Solar Alliance of America

Solar Alliance of America was the only company (out of 5 that I researched) that really took the time to educate and assist us with solar. 4 other companies turned us down stating we did not utilize enough electricity to make going solar worth our while. We had no issues with Solar Alliance of America. Our sales rep Brian Robles explained everything we needed to know and answered multiple questions for us to help educate us and understand what it truly means to go solar and how the entire process works. I'd recommend them to anybody!

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They were timely and installed 16 solar panels. They cleaned up everything. Everything was explained very throughly

Excellent financing program and sales staff. Excellent office staff coordination with financing bank and SDGand E. Very poor project management. Communications w/customer after the sales contract is also severely lacking. Very difficult to impossible to get phone calls answered by anybody who can answer a question (excluding financing issues). A "sister company" did the actual installation. They did NOT show up on date SAofA said they would. However, when they did show up (when they were instructed to, but not when customer was told) the actual installation was exceptional. Absolutely no issues with the installation or the personnel doing the install work. Excellent workmanship. The construction plan was changed due to SAofA being unable to obtain the originally planned for PV panels. Increased panels 10% (different model) in the new plan which required install crew to modify the physical installation (to include individual micro-inverters vs originally planned single large inverter in garage). The NEW construction plan was NOT sent to city or SDGand E causing significant delays for re-inspections (city inspector would not sign off on an installation that was not in the plans --gee, I wonder why) and repetitive administrative actions (SDGand E initially "denied" the "turn-on" request since what was installed was not what they had originally approved). Not insurmountable issues to be sure, but still caused a month of unnecessary delays, headaches and worry. All the issues were eventually fixed, but the lack of a single Project Coordinator (a single point-of-contact for EVERYBODY) assigned to see this project from inception to actual completion is clearly telling. Each office person assigned a task (Kristin and Nadia were exceptional) does their job extremely well; however, there is no single point-of-contact for the customer or vendors to go to if/when there is an issue/question. And no single Project Manager who could tell the office staff when things (the plan) change so they could have their tasks completed in advance. Multiple voice mail messages to Customer Service Rep (Ian) went unanswered. Bottom Line: SAofA needs to reorganize such that a single Project Manager is assigned to each individual project and it is that Project Manager who becomes the single point-of-contact for ALL parties involved and is the primary person responsible for the timeliness, accuracy and quality of the entire project. Once the sale is made, SAofA needs to greatly improve communications and coordination on the execution side of things.

High pressure, one-call, close approach. Vague quote, no details as to exactly what components would be provided in system. "Give us the $1,000 deposit and then we'll give you the details as to what we are going to do" was the attitude we perceived. Felt like we were in a time-share sales pitch.

I used SOLAR ALLIANCE OF AMERICA INC

We were very impressed, but ended up going with Baker Solar Electric. I'd heard about several companies and on KFMB and KOGO Solar Alliance was running commercials for 2 free Charger tickets or a $50 gift card with a free estimate. It's been over 2 months and I've received neither. When I emailed Joe that we were going with another company, I asked for the $50 gift card instead of the Charger ticket. I've never heard another thing from the company. Don't advertise something you're not going to give. Very disappointed.

Not 100% truthful in the presentation. Price was $10,000 more than the 3 other quotes provided. Pushed to close in the same day to the extent they called a loan provider during the presentation.

Easiest decision I ever made was NOT to hire Solar Alliance of America to do our solar project. The salesman they sent out ( Rusty ) showed up twenty minutes late for appointment which set the tone for the evening. After spending about an hour or so going over their history and the benefits of solar energy, I made mention to him that we would be replacing our roof at the same time as part of the project. Rusty informed me that if we were going to do that, we should use a roofing contractor that would run their part of the project through Solar Alliance as part of a and quot;packageand quot; which would then allow us to claim the 30% credit on our tax return for the roof job as well. I happen to be a CPA specializing in personal income tax preparation, and I knew this statement to be false and fraudulent. The fact that a salesperson would be giving tax advice to unwitting clients that is fraudulent as a means of inducing them to sign a contract with their company was the most reprehensible thing I have heard in a long time. Be very careful with anything you hear from these guys and make sure you do your own research and not just take their word for anything they represent to you! When Rusty submitted his quote to us at the end of the evening, it was approximately $5k higher than a bid we had from another contractor for the exact same system. I told him to go back and revisit his quote, which he said he would take up with the owner, a man named Artie, and send us a revised quote. Several days later I received an email from him with the EXACT same numbers he gave me the first time. When I pointed this out, he apologized and said he would send another one the next day. I received a revised quote three days later by which time we had already decided that this was not an individual we were going to work with. My wife and I were definitely left with the impression that this company was not honest in it's business dealings and integrity is something we value. You should also be aware that they do a lot of radio advertising about free Padre tickets, Charger tickets, and/or $50 Visa gift cards just for having an in home appointment and getting a quote. Well, good luck collecting on that if you ultimately sign, as you should ,with a different solar provider. All my inquiries to Rusty about this issue have been ignored in the last several weeks. Bottom line, there are numerous solar providers out there in San Diego. Go with someone you can trust. Solar Alliance of America is NOT that company.

