Sun Dollar Energy, LLC

Sun Dollar Energy installed a 32 panel, 10 kw solar system on my house. From the first meeting with the salesperson (Micah), the office coordinator (Alexis), the site review (Brandon), the engineer that designed the system (Greg) and the owner (Dan)...All have been friendly, helpful, professional and knowledgeable. They have helped me through the early days while I was getting used to the system, answering questions, responding to my texts and phone calls (even on the weekends). Outstanding customer service! Very professional installation! Excellent follow-up! The passion for their customers shows in all they do! If you want to explore solar, there is only one company that I would recommend and that is Sun Dollar Energy.

We used SunDollar to install Solar panels in our house and we could not be more pleased with the company, product and the service offered by this company. Greg is the star engineer behind the entire design. He was patient with all my technical questions, gave me accurate answers and assisted me in selecting the appropriate panels for my home. He is not there to make a sale, but instead extremely vested in making sure that you are an ideal candidate for solar panels and specs the correct panel for you. Greg will also hold your hand through the entire process ensuring that you are well informed of the process and responds very quickly on text/calls. He is a HUGE asset to this company Alexis is the star co-ordinator with Duke energy and the city of Chapel Hill. She keeps a close tab on permits and meter installation and keeps you informed through the whole process. She is a key component in the Duke rebate process as well and does a fabulous job with the entire balancing act Billy is the head of their construction crew who is courteous and carriers out the entire installation process with sheer professionalism and promptness. I could not be more satisfied with the way the panels look on my roof... Finally Dan, the owner of the Sun Dollar...he is extremely personable and ensures that you are one satisfied customer. He has a well run shop and I cannot recommend these guys more On a final note, Greg/Alexis played a KEY role in my Duke rebate. Due to the broken Duke rebate system my original waitlist was at 714!! But due to the perseverance of these guys they took upon the communication with Duke, gathered key details from me, and ensured that I got my rebate (given that I was within 6 minutes of applying for the rebate). I dont think any other company will go that far to take care of their customers. All in all, I cannot recommend these guys more for the job they have done. They come highly recommended and wish them luck in the future. Thanks so much!!!!

Sun Dollar is a fantastic local company. I worked closely with Greg Resch, who guided me though the process of installing a solar panel system on the roof of my residence in Carrboro. Greg knows his stuff, and I was impressed by the competence of the entire team. The install process was quick - 2 days - and my wife and I feel that the installation is performing really well. Greg helped us to handle technical issues that arose after the install, related to WiFi monitoring. Sun Dollar is a company that continues to work with you after installation. Greg and Dan also helped us to deal with the Duke Energy rebate situation, where Duke's website/server was overloaded on the application day. Thanks to Sun Dollar's persistence, I will be receiving the rebate. I love this company - they are local, hardworking, and smart.

We chose Sun Dollar after getting three quotes and speaking with 3 salesmen. Aside from being a couple thousand dollars cheaper, what impressed me was the salesman was the owner, Dan Lezama. This wouldn't be a case of a salesman promising one thing and then an anonymous crew delivering another. The other two guys seemed to know their stuff, but there's nothing like dealing with the owner to guarantee performance. I knew the buck would stop with Dan. After doing some due diligence, I knew Sun Dollar would do the job for us. Solar is no small undertaking. There are permits, interconnect agreements, insurance requirements, etc. Dan made it simple. He handled all of the paperwork and scheduled all of the inspections. Dan's crew was awesome. They were on time, clean and efficient. More often than not, Dan was onsite supervising everything. When we ran into surprises (no neutral wire in attic sub-panel?!), Dan explained the options and we made an appropriate decision. 39 panels later, we're now a power producer. We did not opt for an off-grid system (another ~$20K) but may look at that in the future. Tesla's Powerwall 2.0 is interesting, but too new to seriously consider unless there are new incentives or Mr. Musk is looking for evaluation sites. We're expecting the system to pay for itself in roughly 10 years, but from what I've read, it should have already added roughly the cost of the system to the value of the home. Would highly recommend Sun Dollar and would definitely use them again.

