Direct Energy Solar

Great! The sales person was very professional and walked me through all of my options. The installation was fast, and the installation crew/electricians were all very professional and friendly (they answered my MANY questions). They were very diligent about cleaning up after themselves and left my home the way they found it. Would highly recommend!!

Great! The installation was fast, and my system is currently working great. The install crew was professional and courteous, and cleaned up after themselves after the installation. It could not have gone better.

It went great. The process was very clear and streamlined. We had a sales person who provide the quote and some education. We then had project manager who did some initial prep and kept us posted along the way. The crew came the day the said they would, got here very early and stayed VERY late until the job was done. They worked hard and were professional and respectful. They came in Direct Energy Solar trucks and based on conversation all seemed to be direct employees (not sub-contractors). We passed inspection today so just need BGE to change out our meter and are good to go! Fantastic experience so far.

It went very well. Our project manager explained everything clearly and all permits and work took place as planned. The crew that did the interior work were punctual, and cleaned up so well, it was hard to tell they were there! The panels were installed quickly, even in the middle of winter and we were able to turn them on quickly. It was a very pleasant group to work with.

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We worked with Direct Energy Solar for a few months before they got here. The sales associate that was here was really good. Then they had a manager that came in that wasn't so great but she's not there anymore. Direct Energy Solar did what they needed to do. We told them that she wasn't so much professional about promptness and stuff like that. But my experience was good. The solo piano is where it's supposed to be. If we needed help, they come back and reset stuff. My electric bill is really low. They do what they were supposed to do and they did it on the time they said they would. I would recommend them. I really don't know how to grade the pricing because I don't have anything to clear it to. The quality was fine. The product manager was not responsive but she has been replaced. So I guess, at first they weren't responsive. This particular product manager was not responsive but she's not with the company anymore so I don't think that it would be fair to put that in. The company was working with us and she's not there so I guess they were good then because they were responsive to that. She was responsive to the fact that she wasn't responsive and she's been replaced. The punctuality is fine. I would give them a B on punctuality because of that lady.

