Mercury Solar

BEWARE! This business is a SHAM! I’d give it NO star. Mercury Solar is a sham business set up for the purpose of avoiding tax liability! If you do any business with this company, or the [***company name removed***], or [***company name removed***], you will lose! The owner James Scott Sparkman is a fraudster, in trouble with not only tax evasion but sham business practices across multiple states. He didn’t just simply under report his tax liability, he organized and participated in a web of sham businesses that he set up involving so-called “business solar systems, training “closer” salespersons, selling systems to participants who were made to believe that they were getting tax kick-backs in a legitimate manner, when the whole set up—-all 3 of the businesses that Sparkman set up—-revolved around tax avoidance. Look at the court record: [*** Link removed ***] My personal experience as a solar power “ratepayer” with the company: I leased from this company starting in 2012, paid monthly for certain amount of wattage. At first they were good to work with, the installation happened very swiftly, and they would come and service the equipment or do repairs. By 2017 they stopped coming to maintain the solar systems and became very hard to reach for trouble shoots and repairs. Finally I decided in 2018 to terminate the lease contract and asked them to come take down all their equipment. They agreed to cancel the contract but never sent anything to me in writing. I kept waiting for them to come take the equipment down but they never came. I stopped using their systems and reverted back to using HECO only, because they were not maintaining the system and it didn’t seem safe to keep using it. Eventually I gave up trying to get them to come take back all their equipment. The systems basically were abandoned and just taking up space and collecting lots of dust in my carport. Fast forward to today, 2024. My property is listed on the market and Mercury Solar is wanting me to pay for all their equipment and claims that I had defaulted on my payments. I was surprised to find out that they’re still around for how flaky they were! They’re acting as if they have been maintaining the equipment and providing the electricity all this time. Why didn’t they just come and get their equipment? Why are they now asking me to pay them over 40 thousand dollars? They’re so shady. The guy who signed the contract with me even told me that because of all the tax credits they were getting, they were basically paying nothing for the equipments, they just had to install them and all these checks were coming in every month. He was telling me how lucrative it was. The owner must be a greedy shady scum bag. There is a lawsuit against him involving tax liability. Their service is very selective—they’re quick on the installation and contract signing, but once the system starts to have issues and require more and more repairs, they will stop being so responsive. The more repairs needed, the harder to reach they’ll become. They wouldn’t even come take down the equipment because it’s not worth it for them, the equipment costed nothing to them after the tax credits, so why would they bother to send their team out! But now they want over 40 thousand dollars for the crap. Unbelievable! I regret ever working with this company. Beware!

