Sunrun Reviews

Two, three, and four months ago, my PG&E bill was $5 or $3. Now I got a system, our regular PG&E bill is $70. I even got extra batteries for the solar. We've got two big battery panels out there. All winter we used the solar, but not the extent of how we're doing now with the air conditioning running all the time in this heat. So, we're using a lot more, and I can understand the PG&E bill going up if we used all the energy out of the batteries. With PG&E, even if we didn't have solar, they go by what we use. A lot of people say at the end of the year, I'm going to get another bill from true-up. I asked the Sunrun people, "Oh, it's nothing you have to worry about."

What does a true-up even mean? Nobody can explain it to me, but people have told me that. The way it was explained to me by two of the people in the neighborhood that have that, it comes from our solar system, Sunrun. Still, it can't be that much. The lady across street said $145 at the end of the year. That is still well worth not having a thousand-dollar PG&E bill, which is what I was having during the summers. Anywhere from 800 to 1,000. I got grandkids that don't know how to turn off a light, or got to have the air on all the time. It's crazy. My daughter and her kids also live here. This morning, 3 o'clock, I got up and turned off four big lights in the living room and the garage. It all adds up, eventually. I have some time and I'm going to call PG&E today. I don't understand if there's going to be a true-up at the end and I'm waiting to see. I can't complain at all until I find out what true-up is.

The only thing that I'm not quite so happy with is that I live in an area with a strong HOA, and they require that any pipes along the home be painted in the same colors as the home. Sunrun’s installers were quick to do the installation and the guy told me that he would bring a painter in to paint the pipes. The way that my home is, it required that once it went against the back wall, they had to raise it up 15 feet and run it higher. So, if they had just coordinated the painter ahead of time, the painter could have painted the pipes while they were lying on the ground. And it would have been no problem for it to have been up against the house. But this is one thing that has not been resolved.

Tiago, my contact, was very nice. But the painter he sent had an emergency at the last minute and canceled. I called, but he never contacted me again. A few weeks later, I contacted one of the representatives who is the point person for Tiago and she said they would take care of it. But I have never been contacted again. So, I can't close this out with my homeowners’ association. And at some point, if they ever make a fuss about it, I could be in a lot of trouble. It's aesthetics that have to be satisfied for the homeowners’ association, and I don't know what to do with it. The part that is on the backside of my home would require either scaffolding or a ladder to cover.

Tiago was great because he wanted to make sure we got the right amount of panels and batteries. He asked me about my future plans and whether I might have an electric car in the future. Since there's a strong possibility that my next car could be electric, he adjusted the amount of panels to make sure I would have enough electricity to power it at home. He also knew the batteries well. He showed me on the app that I have the latest batteries, and he explained that because better batteries had come out, I could have two batteries with the same capacity that would have required three of the older ones. So, that was good.

The solar energy system has been functioning great. There is an app that you put on your phone but Sunrun is the one who controls when the electricity is not sent to the grid, when it’s used to power up the batteries in anticipation of a storm. I like that because it takes it off of me. It's Sunrun who's watching the weather and the news. I'm one of many customers, but it helps that I don't have to tweak it. Sunrun tweaks it. Someone considering Sunrun should make sure that if they have a homeowners' association with certain rules, they make that very prominent with Sunrun. If I had realized how high they were going to have to move that pipe, I would have suggested bringing the pipe early and bringing the painter in early so they could paint it.

Once it got better, they were able to do it this way, then once it was heard by the public, and I heard about it. I always wanted to have a system in my home. But affordability was a problem because by that time I was about retirement age. So, having extra funds wasn't possible to do that. Sunrun offered to install solar panels on the roof, and Duke Energy was behind it. You could get it done for free, and the maintenance is also free, but you still had to pay. It would still be a saving anyway, even if I didn't own the system myself. So, I took it on because it made sense. It was an opportunity for me, too, to have the service and experience it and actually see if it would be beneficial over time. It has worked good, but I wish I could get the battery installed so that when you do have a power outage, you're not in the dark like everybody else, even though you have the solar panels, and there is some savings involved.