It hasn't been fixed. They failed in July, and it is now 10 September. This is typical. We usually go 2 months before failed micro-inverters are replaced. Direct Energy Solar used to be Astrum Solar. For the record, the install when they were Astrum went very well, but their Operations and Maintenance support is horrible. They were better before they were absorbed into the larger conglomerate. Specific details of the latest debacle are at the end of this entry, but there are endemic problems that relate to every experience with DES that I would like to report. Problem 1: DES doesn’t actually monitor. They wait for us to call and tell them there is a problem. Despite having a monitoring agreement, I discovered on the last call that sysstem owners get alerts but DES does not (or they do, but don’t look at them – that isn’t entirely clear). They expect me to call them and tell them when a failure happens – then they will look at it. This isn't MONITORING - this is ACCESS to a monitored system, which is not what we were led to believe would be the process when we signed our contract. Nonetheless, we discovered this after several years of complaining to them each time more micro-inverters fail. Problem 2: DES doesn’t accept our notification, or the system alert, that the inverters have failed. They insist on conducting an investigation. They constantly want to “reset” it – which does nothing but make us wait for a few more days for DES to accept what they system has been saying for days - it’s failed. Sometimes they admit the failure soon after our call to them, but it’s never immediate. Often they want to send a tech out to physically climb the roof and look at it. That’s a few more weeks, because the visit has to be scheduled and they are always weeks behind on that. Once they admit it’s failed, the many weeks of the warrantee process begins. Problem 3: Even if they say they understand our frustration and they want to help, we still go into the black hole. Once called, they don’t respond by email or phone. We have to nag, and it’s always us calling them. When we reach the customer service people (who are pleasant – we know them ALL by name at this point) they still don’t do anything to get the work done in a timely fashion. That’s probably more a result of their poor staffing support than the customer service rep’s fault. Problem 4: DES Customer Service make an inordinate amount of excuses – I can’t see that person’s email, that person is on vacation, someone is sick, someone left early today, we lost some techs, the weather is not looking good, we don’t have a schedule, I don’t know why (x) would have said that, because that’s not right (or how I do it) … The excuses are endless, and we have had all of these that I listed. Problem 5: DES doesn’t keep stock on hand to replace the persistently-failing micro-inverters. They have to call the manufacturer. Then place an order. Then wait for it to be shipped (manufacture says at least 2 weeks for shipping, if they have a run ready to go in the first place. That’s another problem). Then, once received, they have to schedule a tech to install. They refuse to schedule til they receive the parts, which means 3 weeks minimum, if everything falls perfectly into place. It never, ever, has. Problem 6: DES only schedules appointments and work on Fridays, for the following week. They prioritize installs over repairs. They don’t have enough people to do their work. DES continues to market and install new systems, even though they have admitted to me on several occasions that they cannot support the operations and maintenance of the systems they have already installed, for customers that have paid for a) systems that should stay up without problems (but don’t) and b) have a contracted monitoring and maintenance service (that we must initiate, nag, and persist on if we want the system fixed). Details on the latest incident: Following the failure in July, establishing on 9 August the inverters had failed and would be replaced, and hearing nothing for a month, I called on Thursday, 8 September to get the status. Person A answered the phone, doesn’t know what Person B’s email says because she is getting married and not there. Person A sees the problem and understands my frustration for having to wait so long, and upon my request transfers me to Supervisor C who explained that MD customers are on a standing 8-week wait for service because they don’t have people to do the work. She said they do have the parts. Supervisor C said she would review schedule, expedite an appointment for next week, and email me with the information later in the day. No email that day. The next morning, Friday (appointment-setting day) I sent another email to her, saying I am waiting and expect an email and an appointment. No response, no appointment. Now it’s the weekend. I know the schedule for next week was made yesterday – and I’m pretty sure I’m going to be waiting at least another week for the “expedited” service. The attached picture shows each inverter we have installed, along with its relative production since our installation in 2010. It shows that 18 of the 56 inverters we installed have failed (including 2 of the replacements that have only a few years of service on them). That’s a whopping 32% failure rate. These are warranted for 20 years. Direct Energy should be going after Enphase for poor quality and workmanship. If the inverters worked as advertised, Direct Energy would not have to spend so much of their time fixing and replacing them. Not that that's any excuse for their poor support and service, but it would help.

I began pursuing this in April. I have an east- and west-facing roof, so solar power would barely be cost effective for me. I pursued it anyway. I live in a middle-unit condo townhouse in a triplex. Initially things went OK, but it took a real long time for me to get answers to even my simplest questions. The install crew came with an electrician, who said I would have to run an underground cable from my control boxes to the utility meter. They later said they would charge me $1200 to dig the trench and run the underground cable. I felt that this made the project not cost effective, and I canceled it. I got a full refund of my initial payment.

The company showed up in a punctual and professional manner.? They started in to work and were mindful of the surroundings and respectful of the neighbors. They introduced themselves and their team let me know whop was working on what aspect and allowed me to ask all sorts of "what are you doing.." questions. Darren checked up on the work early on and then continued to check up on the status via phone calls with me.? Also Luis Bonilla also stopped in and walk through the project with me.? He took the time to explain all the aspects that we has discussed in the planning phase so that I understood what he meant or what he said with real examples.? I not only felt as though i was getting solar panel but also being educated as to what exactly the panels were doing. Great job selling, educating and following up with the customers.

Very good. Started saving money 30 days after installing panels.

