AKEENA SOLAR INC.

My experience with their service was excellent. They just did what they said they were going to do.

Initial sales call went well with representative able to answer detailed questions (unlike others who had to 'check with the boss'). Installation went as scheduled, taking 3 days, and crew was extremely professional, cleaning everything up at the end of each day. Answered my questions as they went. During install, two cement roof tiles were broken, but as I had extras, they quickly replaced the two they broke, and also replaced several tiles that had been broken by exterminators previously at no extra charge. Definitely went above and beyond. System has been operational for 9 months and is producing 15% more power than it is rated for. As a result I used two electric space heaters to supplement gas furnace, saving on my gas bill this winter. Total system cost was $27K after state incentive and Federal Tax Credit. Payback is estimated at 9 to 10 years at today's electric rates.

UPDATE: Akeena is no longer in businessand I was unable to find anyone to assist when the inverter died. SMA-America, manufacturer of the inverter provided a replacement and I had to contract with another electrician to swap it out. See my review on Livingston Electric for more info.

The original contract I had was with local San Diego Solar which was bought out by Akeena. Had to redo all the paperwork due to the transition which was done professionally and quickly. The installers from Akeena were excellent, workmanship was excellent. However, in the transition, my original quote included a wireless monitor which was never installed. Numerous calls to Akeena corporate about this provided little response. After I refused to provide Akeena customer service with a testimonial until I received my missing component, I was told they would rectify the error and Dirk Hosmer (local Akeena rep and past owner of San Diego Solar) even called me to tell me my wireless ($600.00 value) was ordered and would be installed soon. That was nearly two months ago. I can't complain about the install process or the professionalism of the install, but the after install, support provided by Akeena seems to be lacking. Classic example of a larger company taking over a local company and customer service suffers. To me (maybe I'm wrong), it appears that Akeena is too busy to deal with a minor problem like this and is too busy dealing with it "big" customers or current installations.

Dirk and his crew did an excellent job on my system. I am very impressed with the care and responsiveness DSH solar provided. I am also really impressed with the workmanship and quality these guys put into their work. After the service upgrade the hot tub wouldn't heat and Dirk spent the afternoon trouble shooting the problem. I later found out that the heater problem was unrelated so I paid the bill, despite the offer from DSH to pay for repairs. I believe in karma! DSH doesn't hire subcontractors which I believe enhances the quality of the job. My new electric service panel is great! and as pathetic as it sounds I like looking at it whenever I check how many pounds of green house gasses I have NOT produced. The electric meter running backwards is also a kick!