Energy Conservation Solutions

Didn't put main cut off in desired place

I'm glad we called ECS

Very well.

Excellent and very quickly

Went as planned. Solar system size was estimated based on my needs and budget. House structure and electrical requirements were inspected for support of Solar System. Solar panels were installed as planned and professionally. Their follow-on support address my concerns as I have never had a Solar systems before. So far, solar system has reduce my electrical bill by approximately half. Reduction has been better than estimate.

Everything went well?

Part of the claims include a radiant shield in the attic. Claiming 30% savings on our electric bill. Here's the problem: it would affect the heating/cooling portion, not the entire electric bill. And, it would only affect the heating and cooling for the wall & ceiling in the attic, a very small portion of the total surface area. Various articles on radiant barriers sold this way point out the price compared to the savings is not worth it. And, the "field trip" we took to our attic was nothing more than a show. He looked and said "Yup, we could put a radiant barrier in here. You'll sure save." On the Solar Thermal Hot Water. He pushed this aspect too hard as well. Stating that my hot water was 30% of my bill. I knew Duke said it is 19%, but okay.. Then pushed the Solar Water heater hard. And, stated that it would save us that 30%! Uh, no. I knew that solar water heat had slowed if not died out and needed to research that -- turns out that the simplicity and price of Solar PV electric makes it more efficient to use electric to heat the water. Do your own research on all of this. That left the Solar PV electric generation - the one thing I wanted to discuss.. There was no sizing done. There were no measurements taken. He said with all the savings you will get, a 2.8kW system is all you'll need. That would only generate 25% of our electric usage. So, after saying he would save us 30% on heat with tin foil and 35% on our electric bill on hot water, (65%), he's now taking a 75% credit for saving electric... Then came the financial scenarios. All along the way to here, the math is wrong. But, here, he's taking savings from years down the road and telling us we have that money in our account! No mention of interest costs. No mention of payments. The 18 months same-as-cash financing was the most blatant. Be careful! My wife is incredulous at this point - "too good to be true," she said out loud! He got a little "indignant" (his word) and told us we were giving up free money. WHAT EVER YOU DO, DO NOT BUY THE FIRST TIME -- RESEARCH IT AND COMPARE OTHER VENDORS!

This installation was a disaster from my point of view, with little to no consideration for the homeowners time or convenience, multiple days required due to the installers not having the complete system components at the first day of installation and having to return for additional days due to lack of project planning on the providers management part. The Financial officer for the provider produced, submitted, and received approval for secondary funding from a secondary lender without my knowledge and consent before his actions and made claims that the contract allowed him to do so. But I can not find that provision on any of my documentation. The installation started a month after the purchase with little to no communication from the provider during that time. Then it was a late evening call expecting us to allow the installers to be there the next morning without prior scheduling. The Solar Water Heater system was installed without an Over Temperature Safety Valve, that is required to prevent the extreme water temperature developed in the system from entering the household preventing possible scolding injuries. The safety valve was finally installed weeks later after a scolding incident to my 5 year old grandchild. The water heating system was also installed without recirculation pumps that were to be included. The pumps where finally installed last. During the installation of the thermal collector panels damage was done to my roofing shingles. This damage was repair by the provider weeks after they were advised of the damage. The Attic insulation package was suppose to combine a thermal barrier film, blown in insulation, 2 solar powered attic fans and a air conditioning refrigerant additive. The crew arrived the first time without the barrier film and 1 attic fan. The installer that installed the attic fan cut a section of the vertical member of the roof truss system out and did not reinforce that truss in any way. Weakening the roof truss system at that point. This damage was repaired by the provider weeks after they where notified. A second day of installation was required for the installation of the barrier film and additional blown in insulation. The installation of the Solar PV system was interrupted four times by the lack of components provided by the provider requiring additional returns and days to complete. So the total time from purchase to final installation was four months. The installation phase lasted 3 months where estimates of the time required were 5 days. The installed system did not include the online monitoring capability that was represented at the sale and I was not informed that it would not until the system was being installed. The PV system installer installed the first of two attic fans. The solar system installed is not producing the expected output and the entire package is not creating the savings represented at the sale. In telephone conversations with the provider they now claim they never offer 100% systems, referred to as NET ZERO CONSUMPTON packages, but that is what their website, (at the time of this complaint) advertises. I do not find this company to be honest or have any integrity and can not in good conscience recommend them for any services.

.

They called, at my request, and first asked what my husband does. I don't have a husband and why does this matter? They then wanted to know what my credit rating is. I said that I would be paying cash and not financing a solar installation so it was irrelevant. The salesman wouldn't let it go after I firmly told him I wasn't going to divulge that information (my credit rating is 800+ so it wasn't a matter of not having credit). He still wouldn't let it go. Exasperated, I finally hung up. Too intrusive, too many assumptions. No thanks.