SolarCity

My timeline: January 8 - First Proposal January 21 - All parties completed Documentation January 21 - Inital $500 payment January 21 - Site survey scheduled - this is done online by me at a date I looked for January 27 - Site Survey January 27 - Received Documents for signing with Notary January 31 - Proposed System January 31 - Questioned the system design February 2 - Finally received response that someone will get back to me February 2 - I signed the proposal as I was told any changes could set back the project February 12 - System installation scheduled, my choice to delay 2 days enabling a Saturday install February 14 - Invoice for 50% of balance February 16 - Payment February 17 - System installation. Made changes to design during installation. February 21 - Re-design approval February 22 - Notice on Inspection February 26 - City Inspection (I was not advised to be home for electrical box inspection) March 1 - Had to be home for re-inspection inside March 2 - I check to see if inspection results was send to Electric Company March 2 - Invoice for final payment March 7 - No response yet from scheduler, I resend request on results to Electric Company March 3 - I questioned need for final payment, system is not functioning yet March 7 - Reminder on payment, no response on my request on why payment March 7 - Final payment March 12 - I check with Electric Company, was advised something is missing. A placard is needed and SolarCity did not know. March 14 - Last update from Sales, he went dark for 3 days. His title - Sr. Sales Support Specialist. I am not getting a timeline. March 15 - I shared my gate code with Ops team. March 17 - Was told that they have other scheduled work too. March 19 - No response yet.... System has been installed more than a month, with delays in scheduling inspection and submitting accurate documentation. Once accurate documentation is send to Electric Company, they have 9 -10 weeks according to SolarCity. I will update as I get further input. My suggestion, ensure Solar City is ready to support your County / City / Electric Company.

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We were pleased with their performance. It has been saving us money on our electric bill since then. It was a big installation for them but they came and did an excellent job on it. There were a few issues that came up but they dealt with them effectively and to our satisfaction. I thought that they gave us a good price for the work. They were very responsive. They came out when they said they would. It was a comparatively large install, 30 panels, and they just got them up there very well and punctually. They were very professional. I really like their work.

Solar City refused to install panels on an admittedly old roof.  So they worked with us to find a roofing contractor to install new roofing shingles.  In researching the first roofing company they provided for us; we found that another customer of this contractor had had a lien placed on their home due to the contractor not paying their supplier.  We opted for the other roofing contractor and everything was done quickly and efficiently, except that the contractor never followed up to see if all was well, (roof wasn't leaking, etc.), as per the licensing boards' regulations. (I forget what the licensing board is called.)  All in all, the roof seems fine with no leakage.
The S.C. panel installation crew came and finished the panel and inverter installation within, I believe, three days.
Upon inspection by SDG & E, it was found that the inverter had been placed too closely to SDG & E's meter and would have to be moved.
NOT HAPPY.  This meant more tramping around on our new shingles, wearing them, as well as re-routing the wiring conduit with new nail holes in the roof as well as new holes drilled into the stucco on the side of the house where the inverter had to be reinstalled. 
The transition from SDG& E power supply to solar and the acquisition of permits and financial arrangements for our leased system were handled by Solar City, flawlessly.  They were kind enough to warn us that we should pay excess charges to SDG & E to avoid a large bill at the end of the year when the system "trued up" should our usage exceed the solar panels production.
BEWARE
No notice nor advice was given about the fact that Solar City would also "true up" production at the end of the year and that you might be responsible for a large fee owed to them for over production.  They, as the professionals and experts in this field, work out what amount of electricity is used per year, and install the appropriate amount of panels to provide the customer.
Yes, it is obliquely written in the contract that you will pay them for over production which of course, you read when you received notice that you owe S.C. money because the system over produced.
Yes, Solar City did, in good faith, waive the first year's over production fee, but two years of over production fees indicates a problem that needs to be remedied.
At this time, there has been no response to a letter mailed to them two weeks ago asking them to correct the problem and bring the system back to the estimated production upon which our monthly bill is based.
They have very poor customer service once you've signed the contract and the only recourse is through arbitration, which does nothing to aid the customer.
DO NOT LEASE POWER FROM SOLAR CITY !!
We feel that they have been disingenuous and we were conned.  
If you must lease, be sure to ask the company if they "true up" at the end of the year and if you will have to pay for the over production of the solar panels.  Ask if they will unplug a panel to bring production down at no extra charge.  Several solar providers we have since consulted with indicated that a panel can simply be un plugged and a small adjustment made in the system.  One company said that they can remove a panel entirely, but at a charge.
We hope that Solar City will fix their problem and bring our production fee back to the original contracted amount per month.
Time will tell.

