Sundance Power Systems Inc

I have a solar water and heater for my house, and they installed that system.

Very professional, awesome job.    Some other folks were a bit cheaper but no other company was anywhere near as knowledgeable or professional.  Prompt and courteous.  No problem from the array nearly 3 years later.

Very professional.
There was a long wait as many people were trying to get solar before the tax credits disappeared, but they were able to squeeze us in.  30 percent discount from federal (not shown in cost above)
NC had 35 discount, but no more (thanks Raleigh).
Duke took 6 weeks to commission the system before we could start making power.
Duke also credits you the month after you earn the power so you dont see a benefit until 2 months later.
Our power bill has gone from 200 a month to 14.00.  Duke makes you zero out once a year, so in June of each year if you have any extra they take it, but they do not pay you for it.
The meter runs backwards when the panels make power and then you are billed the difference, so for us on the first year we will loose a lot of credit as we are half way through summer which is the big earning time, and cannot save the credit for winter.  They should zero out end of February, but Duke does no one any favors.
Sundance was awesome, workers had safety gear, very professional staff.

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The services went very well. They are very responsive, and were able to make the repair in a timely manner. The price included and the part needed to fix my problem.

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Checked system and added glycol, but the pressure dropped within a few days, and it was determined that the system had a leak at the panel and needed repair. Due to cold weather, the repair was delayed until the spring. Since March, I have contacted the company 3 times to schedule my service, and each time they have failed to follow up with my request for a service call. At this point, I will have to find another company that is responsive.

The performance of the finished product has been good. However there were some significant problems I had with their inadequate preparation for the details of the job to be done. There had been several delays in getting to the job and changes of personnel which lead to some uncertainty on my part following having provided them a substantial down payment. Details which I clearly recall of the problems were: 1) Following at least two sessions at my home during which I we discussed varied possible configurations of the panels and how the tubing would be run through the two story home to the basement the salesman / planner had promised me a computerized visual of the details of the job if I would visit Sundance itself where they had the equipment to show me the visuals. At that time I expected to discuss a few final possibilities. (We had by then put down a substantial deposit.) 1) On the day we arrived for our appointment (having driven about 50 miles to their building), there were no such visuals or time to go over final details. There were certain questions about roofline and angles of the panels which we could presumably manipulate on the computer as well as how the piping would go from the roof either on the interior or the outer side of the home to reach the solar tank in the basement. One of my purposes was to maximize the potential roof area for having space for adding photo voltaics at some time in the future.The salesman had to catch a plane -- it was a few days before Christmas or New Year Day. He had nothing prepared for our viewing. He hurriedly hand sketched the roof (which we already knew) and was impatient with our desire for details. We were on a time schedule ourselves hoping to have the installation done by their "long experienced" project manager before the end of January. Then there was a change in personnel in early January, a new project manager was named who had never seen our home nor clearly previewed anything other than general sketches. 2) Changes were made with the piping through the roof, into the attic, and through some internal closets quite different than I had expected. This seemed to work out adequately. 3) With the solar tank and much glycol carrying piping installed from roof panels to tank and then hot water piping from the solar tank to our new existent hot water tank, and also to the HVAC air intake to assist the heat of the heat pump during the winter THE PROJECT MANAGER PLANNED TO USE AN EXISTENT ELECTRIC OUTLET WHICH WAS ALSO USED TO PERIODICALLY POWER TOOLS IN OUR BASEMENT SHOP. I objected to this as it occasionally happened that we blew the circuit breakers when the home "shop" equipment was being used. I objected to the three motors required in the Solar job being simply plugged into that circuit. The combined wattage could easily trip a circuit breaker, leaving these motors "dead" without any signal that they were not doing their job. NO PLANS HAD BEEN MADE FOR A CERTAINLY ADEQUATE OR EVEN SEPARATE CIRCUIT FOR THE SOLAR JOB. I had a phone call with management which was adamant that this had not been included in the plans. I claimed that they were responsible for planning the work needs. The outcome was that I hired a local electrician to run a circuit and we agreed to "split" the cost. ($200 total). I was not happy at the poor planning. 3) I had arranged for concrete blocks to raise the solar water tank about 6" above the basement floor. Sundance appreciated that, and set the 120 gallon tank on it, and largely made the needed water attachments. They then gave me the manufacturer's installation manual. As I read it, it became clear to me that the manufacturer called for a wooden barrier (e.g. outside plywood of a certain thickness) to be between the bottom of the tank and the concrete blocks. I called the manager at Sundance and pointed out to him that the tank had been improperly installed. He objected saying that the wooden base was unnecessary and I should not be concerned. I told him the installation manual called for it. He objected until I asked him to get out a copy and look at x page and y paragraph. Which he did. The next AM early there was banging in the basement. When I went in there, the workmen had taken some plywood of which I had extra stored in the basement and were banging it with a sledge hammer to make it slide between the concrete blocks and the very heavy tank. They were almost complete. One or other of the concrete blocks had been moved somewhat from its original position, and the edge of the wood being hit by the sledge hammer was somewhat shattered. But it did serve as a separating base. I was sufficiently upset at this manner of handling the problem, and needing to have the job completed -- I just walked away, hoping no damage had been done to the tank. (It has worked well for 5 years.) 4) A brief time after the job was completed and inspected by the county inspector, and operating, it was pointed out to me by an HVAC service person that the copper tubing installed by Sundance had not been "sleeved" as it ran through some concrete block walls. This was contrary to county (or perhaps state) building code. Corrosion could be expected if uncorrected. Again I had to approach Sundance by phone, and in a short time they sent out one of their service personnel who did an efficient job of sleeving the copper. I have had the system serviced several times in the ensuing 5 years. Sundance apparently has one person who does most if not all of the servicing of their systems. He is quite good. It has been five years since the system has been installed. During the first year when Sundance "warrantied" all its work there were some problems with leakage of the glycol piping at one of the control points, and also some water leakage at the lower section where the apparatus carrying the heated glycol entered the water tank. The same service man, Steve Werner, handled these and all later service calls in a very fine manner. Recently I was at a Solar Conference locally and one of the personnel from Sundance was there privately, not as a principal of the conference. She was able to give knowledgeable answers to a couple of questions I asked about options with Photo Voltaic which the Principal Presenters did not know. Following the coherence we met, and she asked about my interests in possibly adding some PV to my roof depending on cost and whether my remaining roof space would be suitable. She had a sales rep phone me. I told him my interests, and also told him in summary what AI have written above as my caution in working with Sundance again. He assured me that they had done much in the last 5 years to tighten up their procedures on jobs. We will talk more about costs and effectiveness of PV in my current situation. My understanding of PV is that the installation and maintenance is much less complex than Solar Thermal. For Angie's List info I believe that some of the headaches I have had and the maintenance costs of PV are much less than Solar Thermal. E.g., water and glycol piping, and small pumps require pipe insulation which breaks down over several years, and adding glycol perhaps every 3 or so years. John S. Waldo 34 Grandview Ave.\ Brevard, NC 28712 828-884-8579