Started off with them offering $500 bucks for a good review... After we signed and agreed to the install design they wouldn't answer my calls. When they finally did the original sales man joe cant help anymore so he passes you onto sue. She was off island and didn't have much information so she had to get back to me. Finally she said October 8-9 the system would be installed and good to go. 2 months of a wait time, but it was to be expected for Hawaii shipping and what not. October 10 and the guys left after the third day of the install, we burned leave by the way to sit at home while they were on our property. But no one was there to help us flip the switch and turn it on, or anything cool like that, and I couldn't find where they put our battery's? So I called sue the next day, no one answered. I kept calling and eventually someone answered and said the batteries weren't here. Scott told us that it was because of the new trump import thing and now our batteries were in California.... no one told us that we were missing half the system before we wasted leave to have them install part of our stuff??? So he says the batteries will be here in mid November. I wait. No calls. I call him late into November... still nothing on where my batteries are. Enerbank has now notified us that we have allowed mercury solar to drag their feet for so long that our second portion of the loan was about to expire (side not, in big bold text it says "do not sign the second portion until after the job has been completed to your expectations". To mercury solar it meant nothing, and they tried multiple times to pressure us into signing the final portion of the loan and pay them the full balance. At which point I am sure they would become even harder to get ahold of. We did as everyone who dares to use this company should do, and told them "no way, finish my install then you will get paid". December came and went with no update, nothing. So I called and Scott decided he would do a visit to our house. At that point he realizes that he doesn't want to spend the time or money digging a line into our detached garage for the batteries (that we have waited so long for) to be installed as we agreed to in our contract. At this point he offered us 2 battery's that hold less storage slightly, but is more expensive equipment (still less then the labor and parts would have cost them to install our batteries in the garage as we had originally agreed to, but they look alright and we just want this install over with at this point, so price is irrelevant with how much of my time they have wasted and the cost they would have incurred either way installing our system as designed originally). In the end we agreed because he "had the butteries on hand and could install right away to finish our system". He left and boom no call. Nothing again. Mercury solar contacted enerbank to push our expectation date on the loan out to Jan 10, 2020. Guess when they decided to schedule installing the batteries that they "have on hand"? January 8-9 2020. Really dude. So we say sure, what's another month, but we demand they pay up for what the system was quoted to produce to offset our electric bill AND OUR SOLAR LOAN PAYMENT that we have been paying since October! *** dude, so they agree to pay us back for part of the extra payments that we have been required to make because of their slow speed install. Which is fine. Jan 8-9 passes and whoops, system doesn't work, half of our panels/power optimizers have decided to poop the bed. The loan expires on the 10th and mercury solar again starts pressuring us to just sign the documents. "I know it doesn't really work but just go ahead and sign the second payment". Still had yet to pay us for the months of non-production. We tell them no payment until the system is working and we get our payment for the 4 months they are behind schedule. They provide us a check, come back on the 10th and got our equipment replaced. But it was still under producing. the 15th it was fixed so they demanded payment, got mad when it wasn't submitted same day.. they left my yard a mess, wires, big chunks of metal, they damaged my siding. Obviously a very self centered company. I plan to expand the system to produce more power within the next year and will not be even considering using mercury solar again. Go with any other company. There are a lot of better bigger companies on island that are dependable and stick to the established time line. Use someone else. Their ratings are inflated, they don't deserve 2 stars. If you want quality look elsewhere..... it's to late for me but you have been warned! they pay 500 for each of these 5 stars. so trust that as you will. try calling them right now at their phone number and see if anyone answers, most likely wont, so expect that in a year when something breaks and you need help. let that anxiety sink in. go with any one else. This company cuts corners and you are the butt of every joke. cant wait to leave the island and not have to deal with them anymore. Sad.

I have been using Mercury solar for years. They started great, but as of 2021, they are self destructing. They do not return my calls or deal with my warranty problems. They have been overwhelmed, while a few of their employees have quit. I visited their office and it is a disaster area with files and equipment everywhere, almost as if they were about to move, but that's the way it's been for a long time. I gave these guys a lot of chances, called and emailed dozens of times over a year, waiting for repairs, dealing with problems with my panels and batteries. I have been very patient, but I no longer can recommend them. There are dozens of solar companies out there, so find one that is better organized and more responsive.

Scott, Reid, Roco, and the team at Mercury Solar were great. I asked a lot of detailed questions and they were extremely knowledgeable providing great answers to everything I asked. I shopped around with a few different companies and I went with Mercury because they were a local company, with a lot of experience, and their sales team were extremely persistent in following up with me. They assured me that I could come to them with any questions even after the installation took place and to include help with tax questions to ensure I maximized my tax incentives. They coached me through my first purchase of solar panels, a battery, and a solar hot water system. The installation went extremely smooth and the team of workers who put in the panels and hot water heater went the extra mile to answer all my questions and ensure I fully understood how the system worked. I am actively monitoring the efficiency of my new solar energy system with the easy to use link Mercury set me up with, and am literally watching the savings flow in. As a new first-time homeowner, this was a my first significant investment in my home, and I am so glad I went with Mercury.

Long process but worth it in the end. Can't beat the price!

Delivered at the agreed to time & price. Saved 15%-20% compared to other bids.

