Complete Solar

Description of Work: I purchased a deal from this company for 149 for $1,000 towards a home solar power system. That deal was great.

Description of Work: The initial contacts, removal of old solar water panels and installation of new photovoltaic panels went well, but the team did not run the wires from the roof to the electrical panel at that time. Phone calls came from office telling us the work was completed (which it was not) and then several weeks went by (and several phone calls of complaint made by us) before an electrician (independent contractor) appeared to install the new electric panel and the powerline mast. Once again, the office called with congratulations on a completed job (although much still needed to be done) Another week passed until a technician arrived, criticized the install team's failure to route the wiring and the electrician's work (especially the slipshod way the mast was installed and the inadequate rating on some circuit breakers). This tech made irate calls to the office, and then promised us "the owner" would be with the final install team a week later. However, that team had difficulty coordinating with the building inspector and the changeover of the electric panel with PG&E. When they did finally arrive, PG&E did not install the necessary "smart meter" to enable the system to work properly. We finally left for a prepaid and long planned vacation. On our return, the smart meter is in place, assorted readings appear on the meters, and a packet of written materials was left on the electric panel. To date, the promised repairs to the roof shingles has not been completed, the "individualized orientation to the system" has not been conducted and the $400 promised in the original Angie's list offer has not been paid. Even so, e-mails from the office continue to congratulate us on a successfully completed job.

Description of Work: Complete Solar Solutions installed solar panels, an updated electric box, and a connection to the "grid." In this deal, we are leasing the equipment in the respect that we did not pay any money up front and we did not pay directly for services rendered. The payment to Complete Solar Solutions (or an affiliate) comes in the form of a monthly usage charge. This charge is based on the number of Kilowatt-hours the panels generate each month. So, we pay less in the winter months and more in the summer, but the rate we pay for generating electricity is a flat rate and is reasonable compared to the tiered rates of our local electric company, Southern California Edison. | |The worst part of the whole experience might not be the fault of Complete Solar Solutions. It took a while for the city inspector to approve the project (at least one month after the contract was signed), and then, after it was all installed and inspected, it took So Cal Edison a long time (three months) to give us the okay to "throw the switch" and connect it to the grid. While waiting for all of that to happen, during the hottest part of the summer, we had electric bills over $600 twice. It felt as though Edison was trying to get the most out of us before the switch to solar power was official. | |Thankfully, we got a five-month grace period on our first solar electric bill. I don't know if this was on purpose or human error, but it did ease the pain of those huge summer electric bills. | |Overall, Complete Solar Solutions did a good job with the installation of all components. I think they could have done a better job with keeping us up to date on the progress, or lack thereof. When the salesman talked to us about the details, he said that SoCal Edison was a partner (my word, not his) and in favor of this and was supporting it. However, it sure did not feel that way during the process. If they were actually a partner in this initiative, then Complete Solar Solutions should have been a better advocate for us. | |In the end, I recommend solar power to everyone, and leasing it is a great way to go. It is great to receive an electric bill from Edison for only $0.13. | |I think if I had to do it over, I would have gone with a local company. Complete Solar Solutions (from Northern California) was trying to get a foothold in the Southern California market, and I guess they are succeeding, but it would be nice to have a local place to go to see someone in person. |

Description of Work: Installed solar panels. It went well and we are very satisfied. Payment is as a monthly rental fee

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Description of Work: We got several quotes from several companies. A couple of the "big box" companies (the ones you see in the stores hounding people) only did meetings over the phone and email. Complete was one of the companies that came on site to assess your house and needs. | |We went back and forth between a cash purchase or a solar lease and went back and forth between companies. We negotiated quite a bit with all companies. Complete Solar ended up giving us the best deal in terms of service and price. We decided to do a solar lease but put 100% down. We no longer have a monthly bill for electricity. | |Once all the initial paperwork was performed, Complete Solar worked with us and our HOA to get approval. Our HOA is pretty strict so we followed the rules. It took them about a month to approve our application. Once that was through, Complete Solar filed for the permits. This is when our project hit a snag. Apparently Alameda County had recently changed their codes regarding panels on the roof. There must be a 3 foot clearance around all edges for emergency personnel to walk on the roof. Our initial plans had all our panels on one roof without clearance. Complete Solar took a bit longer than I would have liked to get this issue resolved. They ended up moving three of our panels to another roof and resubmitted the permit paperwork. Meanwhile, I had to resubmit my HOA application. This snag ended up taking about six weeks to resolve. I called Complete Solar to get some status updates and there was always someone who answered. If I left a message, they would call me back within a day or two. | |We started looking at solar options about June of 2013. We decided and signed the paperwork on July 25,2013. I remember that because that is the day my wife went into labor. The whole process took about 4 months including the snags, permits, and our HOA. This was an easy process and Complete Solar made it quite easy on me. They filled out all the applications, all I had to do was submit the paperwork with the HOA. | |We've been on solar for about 7 months now and it has been awesome. We ended up using more electricity in the winter months but now we're producing more than we're using; even with the A/C blasting and charging our EV. | |