Sunrun

BUYER BEWARE! Please, if anyone from Sunrun approaches you, your door, from Costco or wherever DO NOT use this company. Read all the most recent reviews. I think they average a 1 dating back to June. What do you do when you see a restaurant rated a 1? Enough said. I signed on with them back in March. They still have not even started the work. Their excuse, PG&E. Of course.. how easy.. blame it on the other business. There is way more to this, but it starts with service and they lack this in every way. To start, the initial sale: Visit to the house, assure you they will stay with you and make sure you are taken care of. EVERYTHING perfect until you sign.. and of course they get their commission. I had 2 salesman, but one in particular who only cared about the sale is Mike Garcia. I have tried to call and text him for months and nothing. Ghost. He used all the jargon, promised, total sales guy. nothing to back it up. Since March, I have been offered 2 dates to come up and do an electrical panel upgrade (not even install the solar yet), Thats 2 dates, in 5 months. I finally get a date in August and the guy comes out and says.."ohhhh we are probably going to need to move your panel to a different location" He could have come out much earlier to tell me that, but .. nope. So we are not in middle September and the whole company is basically leaving me hanging and blaming it on PG&E. 2 MAJOR things.. my bills due to the heat wave are super high so I am losing all that money that is the reason I went with solar. The 2nd I will likely get the panels installed when it gets dark at 5pm so I will not be able to store the energy. This company is poorly run, has awful customer service and if there is anything I can assure you of, you will be no different. Please choose any other company.. or you will be in for a lot of agony and empty promises.

To future customers of Sun Run I was lied to for 3 months by the liaison I was assigned.  Telling me that the buyer had not done what was needed.  I called and left messages every business day with no callback.  The liaison never returned any of my emails as well.  The only time I received any information was when I happened to get a hold of this individual. The last time I spoke to them was after trying to get a hold of her after 11 business days, and they told me that they were too busy to take my calls, to call customer service.  The last 3 months have been frustrating.  I am on a fixed income, and this is an expense I no longer need.   The salesperson who convinced me to purchase this system should have asked or been in lightend enough to have realized that the home was 2/3 rds gas and that solar would not give me any to little benefit.  The solar should have been transferred to the buyer back in March.  Their policy is that the seller will continue to pay for the solar until the transfer is complete.  They have no incentive to make this process quick or easy.  They get paid no matter what.   If you fail to pay or it fails to transfer to the new homeowner Sun Run can demand all payments from the seller upfront, as well as the cost of removing the solar from the home, the lost credit they receive from the government, and any other fees they deem appropriate.  There is a cancelation that lets the homeowner cancel the contract.  The only cancelation period is the first 10 days after signing the contract. 

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SunRun is one of the worst communicators on the market.  Given the intense competition for solar panels Id look elsewhere unless you like waiting and waiting to get problems addressed.
Every time we have a problem we log it on the website and typically we receive an email promptly. This we like.
Our panels tend to stop producing electricity  once or twice  a month.  Sometimes SunRun contacts us via email to let us know.  I don't have a baseline for how often panels should not work, but the fact that they let us know is good.
The problem breaks down from here. We are always told "someone will contact us" and a few times we do hear from a service provider,  5 days later.  Imagine waiting 5 days to hear about a broken pipe or phone line - completely unacceptable.  When we do hear from them we are told "gee we can't seem to identify the problem."  For this reason I try to let them know as soon as possible when our panels are out, but they take so long to respond that the panels seem to correct themselves a few days later.  I try to explain that the problem is intermittent but apparently this is not a concern for them.
Now it is to the point where they dont share the progress of the service with the customer - a fatal flaw in my opinion.  They sent a tech out and we never heard from him.  They close our case and never tell us.
When we were negotiating the contract, I always received a prompt reply.  Now that we signed on the dotted line we are of secondary importance.  It seems their concern is to get new customers rather than service the ones they have.
Im all for their growth but if they cannot give a pleasant user experience to the customers they already have, I think that is a very bad sign.
I would defiantly not recommend them and would search elsewhere for better service.