Switching to solar was easy and painless. There are times in the winter time when your bill can be extremely high. But having solar is a constant price every month for what it's going to be, and it's going to be lower those times, much lower than what other residents would have to pay being on the grid. The installation was painless. There was not a whole lot of noise, and there were certain things I wanted that they did. I didn't want to see a whole lot of metal showing, like some installers do when they put it in, you see all kinds of metal holes and pipes. I made sure they knew that I didn't want that on the front side of my house where people could see that coming up the streets. So, that was how they installed it. All of that metal went underneath those panels, over the roof and down to where it connects. So, it is not an eyesore.

The installers were here first thing in the morning. There were several guys here and so much equipment, and they were here for probably eight hours. They were very thorough, and they all had a lot of experience. They were well-spoken and easy to talk to. My representative was here most of the day as well, which was reassuring. It took a while for the electric company to get my electric bill changed over, but I was reimbursed because of the actual date it was installed versus when it went into effect, which was supposed to be right away. They credited that money back to me promptly.

Everything has been functioning perfectly. You don't even know the solar panels are on the roof. There have been times when we've had storms and some of my neighbors lose their power, and I never lose power. Before Sunrun installed the solar panels, they made sure my roof was in good condition. They checked everything, went into the attic, and made sure there weren't any leaks and that the insulation was good. They went through a lot. It isn't just signing on the dotted line to have it installed. They're checking everything out for you. They have your village or city inspector come and check it out, and they're checking on your roof condition.

It's also very easy to communicate with Sunrun. I haven't had to talk to them about anything for quite a while, but when I did at first, it was smooth and easy. There was no pressure and no stress. My representative always returned my calls. He wants it to work for me because of referrals that he wants to get from other customers, and his name is on that, not just Sunrun. Several of my neighbors have signed up since I've had it, and they've all been pleased as well. I'm in a senior community, and whether it's a senior community or not, with the way the economy is, we're all looking out for our bills. Everybody seems to be happy. To me, it's a no-brainer.

These 27 panels, most of the time, I'm not even on the grid. And the house my size would use an average of around 30 kilowatts. And I'm producing 50 or even more kilowatts per day, yet it doesn't seem to matter to FPL. They're getting all the benefits of me powering God knows how many homes. I'm kind of a producer without any getting anything in return. But as far as the system goes, when I had a couple of glitches, Sunrun was out here right away and took care of it. They've been very good as far as follow-up goes. For the panels themselves, I'm kind of in the middle whether I did the right thing or not. If a hurricane hits, I'll be ahead of the game.

Right now, I feel that with all the electricity I'm producing, I'm really behind. Other than that, I would recommend Sunrun, but they have some really great programs now. Before, it was at the height where Mr. Biden was giving 30% in energy credits, and that went away. But I didn't benefit by it. Sunrun did. If I would have bought the system outright, then I would have benefited by that reduction.

As a result, I have ended up paying approximately **$240–$250 per month when combining my Sunrun payment and electric bill**, and at other times my total monthly cost has still been **$140+**. This is nowhere near what I was led to expect when I agreed to the solar system. After 3–4 years, I cannot say that going solar with Sunrun has provided me with the savings that were promised during the sales process. My biggest concern is the significant difference between what I was told before signing the agreement and what I have actually experienced as a customer.

I have tried to understand and resolve these issues, but I am extremely frustrated with the situation. **If this matter is not properly addressed, I intend to file formal complaints with the Florida Office of Financial Regulation and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding the representations made during the sales process and the financial expectations that were presented to me.**

I strongly recommend that anyone considering Sunrun carefully verify **every financial, tax, savings, and loan-related promise in writing** before signing anything. Do your own calculations and make sure you fully understand the solar agreement, loan, electric bill, tax incentives, and total monthly cost. Based on my experience, I am very disappointed and **would not recommend Sunrun without thoroughly researching the numbers and getting every promise documented in writing.**

People who are interested in Sunrun should do their due diligence and take a good look at them. Get at least another estimate and go from there. This is a $60,000 investment. So, there's a lot of work involved. Just with the design itself, we went through several iterations. So they should take their time. It worked great for us. It's a long-standing agreement, so you want to make sure you're dealing with a company that is likely to be around 25 years from now. Sunrun's financials in a troubled industry look solid.