The panels moved and cut the roof causing it to leak. The panels were removed and a roofer patched the roof. The panels were reinstalled and attached to a cable. The whole process took over 4 months. To be fair we got a lot of rain during the time, but Sundance didn't take any responsibility for the cut roof and was not in any hurry to get the job done.

Sundance almost didn't get my business because they are so laid back. When James Ward gave me his initial quote for a system, it was so far below the other quotes I had, I assumed that something couldn't be right. He didn't give me a big presentation and there was no sales pitch what-so-ever. Just "this is what I can do for you". So I didn't really follow-up with him, but eventually he followed up with me, and the more I talked with him the more impressed I was. This is a company committed to doing the right thing and that is truly doing this kind of work to help their customers save money and help the planet.
Pretty much everything went as planned and as advertised. Everyone I worked with was very conscientious, reliable and professional. As you can tell, this was a big project. It's essentially a construction project. There are a lot of moving parts. You're installing an electrical generating facility on your roof that is feeding sun-generated electricity back into the electrical grid. There are going to be hiccups and inconveniences. Yes, our grass got trampled. Yes, rocks from the driveway got strewn into the yard. Yes, there were delays in obtaining permits and inspections. But overall, everything went well. We received a high quality system from a quality company. I highly recommend Sundance. And I would advise anyone looking to install a solar system that this is the type of project in which you will get what you pay for in terms of long-term system reliability as well as a quality installation that doesn't ruin your roof or set it on fire.

Sundance is a friendly group. Knowledgeable. They took plenty of time to educate us. The project paperwork was expedited to take advantage of rebates, etc. The installation went mostly smoothly, with a small glitch in getting the online connectivity optimized. There were some delays in the work; an ordering issue then a rescheduling issue. We had to push to get the work completed in the time frame requested. Other than that, the work was excellent. Minimally invasive. About 5 days of guys making noise and climbing around on the roof. We are very happy with the system.

The system works great but their intransigence and unwillingness to stand by their written word makes me thoroughly disgusted with Sundance Power Systems and I cannot recommend their service to anyone who expects to receive what was sold to them.