BE CAREFUL!!! We talked to a few solar companies about putting solar panels on the roof. Solar Alliance was very responsive during this time. They are a SAN DIEGO company wanting to create a presence in Orange County. As soon as we signed the paperwork to go with them it is as if THEY DISAPPEARED. Phone calls were not returned, time commitments were not met, we felt lost and abandoned by them. The phone calls that were not returned included voicemails left for the owner of the company, Artie. We signed our paperwork at the end of October 2012, it is now mid July 2013 and i was told earlier today it would be at least another three weeks before we were online. Three weeks ago we were told it might be another week. We were told that they were familiar with our local solar regulations with the city. WRONG!!! There were several issues that the city had with their insulation. Lucky for us the city inspector basically represented us in getting the system in conformity. In the latest advertising Solar Alliance now represents itself as a Orange County company, they are a San Diego company. Based upon our history I am not surprised by this misdirection. BE CAREFUL!!!

: I could encourage people to give Solar Alliance a try...just know what questions to ask and get things in writing. We were lucky because I knew my home and had the cable they could use. They had no problem saying and quot;Oh,well...and quot;. It cost ~$14,600.00 for a 20 year least. Based on our use and SDGE bills..it will take us 10 years to get our money out. What we were paying for SDGE we paid for the lease. If SDGE keeps raising their rates (LIKE THEY DID JUST TODAY). The savings will be better and sooner. Our system has been working flawlessly for about 6 months now. Knowing what I know now..I could recommended: Make sure the guy who bids tells you EXACTLY what they will need to do to your home. Get it in writing. Ask him WHY they can not use a wireless connection instead of running a wire. Ask for a commitment in writing as to when the lease company (there are more than Sun Power...Solar Alliance takes what they can get...) will approve the system and turn it on so it works. The bid guy (based on our last year's usage) suggested we lease not buy. He told us that if we buy...the whole system becomes our problem...but if we lease...Solar Alliance and/or Sun Power will solve problems and do upgrades as necessary..we believed him and elected to least. The least cost was about $31K. He said if you paid for it all up front...the cost would be ~$14,600.00...so we decided to do that. We can only hope that both companies are honest and true to their word. We have not had occasion to call either company since because the system seems to work fine and I check the on line program almost daily.

I signed my lease agreement with them on January 31, 2013 and I still don't have solar power. I emailed them last week and still have not received a response.

Crew showed up on time, got to work. Didn't even realize they were here all day. At the end of the day they would advise me on work performed and where we were at. They cleaned up their mess if there was one I never saw one. I thought I had filed this review when the work was done but I guess not. I wish I could remember more details but I do remember that it was a most seamless process. These guys are excellent at what they do, BELIEVE ME!!! I've dealt with some real winners.

Their service has been good and they are a good company.

It was slow work. They installed it in October. We signed the contract in August and they didn't activate it until late February.

Their service was very good. The only issue was when they tarred in the posts for the panels; they then tracked the tar around. But, otherwise, everything turned out very well. We have never gone over our baseline since we installed the panels.

I salute them for their efforts and their timeliness. Their follow up after the work was completed could use improvement. But otherwise, their work was done very well. To get the approvals to activate the system took a little longer than expected, which I'm not sure is Solar Alliance's fault.

They were wonderful. We used to pay $500/mo for our electricity and now it's about $5/mo. Their service was perfect and we were satisfied.

They were terrific. They were on it right away and were very nice to work with. We had no problems and they were very helpful through the whole process.

They got everything done well. They came back to fix one thing, but it was corrected. They were easy to work with and we were happy.