Everything went well and quickly.  
We signed a contract and I gave him a 10% down payment, and he said he would probably be back in about 4 weeks.  He nagged me, as he should, to get my HO Insurance information that Duke Energy requires.  (He was very nice but reminded me the paperwork had to be done before he could install the system.) He showed up a bit earlier than planned, but he emailed me (that was my preferred method) and asked if he could do some preliminary work.  He said he had a delay at another site and this would keep things moving smoothly.  I said sure.  He showed up and put the rails up on the roof.  One of the reasons I picked him from a field of 5 was it was clear he understood the importance of proper flashing install.  A great flashing system was installed and now I am pretty sure my roof will last as long as the panels.  He had explained when the paperwork on the first client was through he would have to finisht that up.  After two days that's what he did.  He kept me informed and told me when he thought he would return, about 5 days later.  Four days later I got an email saying he was on time and he would like to come back two days later.  He showed up on time with the panels which is when I paid him 50%, as contracted.  He then installed the system.  I told him that I will probably be adding a second field once the Tesla Wall battery system.  He upgraded the wiring to allow for this as a matter of course.  He got the electrical inspection set up and finished, and filed for the new meter from Duke Energy.  I then paid the last 40% of the contract. BTW, Duke Energy came by today, 6/2/2015, and now I am using solar power and selling back net!
Dan and his crew were a delight to work with.  The communications were great.  They were respectful of my house and the site.  They cleaned up after themselves.  Dan and his crew are committed professionals  Who I won't hesitate to call upon again if the whole Tesla battery system is real.
Bottom line: The work was top notch.  The materials were exactly as agreed.  Payment was exactly the amount agreed and payment was made as agreed.  It doesn't get any better than that.

Dan and his Sun Dollar team were fabulous throughout the process.  We talked through all the options and basic pricing in the first phone call (unlike a lot of providers who won't tell you anything unless you submit to them coming to your house) and he then asked that I get other estimates before going further in the discussions.  The other estimates confirmed what Dan told me on the phone, which was that he would be thousands less than the other guys for the same system.  So what is the catch?  No catch ... Dan just knows what he is doing, doesn't waste money on marketing guys to try and sell people systems that won't benefit much from it, and it seems his crew is loyal and very fairly treated.  On the day that I went to sign the contract at the Sun Dollar Office, they were waiting on a few other approvals and permits for other jobs to start, and there was not an installation job to do that morning, so Dan had other maintenance-type things lined up for his guys to do.  I would imagine with other installers, the crew would have been sent home.  The team took good care of my roof, yard, and house during the process.  They were patient and kind to my children and were very attentive to their safety during the install.  In fact, the kids got a number of science lessons as well.  I got a call or email with the plans/schedule for the upcoming days every time before they came to my house.  About a week after the panels were installed and generating, a competitor called me to check up and see if I had made a decision on solar, and when I told him I already had panels cranking out the watts, he exclaimed, "WHAT?  Who did that?"  Now, admittedly, I probably caught Sun Dollar at just the right time before the seasonal crush of solar requests come in, but from contract to completed electrical inspection was about 4 weeks, which is crazy fast no matter what the scenario is.  It would have been 3 weeks if not for backups in the county inspection office.  I also was working on upgrading the vent fan in my bathroom at the same time that the install was happening, so I was working on ducting in the attic at the same time Dan, the owner of the company, was face-deep in my dusty insulation in a hot attic pulling wire, which is something anybody on the crew could do.  I asked why he was doing it, and he commented that they tried to spread around the nasty work equally.  On one of the final hookup days, another member of the crew, Nolan, came to the door to install the monitoring system in the attic. My 5-year-old announced that "It wasn't a stranger, it's the solar man."  So there you go.  
At the moment, I am waiting for Progress Energy to switch out my meter so they will pay me for my excess electricity that I generate, but I am exceedingly happy with the system so far.
It is worth noting that I am a mechanical and civil engineer, and I rarely pay anyone to do anything for me on my home.  But having Sun Dollar put in the panels was a no-brainer.

