The Boston Solar Company

Boston Solar has a great presentation and are extremely knowledgeable. However, they are by far the most expensive and I don't see the added value in their inflated prices. They pride themselves on customer service yet, price gouge more than the other 4 companies I met with. The rep I worked with also belittled other companies in an unprofessional manner saying the other quotes received were laughable. They also say they offer a Veteran discount but it can't be applied to any other discounts so essentially the answer is no... they do not provide a Veteran discount. I was hoping to move forward with them but unfortunately was extremely disappointed. I highly advice others to shop around so you don't end up paying thousands too much.

We chose Boston Solar for the promised level of customer service. They tell you how important customer satisfaction is to them. Well, maybe that's true as long as nothing goes wrong, but these are not your "make it right when something goes wrong" guys. We paid $6K more to go with Boston Solar for this specific reason, needless to say, everything went wrong (except sales, they've got that figured out!), and Boston Solar offered me a $250 gift card... Update: They showed up at my house unannounced and asked the PLUMBER who was working (no one was home!) to let them in. Stefan, the Customer Experience Manager, and Stephan, Director of Operations, who called me back about this literally could not have cared less. Stephan scheduled a call with me for another day and came to the call completely unprepared and misinformed. ****** experience all-around. The good: The sales process was great. Our salesperson was knowledgeable, patient, and really seemed like he liked what he was doing. The bad: Despite 3 or 4 separate visits, including one where I stayed home specifically to meet with the install manager and talk about placement of the electric meter, the install crew still showed up (sans manager) and told me they couldn't do what the salesperson, electrical engineers, and install manager already told me they could and would. Namely, putting the meter on the side of the house. They said it would have to be on the front of the house due to code - which is not a great look. About an hour later, the install manager finally makes contact and says he's verified with the town that this is ok. Well, why not relay that to the installers before coming to my home? Then, everything is okay, and we're going to proceed. The head installer (not the install manager - he never showed up AFAIK) points under my side windows and says, okay, we'll put them about here, the meter might have to go a bit higher, but we'll do our best to hide the rest. What do I come home to? Every single box is 4' up the side of my house, none lower than the windows and pretty ugly. Not what was promised, and already regretting this system that hasn't even been turned on yet!

The original design of the solar panels seemed solid. The sales team did a good job explaining the science involved and the numbers that the project would be a good investment. I wanted to be home during the install but the office called me a few times during the early spring and asked if they could come while I was at work. I reluctantly agreed which was a mistake. Over the course of the process, the installers ran into issues with one of the roofs. Not a big problem, but it took weeks for the company to give me an alternative design which included running beams through my living room. I should mention that the company did several core tests of the roofs before installing so we shouldn't had this problem in the first place. And meanwhile, I had almost twenty 4-inch screws hanging through my ceiling of my living room for over a month. I got tired of looking at them so I repaired the ceiling myself. And I also cut trees down on the side of the home which was supposed to have solar panels. Yikes. After someone with common sense decided the revised plan wasn't a good idea either, I had no choice but to sign a contract for a smaller system because 80% of the panels were already installed (but not functioning). This sounded decent but the roofer and plumber came on different days wasting more time. My electrical upgrade was fishy, I was told I needed a new closet for my panel because it didn't meet new codes so I sprung for it. No closet. My electrical panel looks exactly the same as it did before. The final design was to shift the existing panels on the roofs to fit as many as possible without using the one they deemed not structurally sufficient. This was a good idea, but now I have even more holes in my roof that are patched. Customer service misled me at several turns. The plumber was supposed to complete his work on a particular day, but he left after 10 minutes and said he was just here for an estimate. After the construction, I was told the electrical inspector was contacted and the office was scheduling an inspection. When I called myself a week later, the inspector said that was a lie. I had to take several days out of work to keep the project remotely on schedule. This project took much longer than expected and I missed out on producing months of summer energy. Now, I have a smaller system, patched roof, fewer trees and yet no apology from anyone in management. If you ask the company, I was very flexible with the construction and repairs to the home. I have never left a bad review for anyone before on Angie's List.

Great job from everyone

Successful

Boston solar has been one of the best experiences I’ve had dealing with a company! Super informative from Dan my sales guy. He came out with a PowerPoint and all the info I would ever need! Basically answered all my questions without me asking them! Super responsive via email with Mali. She kept me up to date with every update or change and answered all of my questions very promptly! Mark from the install team was exceptional and professional. The install was seamless and quick! Every aspect of the system works great with no issues. Especially no issues with my brand new roof! And lastly Tom came by to answer my last questions I had once the system was live. Love the fact the my electric bill is zero!!! Thanks Boston Solar!!

I cannot rave enough about Boston Solar. From the sales, the service, the installation, then to the post installation service, everyone was great! They were all very transparent throughout the process, letting me know the next steps. I had some delay, due entirely from my HOA, but Boston Solar was always in my corner. It felt great to feel like I had a team behind me. The sales team was great, they made sure I understood all the steps, which was very helpful since I knew nothing about solar before meeting with everyone. The free estimate was awesome and really informative. Joe walked me through the process, benefits, and savings. Then moving forward I felt like I had a team at my disposal, it was great, every question I had someone was there to answer. Mali and her support team were there for everything, even when I asked the same question 4 times. The installation team was also awesome! Friendly and efficient. They even sent Tom out after installation to explain everything to me once more, just in case I forgot or didn’t understand prior to the system being on, and to explain monitoring, etc. I will highly recommend them to anyone who asks.

Boston Solar was professional at every step of the process. The sales rep who came to our house was informed and courteous. The sales folks, installers and technical staff all know their stuff. We were concerned about getting it all done by Jan 1 and they finished as promised. I cannot recommend them highly enough.