Unfortunately no service has been performed as we have not heard back from the representative. He seemed very nice but initially arrived late for his appointment so our time was limited. Got back to us after a couple of weeks with pricing. We asked him to look into another options and have tried to set up another appointment to no avail. He doesn't seem to be getting his voice mail or emails. We had to move back one appointment last minute because our car broke down and by the time I got hold of Michael, he was in the LA area and wasn't even on his way (we are in San Diego)! Since then have sent an email and tried to reach him by phone to set up an appointment and have heard nothing.

The company representative who came to the house was very professional. However, the follow-up calls we received to "help" us with financing questions was unsolicited and seemed more like a pressure sales tactic than help answering any questions we may have had.

I first contacted Solar Alliance in later part of September 2012 to install for me a Solar Power system. They came by, examined my power usage and detailed a system that is acceptable to the State benefits. They then installed 21 solar panels, a power inverter and a monitor system. They also created a monitoring website for me to monitor the performance of my system as a whole as well as the performance of each panel. They did a a excellent job. One issue that needs to be stressed, you need to understand that the solar panel system they install breaks when the power goes out, so if you plan to use the system as a emergency power supply it does not work. They do not tell you this until after it is installed.

The guys showed up on time and started the install perfectly. Very polite and knowledgeable. Didn't even realize they were here most of the time. Cleaned up every day and left me with daily updates on the process. After initial install you need to wait on the paperwork trail. Remember you are dealing with local and state utility and power agencies. They did all the paperwork filings and sent me the proper forms to sign and return via Email. Very Simple!! Where they replaced the power meter on the side of the house they patched beautifully and even matched the paint plus they replaced a few tiles that were cracked on my roof. They didn't have to do this but Daniel is very conscientious about his work and it showed. The time frame from our initial meeting with Michael, who guided us through an eye opening explanation of our past 12 months electric bill. The excess fees and taxes is what sealed the deal for us. Also, no cost out of pocket was a no brainer. Anyway we were told to turn it on after SDGand E did their final inspection on May 4th. You have to wait for their final ok to flip the breakers on to the roof and start watching our new meter running backwards towards SDGand E meaning we are sending our excess energy to them for them to resale and give it back to us at nite when there's no solar activity. 18 months to pay interest free and then refinance the loan or what's left of it. This is truly an idea that has come of age. People tell me it's so expensive and not worth the cost. In 10 years this will be paid in full if not sooner. I will not be sending any money to SDGand E except 5 dollars a month for rental FEE on the meter. It's like paying rent versus a mortgage, Bottom line is now you own it!! This will be paid for in 10 years and my friends will have sent SDGand E how much and still sending them more with a yearly increase of 7-10% at least in this state. We paid SDGand E 3,350.00 last year alone. Get er done!!!

They were good and they were also a little bit of challenge. It was a good product and it seems to be working fine. Everything seems to be great. There was a little type of mix up in the type of panel that was supposed to be put in. Originally they had put in a particular type of panel then they did over a thing that which I had to send it off. The panels had been changed to different company then the guys showed up with the original panels. So there was a little bit of mix up. At that time we kind of were running of around circles first. I ended in going up with the panels that they originally put up because of the research that I did on it. They really wanted to put up another but the other one had a better power apparently. So that was the second time that I was supposed to sign up on. When I went to the website and looked at the comparison, ones that they gave me earlier was little more efficient. So I went on with the one that they originally put on. It was kind of a weird deal. The original sales guy was very nice guy. He was volunteering to put in the most expensive panels and he asked for panel model that they had put on a piece of paper. Actually it wasn’t as good panel as the first one. So I stayed with the panel that they brought to the house. We got into a pretty good argument and apparently it was the owner’s girl friend that brought a panel as she was trying to handle it and understand the situation. She said that she didn’t have the information that I had. It was a little bit of argument. It was a kind of ugly but it got resolved and now I’m happy with it. It just seemed that they were a little bit disorganized but other than that they were really good. They really had a great program. They had 18months no interest, no money down program. So it allows you to get all your rebates and get all your taxes done, so that you can turn around and give that money. Then they will turn around and give you another finance option if you wanted which was an awesome deal. The payments really come around the same amount of money that I pay for my electricity anyway. Six and half years to seven years we have to work around it and it would be paid off. I really won’t have much bill after that. That’s why I went with them. I couldn’t really see that any other company would do that type of a program. So I would like to give the highest grade to make it customer friendly like that. The owner was a very nice guy and was really apologetic about everything that went down. I will and have already recommended them to other people. So it was just a matter of miscommunication and all that got resolved. I had contacted other companies but their prices were bit higher than them. It is a competitive business and these guys were excellent.