The Solar Store

Troy came out on the scheduled day at the appointed time. He was able to assess the problem and readily fixed it. He felt that it was unfair that I was being charged for that first visit, especially since the problem had been mis-diagnosed on that first day, and after discussing it with someone at the office got the charge down to a more reasonable $248. I was satisfied with this and paid that amount. Troy did an excellent job and I have no issue with him. I have never heard from anyone in management or the owner offering an apology for what happened on the first day, and I think it was pretty ridiculous that they wanted their check back for that day. That should never have even come up. It was Troy who went to bat for me and got the charges down and the company should take a page from his book on how to treat customers. They need to improve their customer service and communication with clients. It was Troy, not the company, who pushed to do the right thing.

Poorly. I still have the problem with my water heaters and no one called me today to follow up even though I was told they would. It is terrible trying to communicate with them. If you look back on the complaints against them on Angie's list, poor communication is often one of the key issues and they do nothing to correct it. Their product is not so great either, and whatever you think you might save in utility bills, you will definitely spend many times over in maintenance and service calls, not to mention the frustration in dealing with them.

See above.

I plan on submitting this in 2 parts... Part 1 will address the installation process and how that went and later after I have experience with the Solar System itself I'll do Part 2 to give my impression if spending the money was worth it and how the ongoing support from The Solar Store has worked out. Part 1) I researched the roof top solar systems for the past couple of years evaluating the ROI, system size, etc., so I knew what I wanted, so it was just a matter of which provider I was going to go with for the installation. As I usually do I started with Angie's list and the bbb and contacted a few listed providers and narrowed it down to 2 providers that I felt were about equal and would do a good job. My final selection was to go with The Solar Store, primarily due to the length of time they have been in business and felt they would be around to service my system over the long term and they came highly recommended by the Rosie On The House guys. Even though they had a review on the bbb that stated they fall short when it came to communications. Signing the contract and getting the ball rolling is always the easy part; I received all the promises that within a week I'd have people out to start the prep work for the solar water heater installation as we did not need TRICO's approval for that and that there would be a project coordinator that would keep me informed step by step. Within a day or 2 I received multiple calls in order to get the 1st half of the monies released :-), but once that was done the silence was deafening. That turned out to be the beginning of a clear case of "failure to communicate" (the bbb review came to mind). The solar water heater is a 120 gal. tank system that replaced 2 smaller electric units, therefore a storage closet had to be built to house this beast. They were to come out and price out adding this closet... after a month I built it myself and I had to call them to let them know it was move in ready. Once the installation crew came out they worked and got the water heater installed in a couple days with just a couple items that needed to be addressed. With the water heater install basically complete, again the communications went silent - but at this stage I wasn't concerned as they were within the timeline provided showing that the behind the scene work was being done... Permits, Drawings, Applications, etc. Right around the time (according to the schedule) they should be beginning the PV installation I called them and asked that they just let me know a couple weeks ahead of time when they'll be out. I was informed that I was number 10 out and it would be at least 4 weeks. Which again I was OK with the timing, as I was in not rush I just wanted them to C.O.M.M.U.N.I.C.A.T.E. so I could plan my schedule accordingly. 2 weeks later they show up unannounced with some brackets... but according to the crew the actual panels are still on back-order and did not know when they would be out again. Then I get a call from the office with the news that a crew would be out the next day to finish up... a week passes before anyone shows or calls with the explanation that an emergency came up. Again all I asked for was to be kept informed. After 4 1/2 months from when I signed the order the installation is complete and I am waiting on TRICO to come out and activate the system, which I hope will be much less eventful. (you'll hear about that in part 2) Overall the guys that count (the installation crews) did a great job with an extra thanks to Jesse. Jesse was clearly the leader, corrected some items overlooked during the water heater install and provided at least a heads up when he and his crew were driving up to work, at least providing me a 30 minute notice. This is the type of guy that can make the difference in whether I would recommend The Solar Store or not and thanks to Jesse I can say I would. I understand that "Solar" is currently big business and that the guys like The Solar Store are working hard just to keep up, but with that they are surely making good money as well. Customer Service, which includes communication, is key and I would highly recommend that The Solar Store works harder to improve in this area. To Be Continued...