Let me start by saying the installers (technicians and engineers) did a fabulous job installing my system. Regarding the front-office (sales, marketing, project manager), I have fewer accolades.
Let's start with the salesman. Nice enough guy. After-sale, he was mostly AWOL. The one time I heard from him was when he denied offering me LG panels even though I had an email from him with an LG panel data sheet!
The Project Manager (PM) was also a nice enough guy, but mostly non-responsive. I had to go over his head on more than one occasion to get anything done. And, his handling of permitting was a disaster. If it wasn't for me contacting my county energy department directly, I probably still would not have a solar install. As it was, it took over six months from sale to install.
And now I'm dealing with Customer Service after-install about the level of visibility into my system. I was told by sales and PM that I would have per-panel data, but my Enphase account does not provide that access.

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It was a great experience from beginning to end. They kept us informed, and we are very pleased with the quality of workmanship, communication, and the results. We are saving and making money!

It was no cost, it was a free installation and I pay them $112 every month. They could communicate better with the process of getting the permit and setting up the installation. The installation team was very good.

The salesman was great, but we had problems with the installation project lead who didn't communicate effectively or respond promptly. Since then the customer service has been truly awful. One of our panels stopped working in early November and despite frequent phone calls and emails, the panel wasn't fixed until late March. In addition our monitoring system has been out since February and again, despite frequent calls and emails we still don't know when that will be fixed. It has been very difficult to get someone to return our calls and emails. We love having solar, but we can't recommend this company.

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I signed a contract with Direct Energy in Sept. Since signing the contract, I have not had a great experience, mainly with my project
manager. It took several weeks from signing the contract for him to contact me to set up a meeting. When he arrived, he had no
clue that the roof eval had not been scheduled (I was never contacted.) As a project manager, he should have been aware of what stage I was at. At that visit (also when I spoke with the original sales rep), I informed him that my schedule is not flexible. I can not take off work at the last minute and would appreciate as much as advance notice for installation as possible.
We set up for the electricians to come out on Nov 16 since I needed to be home. the solar panel installers would come out on Nov 17 and I would not need to be home. On Nov 16, thesolar panel installers arrive instead of the electrician. they tell me that the electricians will be out the next day. The project manager never informed me of this. I had a full scheduled for Nov 17 and could not be at home. I had to call the project mangager to inform him of this.  As a result, I had to take another day off from work and cancel patients to have the electricians to come out. I was told him that it would be a one day
install. in the email exchange with him, I let him know everything needed to be done on Dec 3rd. The electricians did come out but was not able to finish in one day and said "I am not sure why they told you this would be a one day job." So I had to give them access thru my garage since I had to be at work on Dec 4.
Unfortunately, they still did not finish. I get an email from head electrician sent at 7pm on a friday that they needed to come out on saturday Dec 5. First, this should have been a phone call. I just happened to check my email that evening. I emailed
him that it would be fine since I would rearrange my plans. Unfortunately, They did not come out after waiting half the morning. I
did get a phone call from electrician on the following Monday  apologizing forthe miscommunication and that my project manager  would contact me.
 I had emailed  the project manager on Dec 4, letting him know that I could be at home on Dec 17 to have the county inspector come out and needed for him to confirm that date and I expressed my frustration with his lack of
communication. As of Dec 10, I did not hear from him to follow up on my email or from the message that the electrician left. So, I emailed him again asking him to confirm Dec 16 since it had been a week since I emailed him. I asked did I need a new project manager.  he finally emailed me back  that the inspector doesn't need to come out to inspect the inside of the house so I did not need to be home . If I had not emailed him, when was he going to tell me this information.  The electrician finally finished the work on Dec 10 when I was not at home. Later, I noticed they had damaged the access panel to the attic but had not said a word
about this. I emailed the project manager  again. He said he would arrange for a team to come out on Dec 17 morning as I requested. On the morning of Dec 17,I emailed him around 9:15 asking what time would they arrive. He emails me back that they would be out around noon. This is not what we agreed to nor did he communicate with me this change. I had  already made plans
for the afternoon. I relayed this information to him that once again I had to rearrange my schedule due to lack of communication on his behalf. I also asked to speak with his manager but have yet to hear from his manager now 2 months later even after emailing customer service as well. I suspect he did not pass this request along.
I later found out the Project manager forged my signature on a form to BGE. They wanted me to sign a form stating the system was installed back in October prior any work being done. I told him I did not feel comfortable signing at that time but let me know when the system was installed i would sign then. I got a emailed copy of the form from BGE with final approval. The project manager admitted he forged my signature. I called customer service and asked the project manager that I wanted to speak with his manager. Still no response.
I was never given access to the website to monitor the center. I emailed my project manager twice about this. He did not respond. I finally called customer service again and got access a month after the system was installed.
I do not feel valued as a customer and my time is not appreciated. This has been a horrendous experience. Many of my neighbors are thinking about going solar, I will not recommend Direct energy to them.