At startup the battery failed. It was eventually fixed, but later was the subject of a recall that required it to be used at reduced capacity from 2021 until 2023 (Sunrun did issue a small monthly credit during this time to compensate for the reduced capacity, which seemed fair and made the long delay much more palatable). The replacement eventually arrived and we had about 2 years where things finally were running properly.

But in May 2025, our battery went completely dead. Remote fix didn't work, on-site repair didn't work, and a replacement battery went on backorder. Communication was consistently poor. My messages were never returned, and two appointments were mysteriously cancelled after I'd taken time off work to be home (to let the technicians into the garage to access the equipment) because my dead battery "looked good" on their end. After several months, a new battery arrived and was installed, and then failed 2 days later. So the cycle repeated -- another backorder, another long wait, and then eventually another install. All told, the battery was down from May through December - seven months without a functioning battery.

During these 7 months, I inquired about billing -- specifically I asked why were we paying for a battery that wasn't functional? I was informed on two separate occasions that all compensation would have to wait until the new battery was installed -- that only when everything is back up and running would they evaluate what was owed. This seemed odd to me -- why am I paying for a feature that doesn't work? Nevertheless, I had no choice but to move on and hope that Sunrun would do the right thing once the battery was eventually back up.

With the battery finally back online in late December, and with no credits showing up on my January billing statement, I reached out to check the status. At this point, I was informed that no compensation is due because my solar panels generated the power required to meet the solar guarantee. In short, as long as the minimum power is generated, I am not entitled to any compensation for a non-functional battery (they did at one point offer me a one-time $75 credit for my "troubles"). But there is no battery guarantee (it's rather curious that this was never mentioned when I inquired previously -- that instead I was told "don't worry, we'll settle up when the ticket is closed and your system is back up").

There is no offset for my higher true-up bill, which was significantly higher than previous years. There is no compensation for paying for a battery that wasn't available during our three outages last year. I was astonished. I asked a hypothetical -- if the battery was non-functional for the entire remaining 13 years of my contract, would I still have the pay the $41 extra cost every month. The answer is yes, because the only guarantee relates to power generation. In short, paying for a battery doesn't actually guarantee you'll have a battery. Unfortunately the new battery didn't last long. Last month, we had our first power outage of the year and the battery failed to engage. Apparently it had been installed wrong. It was useless. And then hours later it went dead, again.

I contacted Sunrun to get service scheduled. To my surprise, this time the rep seemed eager to help and offered to have somebody onsite within days. I was thrilled that finally I was being treated seriously and cautiously optimistic that maybe Sunrun had turned a corner on customer service. But my optimism was quickly dashed -- mere hours after the appointment was set, a rep called me to tell that my problem had been "mistakenly marked as urgent" and he was cancelling my pending appointment. Nobody would be visiting this week, or the next. In fact the earliest opportunity would be weeks or months away. That was a month ago, and the first visit is still weeks away. In the meantime, I have a battery that has been non-functional for 10 out of the last 17 months, with no end in sight. But somehow Sunrun still manages to get paid for it. And apparently there's nothing that can be done about it.

I now have 36 solar panels on my roof that I own and pay $288.33 every month for. At this point, they are basically a very expensive paperweight. A couple of weeks ago, Alex from SunRun Solar contacted me with some “exciting news.” During that conversation, she acknowledged that Sunrun no longer sizes systems the way mine was sized because of complaints from customers with situations like mine. So Sunrun now recognizes that the method was flawed—but I am still stuck paying for the system they designed using that method.

The situation became so serious that I was awarded $10,000 through the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office. That money was supposed to help cover future payments and the difference between my electric bills and what the solar system actually produces. That sounds helpful until you see the actual costs. The system performs reasonably well during the summer, but once September arrives, the electric bills start climbing. I usually do not get relief again until around April. Some months, my electric bill reaches $600, on top of the $288.33 monthly solar payment. So much for solar saving money.