So my experience with Mercury Solar has been a big roller coaster ride. When I was first approached to put the solar panels and batteries in my house I was excited but a little skeptical with how much tax incentives there were and if I would get what I payed for. I believe my entire system for the house which included solar water too was a little over $37,000. Which is a huge amount to me. In the beginning I was upfront with them and told them I want to make sure I always produce enough electricity so size my system knowing that I am going to install ac units shortly after. They were incredibly fast to take my money and install everything except the batteries which they did not have in stock. They did it so fast so that I could get the tax break before the year was over. So even though it was installed and working I got to receive a tax break right away instead of waiting an entire year. Once I got the batteries the system still didn't work as promised, my lights flicker, power shut off, and was pretty frustrating not having hot water. on top of that I still was not saving any money on my electric bill. I think every thing that could have possibly gone wrong did. I will admit, I lost faith in the company because they kept telling me that everything is hooked up correctly and should work as designed, wait another month for your bill to see if things will change. They didn't. Mercury tried a couple of things like installed another small inverter at no cost to me. This helped with my lights flickering but everything else was still a mess. I told them I think they undersized my system so they put an additional 4 batteries and 3 panels up at no charge. This seemed to work! I thought, because I wasn't having any power loss issues and I had hot water. Then, I got my bill, I saved maybe $80 in the month, the system should be producing more like $250 a month at least. I felt bad because every time I called them I felt like I was just an annoyance and they were tired of trying to fix my solar. After nearly a year they figured out that the original main inverter was in fact defective. Turns out the manufactures that Mercury bought these from had a bad batch that they sold. I myself work in the automotive industry and deal with customers every day. Most of the time everything works as planned but we still give a warranty on all parts and labor. Unfortunately we too run across a defective part, but we don't know its defective until its installed. Even though the work is done correctly things happen. I felt like Scott did everything he could to fix the problem. I know he lost a lot of money and time coming over to my house trying to diagnose what the problem was, but he did what was right. I have a lot of respect for that. I chose to write this review after they had a chance to fix the problem and I am glad, because it wasn't there fault, just bad luck I guess. Now with my new inverter everything is working as designed. I am happy. The only down side to them is they are a small company and sometimes get too busy to call back, I get it. As long as you keep calling them you will be fine. Another plus, all of their employees were very polite and pleasant to be around!

This is my second system that Adam and Mercury has done for us. They have a great 18 month payment option and offer really good programs to help make the system make sense. Adam is really easy to get in touch with and Russ the electrican is awesome. Overall its been a very positive experience both times. I'd recommend them to anyone.

$1650 is the approximate net cost after credits and such.I have had my new solar system in for about 2 weeks so far. Every day we have hot water without turning on the heater. Even in the morning before the sun is up leftover from the day before. Last Saturday September 17 mostly cloudy all day and we still had hot water. We got The biggest system they have. Two 10 foot panels and 120 gallon tank. It doesn’t cost much more than the other systems. High quality workmanship too.

Where do we begin? One word....HECO Back story - We bought our home back in '08. It already had a PV system installed (by Mercury) from 2004. There wasn't much of a PV boom yet, but we benefitted from the previous owners vision of a "greener" home. We didn't know anything about it, so we called Mercury hoping to get some insight. They were very helpful and came out to explain things to us. I was surprised considering we weren't even the original purchasers of the system. We never had a problem with the existing 12 panels (165 WATT) or the service that Mercury continued to provide However, fast forward 5 years, HECO started to nag us about Net Energy Metering. Apparently we were supposed to convert over to net energy metering as the "new" owners of the system. They couldn't explain to me why we couldn't be grandfathered in or how the world would come to an end if we didn't. For the next 2 years communication with HECO regarding the matter was sporadic at best, but they never failed to irritate us at least once a year. However, correspondence with HECO became more frequent in 2015 and I finally gave in and attempted to start the process for Net Energy Metering. It was then that I learned their rules change all the time. Our system would not meet the existing guidelines and left us in a pickle. In speaking to Reid at Mercury we had 3 options - shut the existing PV system down and rely solely on HECO; upgrade the system and hope we could qualify for the state and federal tax credits; or go with an all battery system. He spent many hours explaining these options to us. He never pushed, and he knew we either were or we weren't. After several days of contemplation, we decided to go with the off-grid battery system. We didn't need to speak to anyone else because the last 8 years proved that Mercury should be the only choice. It took only 3 days to remove the existing equipment and install the new equipment. Since then, our meter has not moved! The electrician (Russ) hung around to explain the system to us. I won't even try to explain half the things he said, but the one thing I do remember is, "Don't touch it." Once the system is going, you just sit back and relax. Should anything go wrong, there will be some obvious bells and whistles that will let you know to call Mercury for a check up. But we were assured we could call anytime we had a question or concern. We went from 12 panels to 27 (280 WATT), and we exist by the 16 batteries installed in the garage. The foot print (approximately 22 inches wide by 6 feet long) for the rack and batteries is manageable. We still fit our 2 cars in the garage with no problem. It remains to be seen how all the tax benefits will work out, but that will be a bridge to cross next year. Assuming all of Reid's calculations are correct, we should be paying for approximately 20% of the system out of pocket. In case you are wondering, this review is incentive based. In all honesty, if Mercury asked me to do this for free I would. We've had only the best experience with Mercury Solar. I can assure you that if we ever buy another home, I would gladly go with Mercury for all our solar needs.