We had signed up for a rebate through our electric company, to have a complete solar system installed at our house. We finally received word that we were approved, so, with confirmation in hand, we began looking for a company to do the project and we decided on ?The Solar Store?. We decided on a 32 panel system mounted on a framework structure, that could also act as a covered parking area. The contract was completed on May 23rd of 2013. It was proposed to us that it would be that after The Solar Store received an initial deposit, they would file for the permits and that it would take about 6 weeks for the permits to be approved and once the permits were in hand, it would be another 4-6 weeks to complete the project. Things are never as good as they sound. The Solar Store received their initial payment in the first week of June 2013, with the understanding that the project had to be completed by September 21st, which was the due date. After well over 6 weeks we had not heard anything, so I made a call to the county. The permits are filed under the address and she was not showing any permits being filed. It is relevant to point out that under the terms of the rebate, the person(s) has a set time limit in which to complete the project, if it is not completed, then the rebate is forfeit and given to the next person(s) on the list. A one time extension of 30 days, past the due date, is allowed. Calls were made to the Solar Store to ascertain when they would get started and all we received was one excuse after another. During one phone call it was revealed that the plans had been approved but were just sitting on a desk, like they had forgotten about. I actually have lost track on the number of times I called them, furiously letting them know how inept I thought they were and for all the calls, all we received was more excuses and promises. The due date was fast approaching and they had not even made a tire track on my property, to show any progress. We filed for our one time extension, and I called and told them that it does not matter when they start, they only have until October 21st to complete the system or there would be no payment from our electric company, and we would not be making up the difference. On the 10th of October they finally started! 11 days before the deadline, not 11 working days, just 11 days. I told them that I had no confidence that they would be finished in time. The sub-contractor, who was tasked with digging the trench line and the concrete foundation, was on scene and he told me what his plan of attack was. It dawned on me that The Solar Store failed to inform him exactly where our power lines were, in relation to our house. He assumed from the front, and I pointed out to him that the power comes from the back of the house and I was about to point out to him that The Solar Store had not even bothered to contact the locate company, to locate our underground utility lines, when he made the same observation. Another delay. I want to point out that this sub-contractor (Campas Construction Co, out of Douglas Arizona) did a great job! Despite the delay, of the locates, he managed to do what he said he would, in the time he said he would do it. Unfortunately he could not finish because The Solar Store did not provide him with the mounting hardware for the structure. On the good side; The Solar Store did complete the project....sort of. They could not pour the foundation because not only did The Solar Store not have the hardware on site, that needs to be embedded in the concrete, they did not have ANY of the framework structure on site. A call to the electric company was made, by The Solar Store, and they got approval to install the panels on a temporary grid, until the hardware and frame could be installed. The system is operational, but not to the design we agreed upon. The company, that manufactures the framework/structure, attempted to deliver it to my house using Fed-Ex because that is what they were directed to do and I had to be there to sign for it so I had to arrange to take the day off at the last minute. I was expecting The Solar Store to send a crew to off load it, but I was wrong. When the truck arrived, and no Solar Store crew on hand, I asked the driver if this was normal. The driver explained that they usually delivered it to the installers, not directly to the house and when they do there is a crew with equipment to off load it. The framework was in a crate approximately 4 feet tall, 3 feet wide, 15 ft long weighing over a thousand pounds and all the driver had was a pallet jack. I refused the load as I was not about to have the driver attempt that undertaking. To his credit, he would have off loaded all those pieces by hand, had I requested it but I?m not going to make him suffer through that. I took a day off from work, for no reason. After debacle I called The Solar Store and asked to speak to the owner, she was on vacation. I then asked if we were the first customers that they had ethisver had, because the amount of ineptitude was reaching epic proportions. I also wanted to know why I was expected to take time off from work and oversee the delivery of anything when I was paying them to install it. A few days later we received a call from Fed-Ex, informing us that a second delivery was going to be attempted and that I would need to be there to sign for it. Are you kidding me? It took another round of phone calls to get it sorted out. The county came out to inspect the framework and concrete forms and once again, there was no mounting hardware, so the inspection failed. It is now into November and my system is still not completed, in fact, I came home one day and found my system had been completely disassembled! It seems that the temporary install was in the way of where the overhead structure needed to be assembled, so my solar system is going to be off line for at least another week! As a teenager I worked construction and we built entire houses, in less time than The Solar Store has taken, so far, and they are not even completed yet. I did some checking and it seems that a lot of the solar companies have exceeded their capabilities, to get systems installed apparently because the feds are going to drop the incentive so they want to get in as many projects as possible and it seems that The Solar Store is one of the worst. The project is now in it?s sixth month and it is almost done, it is operational and the structure looks great, but the final inspection revealed that no one bothered to drop in marking/warning ribbon in the electrical trench. Once that has been completed we should receive a pass on the final inspection. If we could offer any suggestions, it would be to get a completion date written into the contract, otherwise, you might suffer as we did. If they are not willing, then I would move on to someone else.