They're very nice. We interviewed many, many people and they're very, very good. They were neat, they were tidy and they fixed what they broke. The salesperson was not defensive as the people that come to our house. We interviewed at least 6 companies and some of them were really obnoxious and pushy. They stayed here for hours and 1 wouldn't speak to my husband unless I was in the room. They didn't do that. The representative called back and checked in with us. He was a very nice young man, very polite. Our dog gets nervous with the strangers in the house but she was fine and sat next to him and bought treats. That was kind of a very smart and their prices were better than some of the others. I can't remember the exact quotes of the others but this one was cheaper and we do own them, it's not rented.  They've been excellent. They were here when they said they would come and they were fast when they did it. They did what we asked. They were professional and we surely would recommend them to our neighbors.

They did the analysis. Their bid for doing the job was higher than other people we have spoken to. They were very professional and they had a good product. They came out on time. The price was too high and we went with another company.

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They were professional, their presentation is very informative and easy to deal with. I would recommend them to people.

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They were excellent and near perfect. The only thing that kept us from choosing REC was the very limited space we have, which made a SunPower system (panel manufacturer) more economical, which they didn't carry.

We wanted to do some other things. We're not so sure if we're going to go with putting solar on our house or not. We don't use that much electricity, so it's not clear what to do. They were fine. The staff was fine. He came out and looked at the situation. He gave us an estimate and did a follow-up call. It's not clear that we're going to be in the house long enough to realize and we don't use that much electricity. The installation cost is not going to be covered all that quickly. They gave the clear indication of what the cost was. The experience was good. We didn't install it. We did it because Angie's List had a deal. They're responsiveness was good. They were on time.

I found the salesman like a used car salesman. He is the reason I didn't use them... I used Diable Solar and they were very proffesional and would use them again.  Stay away from REC solar

Sales person did an on-site visit and provided proposal based on location and electricity usage for last 12-mo. Decided to purchase instead of leasing due to low rates with Silicon Valley power. Net cost after rebates and tax credits = $5,200, ROI ~ 7 years.
Installation was done quickly over 2 days, crew was very quiet, knowing we had a newborn in the house. Inspection passed on the first visit and they system have worked flawlessly since then. Total electricity bill for 9-month period = ~$150 (including 3-ton AC over the summer) - amazing!

It was not applicable to us since we didn't use that much electricity

Could not be happier with REC. I worked with Steve Gross on the contract - he answered a lot of (probably dumb) questions for me and was very responsive. Paperwork was simple, as was the purchasing through Costco. When it came time for installation, a 3-person crew led by Guy Dixon showed up. They arrived every day at exactly the time they said they'd be there, and were extremely professional. I climbed up on the roof each day after they left to check out what they had done. They did great work, from matching the mounting brackets to the roof color to using custom mounting brackets to hold conduit off the roof surface to putting nice end caps on the mounting rails so that the ends weren't visible from the street. I listened in while the building inspector came by for the final inspection - he made several comments about how well done the work was.  PG&E came a few weeks later to give the OK to turn on the system.
Three months later the system has been operating just fine. The maximum system capacity is around 3.2kW (14 panels) and in early May I tend to see a peak production of around 2.8kW in the middle of the day - we'll see where it goes in the middle of summer. My electric bill is around $10/month now.
Honestly I went into this project expecting problems, especially after seeing my neighbors get a solar system installed which took over 3 weeks to complete.  To come through this project with ZERO problems was really surprising to me - a pleasant surprise.

Began searching for solar panel installing in fall of 2012.  After a lot or rearch, I picked REC solar based upon two criteria: 1.) Angie's List reviews, 2.) Knowledge and responsiveness of their rep (Ben Chates).  Contract was signed in Jan 2013.  REC was honest that installation would not begin for 8-10 weeks due to work backlog.  Work started in March 27 and was finished on March 29.  I found their installer (Charles) and project manger (Melissa Alcordo) to be very easy to deal with.  Now I'm just waiting on PGE to switch out my meter to start enjoying my panels. 
To show just what of company REC Solar is...On March 26 (1 day before scheduled install), I received an email from my employer (City and County of SF) that REC had a program with the City to provide installation at a 20% discount.  Despite the fact that already signed for the agreed (non City program) amount, REC honored this programs, and cut almost $2,000 off my install bill.  Couldn't be happier.

