Independent Power Systems - Colorado

I found them to be incompetent and unprofessional. In June 2015 I received this: "It looks like your 2kW Pergola with all the bells and whistles we spoke of will cost $19,220 and produce 3050 kWh annually. " I asked them if they wanted to give me a more professional bid and was told: "$19,220 is the official bid on the project including everything. " I said I needed actual details so that both parties know exactly what is to be built. I told the owner that the person I was dealing with is not prepared to do the job. Nothing changed on their end. I continued to deal with this person. In September I got a somewhat more professional looking bid where my free standing pergola had changed to an attached "awning". I decided to write my own bid as an example of what I expected. In October they told me: "We are too busy to take on this project. ". I found this odd because I heard radio advertisements during this time. I suspect there is another reason... Totally incompetent!

In May 2015 I contacted Independent Power Systems to build a pergola with Lumos solar panels on top. ?I was unable to get them to do much of anything.

They came when they said they would, performed the work professionally, and came back to make a small redesign on the back-up battery/inverter part of the system which had some problems. They were available to answer all my questions and help me with any part of the operations of the system. I was very satisfied with their performance, and have been very satisfied with the operation of the solar system for the past 2 + years.

IPS was courteous, responsive, competent and professional in all phases of the project. Budgeting was accurate, and the project was completed promptly and on schedule. Installation is clean, attractive and professional and has been totally reliable to date. No refuse was left at the site. Any issues we had were solved by the installer, or if appropriate, solutions were suggested on our end to solve issues, and these proved successful. IPS handled the liaison with Poudre Valley REA regarding production metering and permitting. Based on our experience I would certainly recommend IPS for a residential solar installation.

Based upon an inquiry with their panel provider, SunPower, I. P. S. contacted me to provide an estimate for a system design and installation. During the initial telephone contact, the salesman gathered some historical electrical use information that I provided from my last year's bills. We made an appointment for a few days later and he arrived for the appointment on time. He / I. P. S. had done a lot of homework preparing for the meeting and even had all the public records info on the house. We discussed the options of a lease system or purchasing a system and all that went with both options (cost, financing options, etc). I decided to purchase the system with a decent down payment, financing the balance. One minor nit here - I asked several times for the specific spreadsheet for my specific situation and was never provided with that document. A few days later the project lead made his appointment with me and spent a fair bit of time measuring my roof. The plan was to have 21 panels, all on my South-facing roof surfaces. The design team generated the drawings and submitted for a city permit. I had to press for my HOA documents as that somehow fell through the cracks - but it all worked out in time. When the team arrived to start the installation, the installation lead realized that there was some issue - there were some phone calls from my roof and then my phone rang. It was the project lead explaining that the design team had somehow misread the measurements of my roof and all those panels would actually not fit on my south-facing surfaces. They were very professional about the error and accepted all responsibility for it. They already had a back-up plan which was 14 panels South-facing and 7 more East facing and there was plenty of room for that. The city was quick to approve the modified permit request and construction began. It took 2 full days to get everything done - only 1 day required me to be home for the electricians to do their work in the attic. Once all that was done, there was the city final inspection (there had already been one rough inspection) and all was done except waiting for the Power Company to install the required metering devices. That took over a month (though it was completely out of the control of I. P. S.... Today (just under a week after my metering equipment was installed) I'm so happy with this system that I'm like a kid in a candy shop with a pocket full of money. There were a few hiccups along the way, but as things stand right now, I'm very happy.

The project went extremely well from the initial sales presentation to the delivery of three-ring binder full of information about the system. Company's very experienced crew installed all the racking, microinverters, panels, and animal guard in less than a day. The company's in-house electrician and his helper took a day and a half to install all the wiring, breakers, disconnects, and meter boxes. The utility company (Excel Energy) took a week to come out and install their meters. All the work was very neatly done. The system has been up and running now for over two months and, except for extended periods of snow cover during much of December, has been performing better than expected. Unlike other companies that presented proposals, Independent Power Systems provided NREL calculations supporting their proposed system size. I chose two options that increased the cost of the system, but increased efficiency, reliability, and appearance. The system has SunPower panels and Enphase microinverters. The more efficient SunPower panels result in a small footprint and thus a much better fit on the roof. The microinverters are more efficient and reliable than one large "string inverter" that would be in the way and have to be replaced in 10 to 15 years at a cost of about $2,500. As the solar panels are on the front of the house, appearance is important. The solar array can be seen at https://enlighten.enphaseenergy.com/public/systems/QheB35675.

I really wanted to like this company, and when all was said and done I'd give them a B- or maybe a C+ (I was only able to grade them B overall given the rating system with Angie's List). We bought a home with an existing solar panel system that had originally been installed by Independent Power, so we had to use them for any subsequent work since using someone different would have nullified the warranty. After we moved in we developed problems with pigeons roosting and building nests under the panels (note to anyone considering a PV system--think seriously about getting the guard put in place when you have the system installed rather than later; it's more cost-effective and you won't develop problems down the road). Although the pigeons roosting under the panels certainly wasn't their fault, apparently it's common enough that we had to wonder why these guards aren't standard equipment in the first place. Anyway, while the company was good to deal with in many ways -- friendly, courteous, and professional to talk to -- they didn't return calls or send info when they promised, which got to be pretty aggravating after the second or third go-round. I felt like I was always chasing my contact person down and couldn't rely on his word. Also, they had to special order the guard material and ordered the wrong kind the first time so we ended up having to wait an additional couple of weeks until the right stuff got in. FINALLY at long last the guard was put in place, and once they did the work it was great -- good job, courteous and quick, and it solved the problem immediately, although we did feel the price was steep. Still, we had no choice since we had to stay with this company to maintain the warranty. Last thing, when I got the invoice (via email) they'd mispelled our name and it had a completely wrong address on it (street name and number, city and zip). All in all, I have to say that while everyone we dealt with seemed honest, sincere and hard-working, overall there were some glitches that, to our mind, kept them from being top-notch. They do good work, but you really have to stay on top of them.

Contractor was called to estimate and install solar panels on a hard deadline. Sales and install crew were knowledgeable and interactive. They addressed all of my concerns with respect to modifications to roofing that were required to mount the panels.

Independent Power Systems did a great job putting solar panels on my roof! You can't even see them and they really saved me money on my energy bill! The service was excellent and the entire job was done in 2 days. I moved to a new house, got an estimate, and got them put in within a couple of weeks. The workers cleaned up after themselves and the project manager took care of everything for me. I was given a notebook with everything I need to know about the system. There is a 10 year warranty on the system. I highly recommend IPS if you are looking for solar panels!