Everything went fine when the technicians were installing the water heater and the panels. About a month afterwards I found out I needed to sign some paper work so I scheduled a time to sign it. Following that I found at two other times I needed to sign paper work. A few times my rep showed up at my house with no call, and if I didn't answer my phone, he would show up at my work and house looking for me. I thought it was very unprofessional and it was uncomfortable.

A solar panel purchase/installation is a major decision/investment. The Solar Store was great throughout the entire process, and they were both timely and responsive. The sales process was casual and Kevin answered each and every one of my questions in detail. The company then handled all of the permits/filings with the county and the utility company, and they also presented the project to the homeowners association for approval. The installation team was also timely and very neat. The product itself (panels, rails/brackets etc) is of very high quality; and the overall process was completed ahead of the projected schedule. We look forward to enjoying our new energy source.

I have had The Solar Store install the microinverters on my roof several years ago. The salesperson was excellent - I don't remember his name but I think I was his last customer before he left the company. He worked very hard to make sure that I got the higher discount before TEP changed the rate. I definitely cannot fault their sales department. The installers were also very good but after they had finished, I was not happy because unbeknownst to me, parts of my roof were slanted and from the ground looking it, the inverters (to me I really call them panels) - anyway the panels looked strange because some parts of them were not aligned. It definitely did not have an esthetic look to it and I felt that the person who mapped the roof could have mentioned the problem and asked for feedback regarding how to minimize this ugly vista he had now given us. Once done, not much you can do unless you pay to re-do it. Over the last couple of years, I had twice needed them to fix a couple of problems, the first was because a hose warped and the second time was to replace a nonworking microinverter - neither required payment. Both times, I had to be the one doing the calling and reminding them that I was still waiting for a response. When I eventually get to the person making the appointment, I get answers like, Oh I was going to call. This is not just one or two days. They left it for a couple of weeks and if I forgot to call - the first time - I contacted them in July 2012 and their person did not get to my house until September 2012 - I have the email trails to prove it.. This time around, with my microinverter that has stopped working - I didn't want to wait another few months before the problem is solved. I called three times (because the second time, I was told that the microinverter had arrived and someone will call me to schedule a time. Well, they didn't so after a few days I called to remind them. We scheduled a time and the individual was an hour late. However, I cannot fault him, he was given a telephone number that was transposed - someone couldn't write the number down properly. After the job was finished, I get a message from the company monitoring my microinverters that now I have 2 extra panels that are not reporting. Luckily I figured out that the Solar Store people had probably not informed the monitoring company that the old panels had been replaced. I called Solar Store who said that they were looking into it and I emailed the monitoring company who promptly updated the system. I will say that the service people in the field were professional and good. The problem is that the Solar Store does not initiate any calls to you. You have to keep them on task. And that's very frustrating.

