Reputable Solar companies and what I need to know

[timbop]

Now that I've got my car and a new roof on my house, I need to buy solar panels. There seems to be plenty of sleazy companies out there, so I'm wondering if any of the bigger players are reliable or if a smaller company would be better- I have no idea how much aftersales support is necessary. I know very little about solar installations and how much ongoing TLC they need, and that puts me at a disadvantage - so I'm looking to learn as much as for recommendations.

I have no intention of a PPA; I'm out to buy my panels and am looking for recommendations since most "review" sites seem to be in on the scams as much as the companies. Anyone have experience with sunrun, tesla, or any of the other biggie's? I'm in southern NJ if you have experience with specific providers in the region.

Thanks for any education and recommendations you may have - good or bad

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[GoGoGadgetMachE]

Funny you bring this up, @timbop, because I just redid my EnergySage process ( Get competing solar quotes online | EnergySage ) to update quotes I got a few years ago... the first one came in a few hours and the ongoing drop in panel costs means that the quotes are coming in at about 25% less than they were less than 3 years ago.

The site seems well-backed and credible enough - certainly feels a lot less scummy than some of the stuff I've seen e.g. ads on Facebook.

 

[timbop]

EnergySage process ( Get competing solar quotes online | EnergySage ) to update quotes I got a few years ago

Sites like that worry me that they just push whoever gives the biggest kickbacks. Once you got the quotes, how did you vet them?

 

[GoGoGadgetMachE]

Sites like that worry me that they just push whoever gives the biggest kickbacks. Once you got the quotes, how did you vet them?

I guess I took the DOE and WWF being partners to have some relevance.

They say they don't play favorites and the first set of quotes I received suggest that to be true.

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[woody]

1) NEVER, EVER consider leasing
2) BIGGER is rarely better and always more expensive. Big does not mean they are knowledgeable. Be very cautious.
3) Do lots of research on your own. When you are knowledgeable you have an advantage.
4) There is no efficiency (currently)in solar panels(PV). Anyone who focuses on efficiency is clueless - the salesman who regurgitates efficiency numbers is representing a company you want to avoid. ONLY watts/panel matter (look for ≥ 340w/panel)
5) Ask and look around. There is more than likely a local certified SOLAR EXPERT (NOT any kind of engineer*) in your neck of the woods. You should consult him before and after the install and possibly hire to do the job. He will probably be low key and not be wasting money on advertising, salesmen, etc. The vast majority of "solar" companies have very poor business models, overcharge, do not install properly, etc. If you are going to install batteries(critical load, back up) be extra careful. Battery storage and technology is about 50+ years behind the times and very expensive/overpriced. And definitely spend the money on a certified SOLAR EXPERT. I am unfamiliar what the monopolistic utility can get away with in NJ, but do that research as well.
It is not that hard, and actually fun the better prepared you are.
(We have a 10.695 Kw array, critical load batteries, all electric [heat pump for heating cooling, heat pump water heater, etc.] home, electric cars. Gas line removed completely from property. We made some mistakes in choosing installer. He made it appear like what I designed. I was unable to figure it out because he did not actually install it correctly. The certified SOLAR EXPERT we hired after the fact looked at the set up, and the best he could determine was that the original installer may have started to install it as we designed/ordered, realized there was more involved, decided to screw the customer, us, and walked away with his money. The certified SOLAR EXPERT we hired got it right. Works great and as I designed now. Had we hired him from the beginning to end, we would have saved money and frustration.)
HIRE A certified SOLAR EXPERT ( Check out your local community college. It probably has a solar course taught by a certified SOLAR EXPERT. Or can set you off in the right direction.)
Have fun.

*We live close to NREL and are acquainted with a number of engineers who work there. They are clueless, for whatever reason, when it comes to EVs and solar. We visited there when we began this journey. Nothing.

 

[Quack2000]

Sites like that worry me that they just push whoever gives the biggest kickbacks. Once you got the quotes, how did you vet them?