They came out about 4 or 5 years ago they were first installed and then last year they were taken down and put back up because I redid my roof. At first when they first put it up my electric bill was down by 200 dollars. When they redid the roof and took the panels of my bill was $1700 and when they were put back on the bill dropped to about $300 or $400. The installation of the panels were $86000 total. I maid payments in a particular way.

An appointment was made & Adam Prokop went over the contract. He ensured we understood all the details and tax benefits. Proceeded to explain the process of installment and permitting process. Answered our questions in regards to warranty, cost, design and future plans. Once we signed the contract paid half our cost and Mercury Solar installed the next day and completed the entire installation in only 3-days. Adam performed an inspection of the project ensuring everything was done correctly and we were satisfied with everything promised. Final payments were made and rebate checks received the next day!

Adam Prokop did not show or call during appointment time. Got email next day that he had forgot. I understand that Mercury was busy. This indicated to me that Mercury is not able to meet the market demand. I passed on offer of rescheduling estimate and went with another provider

I found Mercury Solar on Angies List. I never heard of them before. The Angies List coupon substantially reduced the cost of my Off-Grid solar system. I invited other Solar companies to visit me besides Mercury, but being that what I really wanted (an off-grid system for some independence, preparedness issues for emergencies and by-pass HECO in a way), Mercury Solar seemed to have the substantial experience and certain personnel well trained in an off-grid system that I was looking for. The salesperson that responded to my invitation to visit me, Adam P. is also one of Mercury's Out Back trained battery backed solar system personnel, which was helpful. I wanted to learn as much as I reasonably could about off-grid systems before I accepted Mercury's services and Adam helped me achieve that. Pictures, charts, diagrams, etc., as well as the verbal explanation of their off-grid (or grid tied) system is important to a potential consumer who is not aware of the jargon of the solar industry. I put down a "good" rating for Responsiveness, Punctually and Professionalism, primarily due to the reality that in a tough economical environment (partly due to issues with HECO), that solar companies such as Mercury Solar may not have all the work force desired, and as such are forced to juggle their work force in a manner that does not always allow total focus on my (your) project. I was willing to work with this juggling, as long as my project reasonably moved along (which it did), then I would say the contractor did their due diligence on my project. The work crews did well on their work and worked well with me to give me what and the quality I desired. I consider myself to be a somewhat picky customer being a (retired) designer/builder, who designed and built my own home. I was a former CSI, CCCA (Construction Specification Institute, Certified Construction Contract Administrator). I would now say that the only future issues are warranties and service. So far both of these issues have been well handled. I will add to these details in the future if needed.