This is one of the best things our family has done for our personal finances, minimizing our carbon footprint and contributing to a positive environmental impact factor. The installation will save us money, allow us to get paid for generating electricity, protect our newly installed roof - what else could we ask for? The initial sales interaction was tremendous (Bill Martin) - honest, no BS, data-driven. The site inspection was well done, thorough and timely. Sana Jameel, customer experience coordinator is a jewel - constantly monitoring all aspects of the project. The installation crew was fantastic!! Cleaned up after themselves, answered all of my questions. Boston Solar was instrumental in us identifying competitive financing. Tom Sheridan did a very thorough job in the final site review and walk-through. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Fantastic. The team from start to finish was super professional. Quality of work was excellent and well worth the few extra dollars I paid. And the sales staff was very knowledgeable of the system, and the loan process. They understood the process of how to save a few percentage points on the interest rate which makes a difference on the life of the loan. I highly recommend you check out Boston Solar if you are considering a residential home system.

experiance was excellent

Great, could not have gone any better. Talented people in the office and on the engineering and installation team. Clear explanation of process, options both system design & financial and project timeline. They know the whole process and do all the work themselves, no subs. Also provided valuable information on all available MA state financial incentives. Always in communication about next steps, I felt totally supported in my decision to go solar. Whole process from contract to functioning solar system was within the shorter end of their time estimate, 80 days. I am very satisfied, I highly recommend Boston Solar Company.

Excellent! Everything went so smoothly

Awesome the were truly professional answered any questions we had and did the job very quickly.

I was amazing how easy it was to work with Boston Solar. They can out as scheduled, provided an initial quote and designed a system appropriate for my needs. They did the work on time and actually completed the work earlier than expected. Things ran smooth and installers were professional and very helpful. Their work was neat and involved the owner to set expectations. Price was competitive and payments reasonable. The project manager is key in deadlines and setting expectations. Had a great one who knew what she was doing. All inspections happened quickly and issues communicated back to the owner in a reasonable time. I was happy with the quality of their work and was very satisfied with the product and and finished product. I would highly recommend Boston Solar. You want a company who knows their business but cares for their customers. Did a great job. Now I pray for Sun.

Excellent from start to finish. Clearly explained everything upfront. Punctual and efficient installation. Constant support and communication throughout the process. Made the process very easy. Would highly recommend Boston Solar if thinking about solar for your home.

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They followed up on everything, gave good advice, and delivered on all commitments they made.

The crew lead was great! Professional, courteous, explained things. Some of the crew seemed to have a grumpy attitude :( Clean up was mostly good, although still finding loose parts in yard. Overall, pleased with install process and coordination of process. I put zero for cost as Next Step Living handled the finance part and contracted the install to Boston Solar.

Work took a while. Everything was done pretty well. Only issue is the cracked my office ceiling which the later come to repair but its been a month and still waiting for it to be painted.

They were friendly and prompt and they did the work quickly.

I had insulation installed in my home at the beginning of December after receiving a heating grant from the town of Belmont that would pay $1200 of the cost. Three workmen arrived at the appointed time to install the insulation and place foam under my converted porch to insulate it. They finished their work in about six hours and cleaned up after themselves after the work was completed. A couple of my walls were damaged during the install of the insulation. They promptly dispatched someone to repair my walls. Fabio repaired and painted my walls in about four hours. He was awesome as were the guys who performed the installation. Overall my experience with Boston Solar was great. I would not hesitate to hire them again.

Boston Solar Company was referred to be by Sunpower. Initially sales guy Ryan reached out to me with questions. I emailed him information on what my utility bills are, location, what my goals are, and included several additional pictures of the property to help them in determining what would work. Zero answer after. Emailed him again asking if he needed any additional info. Zero response. If this is how they are during sale process, imagine how atrocious they will be, when system needs to be engineered or god forbid you have problems after install.

Boston Solar did the work in less than 2 days. They came when they said and told me exactly what was happening. They then did the scheduling for the electric inspection and building inspection by the town.

We are very picky and have rigorous standards for work that we pay our hard-earned $$ for! We couldn't be happier with Boston Solar! We used a Mass Save HEAT loan managed by Next Step Living (see separate review) that employed Boston Solar as the contractor for our switch from a 30+ year old oil heating system to a state-of-the-art heat exchanger system for our heating needs. These systems our powered by electric power, which might seem counter-intuitive, but these system are 95+% efficient and thus make sense vs oil or even natural gas! Although Boston Solar may be best known for their solar installation systems, they have a proven record in the HVAC world of heat exchanger heating/cooling systems that is well-earned. They improved an already excellent design on-the-fly to install an amazing system that is not only energy efficient but minimizes the visual impact on the exterior appearance of the house. To be even more specific, we were keen on minimizing exterior runs of ducts, especially horizontal runs, of duct pipes. We have barely any horizontal ducts, and the vertical runs parallel our gutter pipes and create an outside appearance minimally different from our previous look. In addition to this major improvement, the Boston Solar guys were incredibly sensitive to the needs of the homeowner. Of course, we expected them to clean up each day after they finished and to keep us informed of the day-to-day (3 days total, in part due to terrible weather) goings on of the project. We were especially appreciative of their constant attention to detail and to the "little things", like taking their shoes off when entering the house to minimize tracking dirt, leaves, etc into our home. In summary, we were 110% happy with Boston Solar--so much so that we have specified them as our contractors for our upcoming conversion to solar electric energy production as part of our efforts to renovate hour 80+ year-old house into an energy-efficient modern home.