Tim, I used SolarMe. They are a small company out of New Jersey. I met with a few of them including Sunrun and had done a larger project with SolarCity (Tesla) through work. I was pretty happy with SolarMe. They were a little more expensive then some of the others, but they used high quality panels and inverters. The install was done clean and well. I’ve had no issues with my system and they managed the process. You have to stay on top of them but as we learned with our cars, if you don’t manage the process a bit you’ll never get any info. I’m not saying you should pick them, just they my experience was pretty good. If you want more detail on my system and cost, just shoot me a pm.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

A different side of the country, but a couple of general observations.

I started out looking at Tesla (primarily Rising Sun Solar out here), I quickly found out that most everyone was looking to do a PPF with us and lost all interest when I told them we needed the tax credits. So that's first, who is even interested in sales and service? Second, they absolutely need to do a site survey of some sort as well as tailoring the system to your needs, electrical demands, etc. Also, they need to consider any form of net metering available and how that might relate to a battery system as well if you're going that route. Oh and reference, lots and lots of them.

 

[Sobeer]

After all my research I went with SunPower. They had at the time I purchased the best warranty. 25 years on everything. Also got a great deal. I am in SoCal, but I believe they are Nation wide. Highly recommend.

 

[buffasnow]

My Smart House was the outfit who sold my system, they work with Solcius. I have no issues with the workmanship or hardware, but My Smart House has pulled up stakes and evaporated, can't even get them on the phone. They never delivered on *any* of the incentives they promised (pay my monthly from August till end of year, Nest thermostat, Amazon gift card). My understanding is that big companies like Solcius will deal with local small outfits that enter a market, saturate for a year or two, and then zap out of existence. No way to hold them accountable for any promises, they are in the wind.

Fortunately, Solcius has responded to all of my concerns since then (not super quickly, but they did respond). It took over a week for a new inverter to be shipped and replaced, but since then all has been well.

If I were to do it over, I would look for a company that has operated in the area for >5 years if possible.....not as many incentives, to be sure, but I did not collect on mine so no big deal. Having the panels and equipment come from a large company with a track record is also desirable, IMO.

Funny thing is that I live a few miles from the Solar City/Tesla Mega factory in Buffalo, no panels or solar shingles to be had around here.

Someone mentioned to me a bit ago on one of these solar threads that microinverters (one per panel?) are the way to go so if one fails, the whole system does not go down. Sounds reasonable.

 

[malba2366]

Probably not what you want to hear, but right now Tesla has the lowest prices on Solar -I doubt an other reputable dealer will beat those prices ($2.00 /watt BEFORE any tax credits or incentives). I used energy sage to get quotes for Solar back in 2018, and got a good deal at the time using that service. They also have a lot of information on there about the average prices per watt so you can get an idea of what a reasonable price is. I ended up using a company called Apex Solar power, I think they come to NJ but not 100% sure. Overall I think they did a good job, I haven't had to get anything fixed though so I can't comment on their warranty service. I also know some people in NJ who have gotten installs from Green Power Energy and they have been happy. Find a larger installer who have been around for a while, so that they are around to honor their warranty. There are plenty of guys with pickup trucks and a ladder, who set up a flashy website and sell solar for cheap out there... but they will probably be gone in a couple years and form an other business to avoid honoring warranty claims.

I would stay away from sunrun, vivint etc as they largely push leasing schemes.

 

[srogers]

Google's Project Sunroof is a good place to start gathering information about installing solar panels. It will give you estimates on how many panels will fit on your roof and the installation costs, and it will do it in seconds. You need to put in your address. You can try it out here: https://www.google.com/get/sunroof

 

[DBC]

By and large the good local companies do a better job than the larger national ones. I could give you some recommendations where I am but I have no idea about NJ. But if you spend a little time investigating you should be able to find one or two that will do a good job. The recommendation by @Quack2000 is what I'm talking about.

A big part of the quality is the panels and inverter, so this recommendation ticks this box. Additionally, since the labor is 90% roofing related and 10% electrical, the "clean" install is a winner.