So you don't have to read my long review if you don't want to:  You can't go wrong with Sun Dollar.  If you don't contact a single other solar installer, you won't be missing out.  If you do, you'll find out what a value you get from Dan.  I have nothing negative I can say about Dan or his crew.  A+++

I decided I wanted to install a medium sized solar panel array after one of my coworkers had a system installed.  A solar panel system has a lot of components, and there are a good number of choices you'll have to make when selecting one to install.  I started by calling the company that installed my coworker's.  They are a big company and do a lot of installs.  My friend claimed that he was able to get a special deal through 'Solarize Orange County,' which is supposed to reduce prices by committing a large number of clients to install solar.  He paid just over $20,500 for polycrystalline panels and a string inverted system.

One of the first things you will find about many of the big solar installers is that you are rarely going to talk to someone that actually does the work.  You'll talk to a sales guy.  In fact, with both companies that I contacted, prior to contacting Sun Dollar, I had to wait over a day to get a call back. Contrast this to Sun Dollar, and its owner, Dan Lezama, and the experience was totally different.  Dan, being the owner and installer, answered my call immediately, and spent a long time on the phone with me discussing my solar needs and concerns.  I could tell that his wisdom was far more in depth than the sales guys from the other companies.

On to the pricing....  Dan's pricing was better than the solarize project pricing that my coworker had gotten, and Dan was using as good as, if not better equipment.  In fact, since Raleigh did not have a solarize project, the two big companies that provided quotes were $3500 and $7000 more, respectively.  Dan is able to give you better pricing because he does not have a sales staff to employ and give commissions to, nor does he have a ton of overhead.  Now, some of the big companies will offer to fight your HOA battle for you.  Dan isn't likely to do that.  Personally, I think if you are going up against your HOA to install panels, you will be a better advocate and presenter for your position than an outsider.  But if you go with the bigger companies, know that you are paying for those extra services that you likely aren't going to need.

Choosing Dan was the obvious choice compared to the other companies...  His pricing was the best.  He was the most knowledgeable person I had spoken with.  He was the most responsive and attentive to detail.

My install was going to be more demanding than most.  I live in a neighborhood with strict architectural guidelines, and my panels were going to have to be on the front of the house.  I had to go through a very difficult process for approval, complete with appeals and massive amounts of paperwork and preparation.  Dan, knowing that my approval was not a sure thing (in fact, it was unlikely), patiently provided me with all the information I needed, including bringing some equipment by so that I could present it to my board in the event it was needed.  Dan also realized that my install was going to have to look perfect.  He used black solar panels with black frames, and all black mounting rails and hardware.  Against my black roof it was going to look great.

After a long hard fought battle, I won, and I was finally able to sign the contract with Dan.  The time elapsed from the first contact to contract signing was about a month and a half.   Dan started the install about 2.5 weeks after we signed the contract.  It took his crew about 4 days to get the panels and everything done.  There were a few trips back out to the house with inspections and small follow-up work.  It was as expected.  The install was beautiful and one of the best looking front facing installs I've ever seen.  I couldn't have been happier.

However, prior to having the system turned on, my painter almost ruined everything by spraying paint onto many of my brand new panels.  Dan's crew worked hard to get the panels cleaned of paint, with a smile on their face, and the panels are back to looking like new.

So, in short, choose Sun Dollar if you want who I think is the best solar crew in the area, you want good pricing, and you want an efficient and skilled crew.  Choose the other guys if you want to pay more, and you want to support flashy vans and slick sales presentations...