It did not go well. The salesman: We called specifically about water heaters. When he came out, he insisted (and I mean, insisted) on spending 20 minutes telling us about solar electric systems before he would even condescend to mention water heaters. When we finally got around to what we wanted, he proceeded to measure our space, and then to sell us something that wouldn't fit. The installation: It ended up taking two very long days, because of the tight space we had and the mixup over equipment. The installers discovered right away that the unit they had brought wouldn't fit (an 85-gal tank with internal heat exchanger). They had to wait for delivery and then install a smaller tank with external heat exchanger. They installed the hot-cold mix valve (which is SUPPOSED to control the temperature of our hot water, but see below) in a spot where it was unreadable (near and facing a wall) and almost unreachable. This valve position was fixed on a subsequent service visit, months later, but it did require a long period with the house water cut off. The performance: The unit has never performed the way a water heater is supposed to. (a) Until a quite recent series of adjustments by the owner of the Solar Store and her lead technician, it would only put out scalding water (about 140F). The hot-cold mix valves have never worked, despite being replaced three times (yep, we are on mix valve #4 in 2 years and none of them seem to work). (b) The hot water doesn't last. Especially in the mornings (before the solar panel "comes on") or on cloudy days (when it never comes on), we routinely run out of hot water during showers (I ran out during a 5 minute shower yesterday when it was cloudy). Our old 50-gallon gas water heater never ran out; this new solar 65-gallon tank runs out all the time. (c) For a while we were getting scalding hot water out of the cold taps. This did not get fixed until a second backflow check valve was installed. It was not a replacement, but plumbing in an additional check valve. Don't ask me why it needs two check valves in series, but at least we don't get burned turning on the cold water any more. Usually... (d) On very hot sunny days, we still occasionally get hot water out the cold taps for 30 seconds or so. One technician told us this was due to the cold water pipe being near the piping from the external heat exchanger, and couldn't be fixed. The support and service: PLEASE NOTE: we are still trying to work with the Solar Store over the performance of the unit, especially the running-out-of-hot-water problem. We finally got the owner's attention after writing a formal complaint letter (Oct 3 2012) and then following up with several phone calls. She finally came to the house herself, along with her lead technician. They did fix the problem with the temperature being too high, but they have not been able to do anything yet about the problem of running out of hot water; if anything, it seems worse since their visit. However, since their visit (on November 16), we seemed to have dropped off their radar again. We've gotten only hurried and cursory responses to emails since then. Prior to this recent engagement with the owner, we almost never got permanent results from any of the numerous service visits. The problem we complained of would typically recur within a few days or weeks. The only thing that got permanently fixed was the long-term flow of hot water out the cold tap, by installing the double check valve arrangement. Note that we still get hot water out the cold taps for 30 sec on hot days. Because we are still trying to work with the company and the owner, I will update this review if there are further developments either good or bad.

