Future Energy Savers Review Sales Rep: Briana Burnette We recently decided that we wanted to go solar as a way reduce our carbon footprint, do something good for our environment and save money in the process. I am not one to go into a big financial decision like this lightly, so I did my research. I started the beginning of May, the first thing that I did was reach out to my network of friends to get referrals as I was not really sure where to start. Future Energy Savers was a referral and one of 4 companies that I had consultations with. I met with each company, complete with a list of pressing questions, I wanted to compare apples to apples, so I asked the same questions to each company. I was so excited about the prospect of solar and I liked each of the companies, but as I learned more, the list was reduced from 4 to 2 contenders. One company was eliminated because they kept pushing the lease option, which is not something that we wanted and the second company had only been in business for 4 years. One of our criteria points was the company be knowledgeable, experienced and not a fly by night company. In essence, we wanted a company that had been in business for at least as long as the warranty they offer, which is typically 25 years. Ultimately, the other company was also eliminated and the last one standing was FES. Below are a few of the reasons that we went with them: • US made panels • 25-year warranty • .33 degradation per year on panels • 10 years of system monitoring • Panels made for extreme weather • Seasonal rain is enough to clean the panels, no extra maintenance required • They are experienced in solar and roofing • They have been in business for 43 years • System is fully upgradeable, so adding a battery or more panels later is an option • They use a PV Link Optimizer, which is newer inverter technology, these are NOT heat sensitive • They have a $15,000 bond for the warranty My sales representative with FES was Briana Burnette, I met with her on 5/29/21, and she was wonderful. She fully explained solar, the process, what to expect, the True Up Statement at the end of the year, etc. She was very patient and even answered questions a few times, if needed, to make sure that I had a full understanding. She also did not mind if I texted with additional questions as I analyzed the information to ensure that we were making the best decision for our family. There was absolutely no pressure, just education to help us make an informed decision on how to proceed. Once we made our decision to go with FES, she came back out to sign all the paperwork, answered additional questions and even re-explained a few things to my husband, who had not attended any of the meetings. The next step was the pre-site evaluation to ensure the system size, number of panels, etc., would work for our house. A few days later, I spoke with Rob regarding this pre-site evaluation. He also answered my questions and emailed me the schematic to show me where the 16 panels would be placed. I wanted to make sure the placement was aesthetically pleasing and that I was fully informed on what to expect with installation. From there, the information was sent to SMUD for review/approval and then on to the permitting process. FES took care of getting all of the permits and it happened very timely. Our installation happened on Friday, 7/16/21. The crew was 15 minutes early, which I appreciated. They were very friendly, knowledgeable and patient. At the end of the install, I was shown how to use the equipment and all of my remaining questions were answered. From my perspective, it was a very smooth install, although, the guys ran into a few issues, but they were very professional and got the job done in spite of this. It is 7/21/21 as I begin writing this review and I have just installed the Generac PWR View app on my phone. It is very basic, so it should not be difficult to learn. The first screen has a visual that shows the amount of solar, in kWh being produced real-time, followed by how much electricity our house is using, and if we are selling excess back to SMUD or if we are supplementing with energy from the grid. There is also a day, week, month and year view where you can see all the details of energy production. This will be a good tool to monitor as we opted not to purchase a battery at this point. Instead, we went with a little bit bigger system that we could grow into. We want to monitor for a year and see if a battery is necessary, we are not expecting to need one, but the system is fully upgradeable if we decide to go that way later. We are waiting for the few last steps to be fully online with solar. There will be an inspection in a few weeks to ensure that everything was installed properly and up to code. I am not worried because I feel like FES is top notch. And, after that, SMUD will need to come out and install a SMART meter so that we can start earning credit on the energy we are producing and not using. Update: Mitchell from FES called on 7/22/21 to set up the inspection. The first attempt did not happen due to a conflict with the city inspector. So, the inspection actually happened on Tuesday, 7/27/21. It was a virtual inspection, so Mitchell came out, explained what would happen and then had this meeting with the inspector. Everything passed without issue. The solar system did need to be turned off, which I was not thrilled with, we just got it and it had to be turned off. This is because it needed to be offline when SMUD comes out to install the SMART meter. I am just disappointed that we are not able to use our solar during the hot August days, but I understand the reasoning behind it. I am just anxious to start seeing the full benefits of our solar system. Hurry up SMUD and contact us to install the SMART meter. SMUD came out on 8/10/21 to install the SMART meter, I then contacted FES and Mitchell came out the same day to turn the system back on for us. While doing this, he noticed that 3 of the 16 panels were offline. As a result, we needed to get on the schedule to have someone come out and look at the system to find out why this was happening. Throughout the course of a month, FES had a repair tech come out three times before our system was fully online and running in peak performance. It was completely fixed on 9/21/21. The first time the repair tech came out, he made some adjustments and according to the Generac app, all 16 panels were performing. The next day when I was monitoring, solar just stopped producing altogether. I called and spoke to Thomas and he contacted Generac to troubleshoot. Apparently, the inverter has a safety mode to protect the system and it kicked into action after the first modification to the system was completed. It was a quick fix and Generac was able to reset the system on their side and we were back producing solar. A few days went by and I did not feel that the system was producing as it should, so I contacted Thomas again. He did review our system on his side and stated that something was still not right with the PV Link, so he sent another repair tech out to fix it. Again, he made a few adjustments and everything seemed to be working properly when he left. I continued to monitor and the system was still not in the kWh range per hour, so I reached back one more time, this time I spoke with Pat. He did some research and confirmed that I was correct and sent the repair tech out that day to fix the issue. He looked at the entire system this time and determined that there were extra clips used in the installation process and that was what was causing the issue. He had to rework the entire system, but when he left the system was fully functional everything has been producing at peak performance ever since, again this happened on 9/21/21. Now, the reason I documented these initial system issues is because I want to point out the great customer service that was provided and the quick turnaround time. Every time I called, if I was not able to speak with someone, my call was returned within 24-48 hours and a repair tech was sent out within 1-3 days each time. I know they are busy, so I appreci