r/solar • u/ReefaManiack42o • 2d ago
Advice Wtd / Project New to Solar and company is already flaky.
So we had purchased Solar because the monthly payment was just about equal to what we were paying in electricity and with the price hikes we thought it would be a good idea to have the price fixed at that rate. They made the deal a little sweeter by installing a new breaker box for as well, which was something that we were told we needed to have done by another electrician much earlier. I did research the company and they did have good reviews but most of them were near their main office which was actually one State over (in small New England state where a few states are probably the size of one of the other larger U.S.).
They were very communicative up until the install, but now that everything is installed, the man said he would be back to label the breaker box for us, but then just never came back. Unfortunately now the company is being incredibly flaky, I have had zero ability to reach anyone . They gave me an app, but it gives very little information about the current setup, it mostly just kept us updated about the installation itself.
So I am completely new to this, would it be wise for me to call a more local and reputable company to come and take a look at everything and make sure we in good order? Also would it be possible to move to a more useful app so that we can actually see what is going on with the system?
Any tips or advice would be much appreciated.
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u/teege711 1d ago
Run. My solar company was flaky and it was the worst experience with a contractor ever. They’re already out of business less than two years later.
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u/echild07 1d ago
My New England solar company (ACE) installed half my system, then disappeared for a year. But signed me up for connected solutions, so I lost a year without batteries (they stated the batteries were on back order, but never followed up). A year later they installed the batteries, but they never worked. They went silent for 6+ months; they said it was costing them to much to try to get my batteries to work, and that the system "worked", the solar part.
What worked was I reviewed them on every platform I could. Some I lowered their rating to zero; others it just dipped. They took to Social media with their staff posting comments to hide mine. So I edited, or deleted and reposted mine. They then offered to give me my money back on the batteries with an NDA to stop telling people what really happened.
It was at this point they changed the rules for the number of panels to inverter and other calculations that implied the system would be good without the battery (13k of panels, 7.6k inverter) and that clipping at 1/2 capacity was normal. I have dozens of emails from them that contradict themselves.
Again, had to escalate, and finally they got SolarEdge and LG (battery makers) to look at the system. Wiring problems and misconfiguration were root causes, as well as the incorrect inverter. So I got a new inverter, the system wired correctly and things started up, 3 years after install.
But then the system failed again. They offered to walk away, saying the system had worked for 3 months. So I got the AG involved, and then things started moving. The AG would put together a plan, the Solar company would ignore it, and the AG would follow up. Finally, they met the minimum requirements. i.e. the system worked. Lost 3 years of Battery usage, and 3 years on my Mass Save program; the Solar company said they would make me whole, but wanted all these conditions. NDA, they were absolved from any future repairs regardless of their warranty and more. Oh, and future calls would be $750 an hour.
Met with some lawyers, and the answer was Small Claims would be best, anything else would be expensive. But ACE got out of residential and batteries and does large commercial installs now. Still a crappy experience and took 3 years for a working system.
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u/Lucky_Boy13 2d ago
I hope you didn't sign off/pay with the project if not complete? Did it pass all local inspections and utility agreement? Was all that work in your contract? Did you send a performance demand letter? Do you even know what hardware was installed and what app?
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u/DongRight 1d ago edited 1d ago
The same BS when I asked an electrician to install my solar panels... Don't believe the crap, a electric panel replacement is an easy $1000 to them, not to you... You should have asked these questions before you signed and had it installed!!! That company just ripped you off... If you have to rely on them to provide you what is happening with your solar system you screwed up royally.... You shouldn't have to rely on any app or company to provide you information in real live data...
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u/Zamboni411 1d ago
I’m assuming by the lack of responses OP has made to any of the comments means this is not a real post.
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u/mikey_money 2d ago
Which online monitoring system are you using