Tim, I used SolarMe. They are a small company out of New Jersey. I met with a few of them including Sunrun and had done a larger project with SolarCity (Tesla) through work. I was pretty happy with SolarMe. They were a little more expensive then some of the others, but they used high quality panels and inverters. The install was done clean and well.

 

[DBC]

Someone mentioned to me a bit ago on one of these solar threads that microinverters (one per panel?) are the way to go so if one fails, the whole system does not go down. Sounds reasonable.

Is it easier to have one point of failure or 25? I believe most people would recommend against microinverters at this point in time.

 

[CHeil402]

I ended up using Tesla personally. After that derecho that moved through our area last summer that knocked out our neighborhood in some places for a week I started looking at getting a whole home generator. To get an appropriately sized one that ran on propane was between $5-10k. Then I read an article that Tesla had recently dropped their prices and guaranteed to match any competitor.

What I really liked about their approach was that it was totally transparent. I put in my address and existing yearly average electric bill and they made a suggested size. You can tweak the solar and battery backup sizing and see the pricing change on exactly what you're going to pay. I ended up going with a 12.24 kW system and 2 Powerwalls (27 kWh backup). That was estimated to meet about 120% of our annual usage.

The process was pretty simple all-in-all. I signed up in June with the $100 deposit. They sent a panel layout on my roof about a week later including the intended inverter and panels. They took care of all the permitting with the township and utility company which took about 3 months from deposit to install.

When I got the system design, I realized that the gateway they use has three internal double pole breaker spots which would have been totally filled up between my inverter and two Powerwalls. I knew that they were going to install this in my garage and that I was going to get an MME and that wouldn't leave me with any spares. I called the install team and asked for them to install a sub-panel in my garage instead of using the gateway's slots and couched it as "in case I want to add more Powerwalls in the future". They said no problem and changed my design and didn't add anything to the install cost to add more hardware and labor. They even set up the gateway slots as non-backed up spots with a 100 A breaker, also at no additional charge.

On install day, they showed up with 7 trucks/cars worth of people and had it all in place in one day by about 3 pm. It was super efficient. One team working on the inverters and ancillary electrical work and one team working on the panels.

I certainly would recommend them based on my experience for the communication, 100% remote design, ease of not needing to worry about anything, and 100% price transparency.

Some things to be aware of regardless of whichever solar company you use. Without a backup (like the Powerwalls) you will not have power in the event of a utility outage. The solar inverters sync with a grid source. When the power goes out, the Powerwalls automatically make a "micro-grid" for the inverters to follow.

Also, as mentioned before, go for the micro-inverters so that if there is an issue with any of your panels, it doesn't affect the rest of the string.

Lastly, check with your utility about their net metering and time of use policies. PECO had full net metering, so if I produce more than I use, I bank the kWh and can use it for future months (like in the winter) where I use more than I generate and I only pay (or get paid for) the annual difference. Although if you net generating more than you used in a year, they only pay you the generation rate which is less than the actual purchase rate. I also picked the batteries to allow for "time-shifting" of the power if PECO started charging time of use in the future (they don't now). That way I could use the battery power when the power is most expensive (and Tesla allows you to set all that scheduling up).

I personally also love the app and data that it tracks and offers. I certainly look at it every day, but that's just me. I'm sure most people would be fine with "set and forget".

I've only had the system running since September, but haven't had any issues and have been carefully tracking my usage to see what the pay-off period is. I'd be happy to answer any questions (or offer you my referral link to save $100 if you message me, but I don't want it to sound like I'm only recommending them for that).

For reference, here's my solar production and home usage graphs with a running average.

 

[malba2366]

Someone mentioned to me a bit ago on one of these solar threads that microinverters (one per panel?) are the way to go so if one fails, the whole system does not go down. Sounds reasonable.

If you have shading of panels you will benefit from panel level electronics - either micro inverters or panel optimizers. It does add risk of failures of items on a roof, the micros/optimizers are warrantied for 25 years. This is why it is imperative to find a installer who has a long track record vs some fly by night outfit.

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