd as having "non-reflective tempered solar glass" and REC's designer gave no indication that there would be a reflection issue.

After the lawsuit was threatened I contacted Sunrun and was told there was nothing they could do with the array that could alleviate the reflection that wouldn't cost me upwards of $10K. They encouraged me to explore fencing, landscaping, screening, window covering options. Which has been done at a cost of over $3K. But the obvious truth is the galvanized piping rack that supports the solar panels could be modified by lengthening the south side legs to cant the whole array more skyward.

With a competent crew of 3 or 4 and a well-executed redesign of those legs, this could be accomplished on-site in less than an afternoon without having to take down or re-install the panels. In fact the panels could be adjusted twice each year to improve my performance while appeasing my neighbor! It would involve more rigamarole with the utility company and permitting, but it surely could be done. Sunrun is silent on the issue. They include me in their mass mailing and asked me to "tell my solar story" which I did pretty much as I tell it here. No response.

Now as far as I'm concerned my neighbor is the biggest difficulty in all this. He seems to prefer an ongoing controversy where he's in the right and I'm in the wrong and to be defeated. A reasonable guy would have demonstrated the problem to me in 2009 and cooperated to find a reasonable mitigation. And one thing we might have done, if he wasn't such a hot head, is to work together to force Sunrun through legal action to fix the problem its poor design created here. These solar companies have received lots of corporate welfare in the process and are able to cloak themselves in the mantle of helping to save the environment. But Sunrun is not willing to make the job right. They're looking at their bottom line just like on oil or coal company would. Buyer beware.

I find it very hard to believe that trees on a neighbors property were not an issue when they qualified my house in June but are an issue now. I guess I am I to believe that Sunrun works backwards and sells a system first and then does the feasibility study after the contract is signed and money received. I have asked for my deposit back but they want me to sign a cancellation form that guarantees that if I cancel after three days from the date on the contract I will not receive a refund. I am going to have to fight them for the money I gave them to install a system that they won't install. Stay away from Sunrun and shame on Home Depot for allowing such scoundrels to solicit customers in their store.