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Excellent as far as SolarCity goes. Delmarva is another story. Delmarva is still dragging their feet on the switch over and the installation of a two-way electricity meter.Waiting over two months so far.

It's a great company. They were just wonderful, were on time. It has a twenty year guarantee.

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Very, very impressive! Solar City covered the cost of installations, permits, and required modifications (our town inspector required installation of an earthquake shut-off valve on the gas line). They also took out a $2 million insurance policy on our roof before work began. Solar City owns the panels and sells power to us. They maintain the system. We entered a 20-year power purchasing agreement. The cost of power increases 3% per year, which should work out to less than PGand E increases rates over the same period.
The installation was outstanding! Solar City doesn't use subcontractors like other utilities and service providers. Everyone who worked on the job was a Solar City employee! That meant a lot to me because I care about doing business with companies that treat their employees well and generate good paying jobs. When I call with a question, I don't get a call center in India or the Philippines; I get a real Solar City employee who knows what they are talking about. The install exceeded my expectation in every way! Since I live in a one-level house, there is no conduit on the exterior of my home. The conduit runs through the top of my garage into the attic and through the roof. The foreman said it was more work for them but he wanted it to be as clean as possible. Believe me it is! SC even gave me a home owner association kit to help expedite approval from the architecture committee. Because of my roof design and trees in my front yard, the panels are not visible from the street. Only one neighbor can see them, so I didn't bother dealing with the association at all.
It's been about 3 weeks since we flipped the switch. Most days, we send more power to the grid than we actually get from the grid. We will see how things play out with the short days of winter coming. Either way, I pay Solar City the same price as set forth in the Power purchase agreement. The unknown is how much power I will purchase from PGand E if any. It feels great knowing our home is now part of America's clean energy solution and I don't need to worry about ever-skyrocketing rates from PGand E.
What if we move, you ask? Three options: a) For $1000 fee, the system goes with me to our new home; b) the home buyer takes over my PPA (which becomes more attractive cost wise with time); or c) The home buyer pays for the balance of the PPA in the real estate transaction. Any of the three options will be fine with me!

We just had a successful city inspection of our new roof solar installation. The entire installation went very smooth. As soon as the workers arrived, the lead installer (Anthony) gave me a thorough orientation of the entire process, and answered all questions I had about options I had for placement of the inverters and conduit runs. All employees were extremely courteous and were careful of our property. Our SolarCity Consultant, Michelle Casarotte ([email protected]), had good follow-up throughout the contract and installation process. Her recommendations on the system design and type of contract plan were excellent. Anytime we had any questions or concerns, she immediately provided us with the answers. Since we wanted the appearance of the solar system to look as uncluttered and tidy as possible, she made sure the final design incorporated a pleasing module arrangement and that all conduit would be almost entirely hidden from casual view. Michelle was very reliable and accessible throughout the entire process, even in contacting the work schedulers to confirm all installation times for us. She was our central point-of-contact at SolarCity, providing us the confidence that the project would be completed as promised. We signed up for the Power Purchase Agreement, which has zero installation costs, and are expecting approximately a $90 monthly reduction in our electric bill.

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A crew of six arrived to complete installation. All were friendly, helpful, expert and efficient.

SolarCity has met or exceeded all of my expectations. We first had them install a solar electric system with solar production and household consumption monitoring, and they threw in a new 200 Amp electric service panel at almost no cost. Next, we had them install solar hot water, a new high-efficiency water heater, upgrade the efficiency of the envelope of the house, and install a 240V fast charging station for our electric vehicle. We are currently on their calendar for a battery backup system for our house. In EVERY instance of dealing with SolarCity, we've had great experiences. They always do what they say they're doing to do, at the cost we agreed to. To me, this means their sales people are well-trained to understand what they're quoting, and they don't play any up charge or bait-n-switch games to give you a and quot;gotchaand quot; punch in the gut. I love these guys.