American Solar Energy, LLC

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They need to follow up a little bit more and closer contact and the check up after so we don’t forget who we are. They did a good job.

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oI received a phone call purporting to be a business acting for the state. They offered me a free energy audit which would take about half an hour. I had a TECO audit when I bought the house nine years ago but nothing since so I made an appointment for Saturday morning November 23, 2013 for 9:00 AM. At 9:30 AM I called the contact number I had been given asking for information. The gentleman called me back to say there was a large pile up on the freeway and that his guy was in it. He offered me another appointment that afternoon for 5:00 PM. He reiterated that it would only take half an hour. I had been up since 4:00 AM and knew I would be tired by then but could do a half hour.
The representative showed up promptly and looked at my hot water heater and attic. He provided information on federal rebates which are substantial and energy savings over several years. He was likeable but quite aggressive. When we sat down for further discussion he pulled out a large notebook and went into his salesman routine. It was very similar to buying a car. Lots of rhetorical questions (e.g., would you rather put the money in you pocket or give it to TECO) . Once I determined that the state had nothing to do with this entire process, I asked him why the man on the phone had given me fallacious information. He said they did represent the state but was unable to explicate exactly how.
By this time I was beyond exhausted and asked him on two different occasions to please leave and come back and finish on another day. He repeatedly said he just needed a few more minutes and ignored my requests. My house was to be his demo house for area code 33604 and I would get a finical break for allowing them to put a sign in my yard. They would throw in a free solar attic fan. He also pointed out the increased value of my house. Stupidly, I acquiesced. He insisted it be installed the next day, Sunday. The crew showed up at 10:30 Sunday morning. The two men were pleasant and seem careful about my house. After a couple of hours I noticed no work noise but lots of exhortations and long phone calls. I went and asked what was happening. The crew leader told me there was a leak in the heater and they would wait for an hour for a new one to be delivered. Things went downhill after that. There was a lot of cursing and banging. Apparently there was a lot of water spilled because they used twenty of my utility towels which were left sopping wet outside full of leaves, twigs, etc. They were finally finished around 5:30 PM.
I called the company Monday to complain about the mess and all the cigarettes butts in the front yard where the company's truck was parked. I was told that the crew knew better but that they would be strongly reminded about the rules when they were in someones home.
The next, Friday, my handyman was at my house and I asked him to oil my dryer as it was squeaking. When he pulled it out the new water heater was exposed. He took some pictures and emailed them to me. I had noticed the new pan was dented but further back was an actual break in the pan. Behind the heater was the overflow pipe. It was only about 6 inches long and was aimed outside the pan toward my 1925 hardwood floor. Needless to say I payed him to fix these problems.
I called the company the following Monday and detailed the problems. What I wanted was for a competent crew to come out and inspect my system to assure me that there are no other problems. I would also like to be reimbursed for the labor I paid to fix the pan and overflow pipe. The man I talked to said the owner would be back in town Tuesday and would call me. I have waited for over a week and received no communication from the company.

The sales manager, Chris Lee, explained the Sunwise program that I was eligible for concerning the panel for the hot water. Since I previously had solar panels on my house in PA, I didn't take much convincing after I heard about the federal tax credits and the projected savings on my electric bill. In addition, I ordered the pool heating panels separately, since once of the offers currently on the table was a new efficient variable speed heat pump to replace my old inefficient single speed model.
The job took longer than expected, 2 1/2 days instead of 1, but since I was not in a hurry and only wanted a carefully and correctly installed system, I was patient. The main technician, Matthew, was very careful about explaining everything to me. The only glitch was that they didn't drain the pool filter first so that at the end, all of the filter residue got in the pool and it will take a couple of weeks to clean it.