My wife and I got quotes from five (5) solar panel installation companies in the area. (We even looked at purchasing wholesale - panels costs are great, but installation and getting a contractor would have been a real pain). We learned a lot from the five companies and their proposals. We eliminated one company because they proposed panels on a roof that gets less daily sun exposure (there is an instrument to measure sun exposure to roof location) than our easterly facing roof.  Another company didn't specialize in solar installations - they were an HVAC company that could also install solar panels. We wanted a company that specialized in solar -  their costs were higher than Sun Dollar, too. A third company was eliminated because they wanted a 10% deposit before providing the final estimate to us - a "good-faith" gesture on our part (as they said). We eliminated them immediately - no other company requested anything like that.  The 4th company was OK, but cautioned us their price might be higher because of their overhead which, supposedly, is the experience and expertise they use to provide great service.  We did not feel that their overhead was a problem we needed to pay for. They were a fairly big company and understood the systems, but their cost was higher than Sun Dollar.  They also wanted to requote after I told them we had selected Sun Dollar, which I thought was odd (I just didn't respond to the email).  We selected Sun Dollar because the price was significantly less, Dan Lezama is the owner/installer/salesman, and Dan obviously understood the systems. He knew on which roof to install the panels and how the system could get optimized.  We felt that we just had to deal with Dan on any issue since he knew all the cost, equipment, and technical details. (The other companies primarily had different people doing the installation and selling). Dan is a licensed electrician, which is required for panel installation and permit approval. Dan contacted proper agencies for permit approval process (ours was approved by Town of Apex). Sun Dollar does not have a lot of personnel but, once they got started, they moved right along with the project.  We were not in a big hurry to get the panels installed - we just wanted to make sure they were installed in time to qualify for each of the 3 rebate programs. Everyone from Sun Dollar was very nice and easy to get along with. The system looks great, the installation is professional-looking, and they cleaned up well after they were done. Installation could have been done in less than one week if there hadn't been so much rain in August.   We've used many contractors over the years for various projects and we would agree that Sun Dollar was the correct selection for our solar panels.  Professional, very qualified, nice - everything you hope to get when you contract out a project. Yes, we'd use them again.

I got 4 different estimates on the solar installation I was interested in.  I had done a lot of research before having anyone come in as this was a pretty complicated venture for me.  What panels should I go with and why? What kind of system should I get, pros and cons of them? Will I get my money back on my investment?  
Dan was, by far, the most knowledgeable and professional of the 4.  He is the owner and has such a vested interest in making sure you know everything before making that important decision.  
Dan may have a smaller company but it's been a long time since I've seen such attention to detail, professionalism, and thought for the customer as I did with this project.
He took care of everything and kept me informed all the way.  Even between steps as we were waiting for permits or inspections, Dan would call or email me to make sure I was informed on where the project was at.
I couldn't be more pleased with the with the results and how we got there.  When completed, Dan came by with a project binder that had every document involved in the project, every letter of correspondence, and detailed pictures of the installation and finished product. I have never, never seen that from any contractor before.  VERY impressed.
I got all of that and the best price to boot.  I can see doing a lot more business with Dan in the future on other solar projects.  He feels more like a partner the a contractor.

After buying an electric car I decided to look into fueling it with a PV system.  I did a lot of research up front learning about issues such as mono/poly solar panels, inverter technologies, roof exposure, solar south, solar laws, HOA issues, Federal and State tax credits, and utility company rebate programs (Progress Energy's SunSesnse).   I contacted a dozen certified PV installers (found at NC States's DSIRE database: http://www.dsireusa.org).  Sun Dollar Energy was one of five that responded within a day or two (I heard from the other five after I had signed a contract with Dan).  The five represented different size organizations from a large corporate installer,  a national startup company, and two medium size companies to a small company: Sun Dollar Energy.   Of the five, Sun Dollar Energy was the most informative and upfront about everything related to the process.  Dan quickly responded to any questions I had and was fastidious about installation details ensuring that not only did I have an optimal performant installation but also a visually pleasing installation.  What a pleasure it was to work with Dan, who I genuinely felt was as invested in my installation as I was.