We checked out 8-10 solar companies, hosting their sales reps in my home and getting their pitch, over about four months before my wife and I made our decision.  We fairly quickly narrowed it down to three comanies, of which REC Solar was one.  From there I did more in-depth research into company reputations, customer comments, and the science and testing behind each company's solar panels and inverters.  In the end, REC Solar (which has deals and support contracts in place with Costco - yes, that Costco) came out on top.  Their representatives were knowledgeable and they showed a commitment to customer service, not to mention that their panels and the inverters they recommend are, by all independent research I was able to locate, top-notch in the home consumer market.  I went to their local office to discuss a couple items, and they gave me a tour of their shop/warehouse and explained the different phases of the process and the panels in particular.  Every question I had, they answered it; this is a MUST for me if I am dropping $15k on something.  It made sense for us to go with a Pre-Paid Power Agreement, via Sunrun, with REC as the provider. We obtained a system at a little over 5 kWh, as we are a family of 4 and addicted to electronic gadgets; under our PG&E rate plan we were averaging ~$200/month on our electric bill.  Once all the contracts were signed, it was a bout 4 weeks (if I remember right) before all the plans were approved, the permits were pbtained, etc., but I think that is pretty standard.  When the installers showed up, they were friendly, knowledgeable, and efficient, wrapping up the install in two days.  Our only hiccup was actually getting the system turned on. Once we received the approval to operate from PG&E, it was about another month before everything was worked out and we were actually producing solar power (something about a disconnected wire or some such on the roof, and it took a bit between Sunrun and REC before someone came out to take care of it). But, other than that, it was a great experience. Everything is now operating at peak efficiency and we are very happy.

The company rep was very professional. He came over, did an evaluation of our needs and gave us a quote. Due to job stability reasons, we could not pursue with the quote. Essentially, I spent $99 to get a quote for solar panels. I could have got a quote from other companies. There would be a discount if I actually installed the solar, but I could not afford it.  The company rep was very professional, etc. I do not find fault with them. But I see a problem with the deal. To have to spend $99 just to get a quote for solar does not make sense.

They handled all the installation issues including rebates and permits.  Installation was clean and was completed ahead of the estimated date.  They cleaned up after themselves.  The city inspector approved the installation on the first visit.  About a year after installation, the inverter failed.  REC responded immediately to diagnose the problem and had a new inverter installed with 3 days.  The system has functioned flawlessly since then.

See comments above.

REC Solar has been very responsive in handling the complete installation including building permits and was able to complete the installation within about 3 weeks from the initial contact.  PG&E just installed a bi-directional meter this past Monday and we were able to turn the system on.  It apprears to be producing about 80% of its maximum power which is what would be expected for this season of the year based on the sunny days we are having.  The REC Solar system uses enphase micro inverters on a per panel basis to transform the DC power generated by the solar panel into AC power which is fed into the main AC power lines from PG&E.  The advantage of this system is that tree shadows on individual panels only affect the panel in shadow and have no effect on the remainder of the system.  A side benefit is that individual panel outputs can be monitored on my computer via the enphase WEB site which shows me on a time lapse basis each day how the individual solar panels are performing as well as the solar system as a whole.  I cannot speak highly enough regarding our whole experience of working with REC Solar and their outstanding personnel and the solar system they provide.

Their installation crew was incompetent.  It was a disaster. The work had to be done three times to get it right.  I contacted the general manager and he declared it a disaster. He said “the work was unacceptable.”  He did a lot of the repair work himself. There is no way I would recommend them to anyone.  I could have done a better job with the installation.  The product was of good quality.