From the time we discussed the process to the time installation was complete, everything went smoothly and in a timely manner. I'm very satisfied with the whole experience with them. They explained how everything works and how the payoff happens. Overall, I would definitely recommend Mercury solar to anyone that might be interested in solar panel installation

Their service is excellent and fast. They answer all my questions.

our provider Scott did a wonderful job briefing my wife and I on the many options and advantages of having solar. We had talked with others but we felt more comfortable with his presentation plus he was not pushy if we took a few days to think it over. He provided all the different solar configurations that would fit us better financially. We took a few days to think about it and when we had more questions Scott was always readily available. After 2 weeks we still were not sure so we called Scott again for questions and another visit to explain everything again, with out hesitation he gladly came back and went over the entire presentation until we were both satisfied. Within a couple of weeks Scott returned with the installation crew to install solar panels on our home which took only a few hours. We are now awaiting for HECO to give us the final go head to connect to the grid and start saving on our monthly bill, the cool thing is that if it takes too long for that to happen the solar company will pay us the amount we would be saving for up to 6 months. I am especially glad that it doesn't take us 20 years to pay off the installation, a year ago we installed solar for our hot water heater with the same company and we had great savings on our monthly bill. We are soo excited to see how this will work for us. Michael and Marla ..... Ewa Beach, HI

It went really well. The price was right for 8 panels & inverters. They came a day before they were scheduled to install & they were done with in 2 days. I can report that all panels are working just fine.

We had 3 different solar companies give us bids. Joe was our rep from Mercury Solar. He did a great job explaining the details of the system and was able to customize unique aspects of our home. He applied no pressure and gave us time to think about our options. They installed the system over two days and were on schedule. The workmanship was excellent and the workers were courteous. It took several weeks for HECO to do their part but eventually everything was completed. It's great to get the $17 monthly electric bills now. Mercury Solar is an excellent company to work with and they delivered everything they promised. Their prices were competitive and they were easy to work with.

They did not have the book or warranty available for the water heater they installed altho did send it to me electronically later. The biggest problem was that they did not want to pay the incentives as promised and had a multitude of excuses including the accountant died. I had to threaten to yelp about my experience and I hate to have to do that to get a business to hold up their end of the bargain. Eventually they paid what was due, around 8 months later than promised. That being said, the price was good and the installers efficient.

16 year old tank was leaking so I thought it had to replaced. Was told the valve was defective, No need to replace tank!

From start to finish, Mercury Solar was there to do a professional job. Reed came over to do a presentation back in October and explained everything carefully and helped me to understand how solar panels work. The process was fast, except getting approval from my association. Once approved, Mercury Solar took my appointment within a week and finished the job in 2 and half days. I had 18 solar powered panels installed. My install was a bit unusual in the sense that I live in a townhouse. But they got the job done. The electrician did a good job by finding a way to run his wires in the attic to make it less noticeable. The two gentlemen that did the actual install of the panels were also very efficient. They had very good communication and their teamwork was great. I'm glad I went through the process and now am looking forward to low electricity bills and more AC during the hot days. Thank you Mercury Solar!!!!

My wife and I had a consult with Adam on 7 Oct at our home about photo voltaic. Adam was very professional and knowledgeable about the entire solar system, tax benefits, city and association permit process. Mercury created and submitted all the necessary paperwork within about four days. Installation was completed in two days as scheduled without issue. All of the personnel I had contact with within Mercury are professional, helpful, and punctual with responses. I highly recommend Mercury solar.

Reed came over to inspect our location and gave us a quote, not much to think about, best pricing yet. After my brother did all the financing, the company went into action. They set a date/time Reed double checked with us, and it was GO........thurs/Friday install. Monday connect up and by lunch I saw our meter spinning backwards. not just rotating I mean spinning.......good job Mercury Solar! Workers were professional, sales went well (no pressure) and now we are green.

The installation date was 5 days after i got my financing at Hawaii USA FCU. It was installed after 2 days. The team came out and discussed with me where the best placement was before they started. They were clean and professional, and the job was completed as agreed. After my installation, Reid helped me set up the Enphase Envoy hook up for the Enlighten website. We installed 18 Canadian Solar photovoltaic panels. I look forward years of no HECO bill and worry free service. and helping the environment. I'm so glad I got Mercury Solar as my solar connection and i'm referring all my friends and family to get their solar systems with Mercury Solar.