Have been waiting for months to have several failed microinverters replaced (a continual issue with the Enphase M190's). Direct Energy Solar does not answer emails. They do not answer the phone (unless you are calling to install a new array). 

While the installation and running of solar panel went well, when I tried to cancel the installation of additional solar panels. They have not returned my deposit for these additional solar panels. I was calling them for almost 6 month and ongoing. 

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I chose Direct Energy Solar because they had the most competitive financing options. I did not have the money to pay for my system up front and I did not want a lease. Direct Energy had a very straight forward loan option.
Contract was signed in June 2015, however due to the permitting process by Pepco and Montgomery County it was not installed until October, and I was not able to turn it on until 3 weeks after that. None of these things are Direct Energy's fault. In fact once the county gave the final approval they installed my system within 2 weeks.
The install guys were very professional and the system looks great on my roof. 
What I find most impressive is Direct Energy's commitment to their special offers. When I signed on to the system they guaranteed a 60 day install or I would revive a check for $500. My system install was closer to 120 days and true to their word I revived a check for $500 about a month after my system went online.
After 2 months of use the system works great. I can monitor my daily solar generation and I have not had any problems so far. I would recommend!

I was assigned a project lead, Aidan, who turned out to be a most wonderful person to work with.  he kept me informed every step of the way.  A site survey was performed in July and subsequently I was informed I needed structure work done to bring my attic up to code by reinforcing the roof rafters.  The pricing for this work was very good and the work work performed by the installation crew as the first step of the install.
In early September, (a few weeks before the work was to have begun) I was made aware of higher performance panels (300 watts/panel) becoming available in October.  I wanted the higher wattage panels and Direct Energy Solar amended the contract to allow this.  Aidan called about a week later and said they were ready to install.  I confirmed, 300 watt panels!
Unfortunately, it was extremely hot when my installation began.  The installers and the electricians were wonderful and did a great job.  They were flexible too.  I wanted certain wiring done in a particular way, which I told the salesman in advance.  The lead electrician said he'd wire it my way, but suggested another approach which would take longer to do, but he thought was better.  It was my call -- I went his way and he was right!  They finished the work, my certificate of completion was signed and I was ready for the last step, Eversource, to change my electric meter to a net meter.
This is where my only problem with Direct Energy Solar occurred.  Someone in Direct Energy's compliance department thought I hadn't electronically signed an amendment to the original contract (not true I had signed a few hours after it was sent to me). Instead of contacting me and telling me they thought I hadn't signed, they did nothing.  Aidan was on a weeks vacation at the time.  When Aidan returned, we spoke and he resolved the matter in a few days.  Eversource to their credit installed the net meter within 3 days of being sent the certificate of completion.
So all in all I'd give the folks at Direct Energy Solar that I worked with an A+, and the creep in the compliance department an F.

Signed contract 8/13/15, installation finished 9/11/15, connected to electric grid - producing power 9/28/15.  (Would have been sooner, but city inspector on vacation for a week).
Installers from Direct Energy Solar very professional, courteous and excellent job in routing conduit.  Project manager also on top of the project, kept me well informed.  Pleasure to work with this company.