BLG Solar Solutions LLC

Description of Work: They were to install a solar photovoltaic system and also a solar thermal water heater. They were also promoting a whole house energy inspection in which one they were finished with the solar install another company would give our house an energy rating and help us fix places where we were wasting energy. | | | |Work was supposed to begin shortly after we signed our contract and we paid them half of the money. They contacted me about a month later to schedule the install after the supplies came in. Almost 2 more months passed before they actually made it out to install the solar photovoltaic system. They told me part of the delay was because the project manager got injured on the previous job, so I can't fault them for that, but I had to be the one to call and find out about everything that was or was not going on. Communication was horrible because no one would call back to explain why they were delayed or why there was a problem. So two months after the supplies came in they finally had the panels on the roof, but they said it wasn't ready yet. The power company still needed to install a net meter and the water heater system was on order. BLG said they usually don't turn the system on until all of the systems are installed so now I have the system that isn't working and I'm paying a monthly note while not saving money on my electric bill. Almost 2 1/2 months after my panels have been installed I finally get tired of waiting and call BLG to see if I can get them turned on but I can't because the net meter wasn't installed. A week later the net meter is in and they tell me all I have to do is flip the switch. Really? That's all? So my panels are finally being used almost 6 months into this project but still waiting on the water heater. Over the next couple of months I get told by BLG that there was a mix up with the order or some BS and that's why it had been taking so long. Their project manager Brian called a couple of times to try scheduling an appointment to come out to put the collectors up a couple of months after the first panels were switched on. Now all this time I'm trying to get things straight with the main system I was also waiting for their plumber to come out and look at the area where the water heater was going to be installed and let me know what the process would be and what they would actually be doing. That never happened. The first time the "plumber" came out was when the system was actually, finally in. He started taking things out and then got on the roof and also went in the attic to measure different areas because they never evaluated the roof to know exactly where they were supposed to be installing, which is why I had wanted the visit from the plumber in advance. By the way, Brian was the plumber. Then he looked in the garage where the tank would go. The conclusion was that they couldn't fit the system that I was paying for in the only place it would be functional so we would have to go with a smaller tank and two collectors, instead of the original three because the larger tank wouldn't work properly with only two. So Brian is going to call his boss and see what he should do. I say ok and go back inside to get ready for work, but I tell him to let me know what he finds out. About an hour passed and I hadn't heard anything so I go back out to see what's going on and they were gone! They even left a few of their power tools and equipment in my driveway. I left them there until the next day but they never came back and never called so I called the office to see what was going on. I spoke to Gary the manager and he told me he ordered the new tank that same day and they would contact me when it came in, and asked if I would put their equipment in my garage, which I did. About 3 months later we have an install date for the correct water heater. They come out and put the collectors on the roof and the water heater in the correct place, run the pipes in the roof, install new electrical outlets for the system and then left because there were some wires that were still needed or something so we are once again with the job only half way done, but at least the water heater still runs on electricity as a back up or they would have stayed until it was working 100%. After they left I noticed that the flashing on the roof around the pipes was coming up so I called in to let them know. A few days later they came back and almost fixed the problem, but the flashing is still not sealed down correctly as of right now. The envoy that was set up with the panels originally and is meant to report how much energy is being produced never could pick up the panels so it always had a zero reading. They came out during a trip to work on the water heater to try getting that to work correctly also and had to run a new outlet to hook it up closer to the panel box, however, they didn't finish mounting it and it was only reading 16 out of 26 panels so far. So as of today it's been almost a year and the water heater is almost finished. I was told by the owners that they felt I should be compensated for all the terrible, but nothing was settled on yet. |I chose this company because they are local and the owner, Logan, that originally came out to sell us on it seemed very genuine and informative. I believe their shortcoming is that their communication with me has almost been non-existent unless I was the one initiating the contact, otherwise I don't know how long things would have taken. They have always been very professional and accommodating when we do actually speak, but I believe things could have gone 100x's more smoothly if I was kept in the loop about why my project is taking so long and updated on a regular basis. It was initially supposed to only take about 2 weeks, thus the reasons for my frustration being that we are approaching a year now. I really didn't have problems with them giving me any flak or attitude when I would call to inquire or complain, but it wasn't often that I got the follow thru after the first contact was made again. I can't say I would recommend them to anyone because I don't want them to go thru what I did, but I'll still have to deal with them because of the warranty on the panels. It was enough to make me wish I hadn't done solar in the first place. I just recently saw a reduction in my electric bill, yet the idea was to get everything installed and start saving so that I could use the savings to pay down the loan. So far it's just been an added expense and headache that will take a few more years to finally realize the payoff on. I would recommend trying a different company if you want solar installed.