Sunrun has done nothing meaningful to correct the problem. They relied on an estimate instead of actual usage information, installed a system that does not adequately meet the property’s energy needs and left me responsible for the financial consequences. Solar was supposed to reduce my energy costs. Instead, it has likely caused me to pay substantially more. Stay away from Sunrun. Before signing any solar agreement, independently verify the system size, production estimates, guarantees and every promise made by the salesperson. Once the panels are installed, you may be the one stuck paying for their “estimate"

There were existing panels up there. They said they couldn't tie into those, which was a shame. So, they put new panels up. The only issue I had is when they came to install them, they broke a couple tiles on the roof. Once I realized that, I called them, and they came out and replaced them for me. This is the first time I've ever had solar panels. It was a brand-new house, and it was included in the purchase. It was about a $13,000 extra on the house, but they were already installed when I bought the house. I just knew that solar gave you energy. I had no idea quite how it would be, but I liked the idea that if something goes wrong, because it's their merchandise, they would come out and replace it.

We have even had the panels professionally cleaned, yet the problem continues. Whenever we contact Sunrun, we are repeatedly told that the panels are functioning properly. However, our actual energy bills tell a very different story. If the system is truly operating as it should, then Sunrun needs to explain why our NV Energy bills remain so high. I am extremely frustrated by being told that everything is working properly while the results we are experiencing do not support that claim. We invested in this system based on what was represented to us, and we expected meaningful savings—not to continue paying a substantial amount to both Sunrun and NV Energy.

I expect Sunrun to take this matter seriously, thoroughly investigate the system's actual energy production, compare it with the production that was represented when we agreed, and provide a meaningful explanation and resolution. Simply telling us that the system is functioning properly is **not an acceptable response when our bills clearly demonstrate that something is not adding up.**

What concerns me most is not simply that an inappropriate situation occurred, but the apparent willingness to proceed despite knowing the circumstances. In my view, integrity is demonstrated by what someone chooses to do when they know where the boundaries are—not merely by how they conduct themselves after their actions are discovered.

I am intentionally limiting this review to what I personally experienced and observed. I cannot speak for every interaction Mr. ** has with clients, coworkers, or other families. I can say that my experience caused me to seriously question the judgment, accountability, and values of someone holding himself out publicly in a leadership and sales-management capacity. For those reasons, based solely on my experience, I would give my interaction with Mr. ** one star.

The system was installed, and within a week I discovered that Sunrun has the software on the battery locked down so the battery simply sits at 100% charge in standby for the utility\. I’m paying roughly $2,000 a year for this battery, yet I’m not allowed to use it to reduce my own electricity consumption\. The only time it is available to me is when the power goes out\.

This was absolutely not how the system was represented to me\. What makes it even more frustrating is that the battery is technically designed to operate exactly the way it was explained to me\. The hardware can do it—the software is simply locked by Sunrun\. The whole point of having a home battery is to be able to use stored solar energy when the sun isn’t producing, including at night or on cloudy days, and potentially reduce your reliance on expensive utility electricity\. Instead, Sunrun appears to prioritize using customers’ batteries as part of its larger virtual power plant/fleet while the customer continues paying for the battery\. If I had known the battery would be software\-locked and unavailable for my own energy savings, I absolutely would not have got it\.

**DO NOT GET THE BATTERY unless you fully understand exactly how Sunrun will allow you to use it\.** Ask very specific questions about whether you can discharge the battery to power your home, participate in time\-of\-use savings, and control when the battery charges and discharges\. Obviously the grid can override this, but to not allow the customer to use the battery they are paying for is ridiculous\!

I feel completely misled about what I was purchasing\. The most frustrating part is that the battery is capable of doing what I was sold—it’s Sunrun’s software restrictions that prevent me from using it that way\. And when I started asking questions after installation, getting a straight answer became nearly impossible\. I wish I had known this before the sales rep signed the contract as me…\.\. yes you read that correctly\! I would have never paid thousands of dollars a year for a battery that essentially just sits there at 100% waiting for a once every ten year power outage, or for the grid to use it…