excellent

I was told the installation would start 2 weeks early, but it started at the scheduled time, causing me unnecessary expense to hire people to cut back the trees, which I had started and could have done. Upon installation of the solar panels in the frame on the roof, they left pieces of the framing extending from 18 inches to 3 feet beyond the panels on the front end of the house. Looked very bad and unprofessional, and they argued with me about fixing it. When I told them how they could fix it, then they agreed to fix it. Still does not look like a professional installation due to roof blemishes. While they were wiring my panels to the house electrical system, I had numerous faults in service (alarm clocks!) with no warning from the staff that this could occur. Strangely (dangerously?), the failures were on the Ground Fault Interruptor outlets. They failed city/county electrical inspections twice, and I heard one of the workers asking the inspector how to fix it. I have a 10-year-old house that had 200 AMP main breakers. When they were done, my 200 AMP breakers had been replaced by used, older 175 AMP breakers. They totally ignored my repeated requests to return them. I didn't add solar panels to decrease the amount of electrical capacity, which is what the main breaker change meant. Without the 200 AMP breakers I cannot use the new power available, which was one of the major drivers to install the solar panels in the first place. Totally unexpected to have my main breakers ripped off and my usable electrical capability decreased. I have declined to make the final $8000 payment until I have my electrical capacity back (main breakers restored to 200 AMPs). ****RESPONSE TO THEIR RESPONSE (1/26/2012) I was going to update with the status of this today [No Progress], and found their response. So I will respond to that instead. They have NOT offered to replace my 200 Amp breaker. If they did, I missed it! I want my electrical capability back! In fact, they have refused to communicate with me. Their response below is a mishmash of misstatements and half-truths. They state I refused to come out (!!!!), when I didn't even know they were there, if they ever were, for a simple turn-on ceremony! With not even a phone call or email to schedule! The owner of the Solar Store said she came out for a system turn-on, but there was not a door-bell rung or a door knock that day, because when I asked my stay-at-home neighbors if they had seen the contractor or heard my bell or a knock on the day they said they had been there, my neighbors said that no one came by from the solar people (their kitchen is at the front of their house and their kitchen table is by the front window, where they usually sit or work, so I have to believe that the situation simply did not occur). Note how they try to bring up a non-relevant issue as a smoke screen for my missing 200-Amp breaker. Note also how her response does not answer the last statement of my complaint. Note that they did not turn on the system themselves. I have never been offered the load center (distribution panel) upgrade except as an extra-cost "option". I contend that they should not have removed my 200 Amp breaker / reduced my electrical capability under this contract. The Solar Store wants more money to undo what they did. It is not the responsibility of other contractors to repair this company's damage. In the sales presentation and during my talks with the staff doing the installation, I stated that I had extensive plans for the electricity generated. They at no time explicitly told me that they were going to lower my electrical capability (what "derate" means). I would have objected. Now they say that they told me. Now they say it is an extra-cost upgrade to maintain the capability I had before the contract! In other words, they removed and reduced my prior electrical capability to suit their own profit motives. Now they want to charge me extra to replace what they removed!! And they imply that I didn't want my capability maintained! To show how devious they are: when I asked for a copy of the permit, they only sent me the first page, as if that was it. Later, after seeing that it was page 1 of 6, I asked for the remaining pages. They refused. It turns out that the derating of the panel was noted on page 6, which they had refused to send me. Also, the inspector had noted on page 1 of the permit that a panel upgrade was needed, which is what I thought would happen. After installation, when I began complaining about the derating, they filed a revision to the permit with the derating called out on every page and the inspector's comments removed. Also note that the on-line permit is not obviously marked as revised. Also note that the de-rating was apparently planned from the first, why else not send me all the pages of the permit? That would really make this company a bunch of sleazoids, wouldn't it? Also note that their response tries to imply that standards required them to do what they did, which is a misdirection. Only their desire for extra profit required them to downgrade my box, as adding solar capability to the box could have been reasonably expected to upgrade it (the inspector thought so). They chose not to. They also chose to ignore the permit inspector's recommendation / requirement to upgrade the box, noted on several pages of the original permit. There was never a permit to upgrade my distribution panel, or if there was, it has never before been mentioned or shown to me. Again, a misdirection as it does not address the issue of restoring my missing 200 Amp breaker. They claim that I am refusing communicate with them, when it is I who have received no emails or regular mail from the Solar Store since early November. Not even a phone call! I have emailed Ms. Kent on at least two occasions and the Salesman for several and a billing staffer so they all have my email address. This listing even sends it automatically! They refuse to send mail to my PO Box. They have never responded to my emails, instead seeming to come out of left field with new subjects and not addressing the issue I have raised in mine repeatedly. I have also repeatedly informed them of my PO Box, but they apparently deliberately seem to continue to choose to send mail to the wrong address, so the reasonable reason seems to be their desire to prove a lack of communication, when it is their actions (again) which lead to that situation. It appears that the shoes of who isn't communicating is on their feet. I would like to see date-stamped printouts of the emails supposedly sent to me about replacing my 200 Amp breaker after the first part of November! I have never agreed with the contractor on this issue, despite their "misstatements" to the contrary. I have steadfastly, from the first complaining email, demanded that my 200 Amp breaker and capability be restored. They have declined to do so. The Solar Store seems to go to great lengths to discuss every issue but the restoration of my 200 Amp breaker, the removal of which I regard as a damaging theft, with numerous misdirections, evasions and spurious investigations, all non-relevant to the issue of their replacing my 200 Amp breaker. And now ten weeks of silence. That seems to show they have been in this kind of argument before and are adept at trying to get out of the jam by making every excuse to not do the work. Or by ignoring the complainer. And to charge me for the replacement of what they have removed. All I see in the response are excuses, "misstatements", irrelevant statements and statements intended to mislead. I think I am correct in regarding their standards citations as flim-flam. Not one statement about why they chose to derate my panel instead of upgrading the panel to match the results of upgrading to solar panels. Not one word about why they chose to ignore my statements about wanting to make extensive use of the new power. Not one word about why they sent no emails since early November. Not one word about why their regular mail came back (if any was sent -- I'd like to see those envelopes....). My experience shows her company's "quick and dirty" performance -- the roof install redo, the under-spec (but legal!) wiring, the distribution panel derating -- and that obviously applies to their complaint resolution also (except the "quick" part). I am still waiting for my 200 Amp breaker back. (1/26/2012)

They came right out to give us an estimate and write a contract but took months to get permits and actually do the work. When they did come out to install the panels, they did it very quickly and neatly with very little interruption of service.