Sundance Power Systems was an excellent service provider and installer. They provided multiple initial quotes (for various size and type of systems). They encourage us to get competitive quotes. And they were never pushy. They have been in business for a long time (for a Solar installer) and they appear to focus on customer satisfaction. I even visited their main office to inspect their operation there, and found it to be professional and impressive.

They visited the house to take some readings to see if I was receiving enough light to make solar an option. A friend of mine used them for a pool solar hot-water system and they did the same thing with his house and told him he did not get enough light. So I feel like they will not try to pull the wool over your eyes to sell you a system if your location is not viable.

I initially worked with them on estimates in August/September, and they scheduled installation for December. They were busy with other installations, and it took a long time to establish the appropriate documents with my utility (more on that later). They showed up when they promised and were very good about cleaning up after themselves and attending to my desires. I was concerned about a possible buried water line so rather than use a machine to dig a trench they dug it by hand. The installation went smoothly and looks very good. All roof mounts are well sealed. The array seems straight and level vis-à-vis the roof, and they were professional while they were working.

The biggest problem I had was that my utility had never done a grid-tied solar system before and they were in the middle of some regulatory changes. Sundance was EXTREMELY patent, professional, and attentive to this situation. It took a few months for my utility to establish an interconnect agreement and then a few months after installation for them to figure out how to bill/credit me appropriately, and Sundance never abandoned me to that administrative nightmare. Sundance even agreed to set the system up as a net-metered system initially and come back to switch me over to a sell-all system once teh utility finalized its administrative processes. Sundance did this work less than a week after I told them we wer OK to switch over to sell-all.

This very month, seven months after I paid in full, they followed up with me on a couple of issues. One was related to my utility bill, and the second was an email they received from the manufacturer of the inverters for my solar array. A benefit of those inverters is that the company sends out generation reports to the owners and notifies me if there is any fluctuation or disruption in power generation. When they had not received any data for a few days they emailed me and Sundance, who contacted me to see if they should come out and check on the system. Actually, the system was working fine. My internet had gone out for a couple of days so the array could not send the data online. But I was impressed that Sundance was that responsive and even asked me to keep them on that email distribution list so they could respond immediately if there were any issues.

Sundance was not the least expensive provider, which they will even tell you. But they use the highest quality materials (which affect efficiency of solar power generation) and provide exemplary customer service, installation, and follow up. I was extremely happy with them and would recommend them without reservation.

A very knowledgable representative came by to prepare an estimate which we received promptly. We agreed on a price and scheduled the work. They required a deposit which was no problem. The work was accomplished in two days. My only complaint was that I ended up having to put in a new pump at a cost of $221. I felt that the project manager should have anticipated the need for a larger pump since we were mounting the panels on the roof. But, overall, I would have them back should the need arise.

The whole project went well. My intent was to produce enough solar power to equal my annual usage. I ended up with 28 panels on a rack in my yard. They made an price estimate and never exceeded it, even though things changed along the course of the project. Something to keep in mind is the time period required for this. I talked to Sundance and two other companies at the Home Show at the Asheville Civic Center in March, and scheduled estimates with them. By the time I got through all the estimates from the three companies (and picked Sundance), waited for materials to arrive, and worked through all of the installation steps, the solar panels did not turn on until August 18th. The length of time was mostly caused by outside factors, and by the time requirements for installation of solar panels. The team that installed the panels did the whole project. The same team leader was there every day, and team members and team size changed depending on tasks at hand and availability. Once work began, it was continuous until completion, except for a time gap while we waited for the arrival of the webbox (see below). I ordered Kyocera solar panels. After the order was submitted, the model I picked was backordered by Kyocera, mostly due to very high demand. My choice was to wait several months for the exact panel requested or just a month or two for a different, lower capacity panel. I didn't want to wait, so I chose the lower capacity panels. That choice, however, required more panels to get the total production that I wanted. Sundance waived the extra cost for the additional panels that exceeded the original estimate. That was exceedingly generous of them, and I really appreciated it. Then, since I chose to get different panels than what was specified in the original order, a different webbox was needed. Sundance forgot to order the webbox to match the new panels. When they realized they had done that, they did not charge me for the difference in price, as it was late in coming. In both cases, Sundance did those cost adjustments completely on their own, without any prodding from me. I was really impressed by that -- otherwise my original cost could have just kept on creeping up and up and up. Everyone that I came in contact with at the company was very professional and friendly. I would recommend them to others.

The problem was discovered the day before Thanksgiving and when I called the Sundance Office. I was given a contact number for reporting the problem. I called and left a voice message but figured it was not likely I would hear anything back until Monday. Several houses later I received a call from Phelps, the contact person, who was in New York at his sister's for Thanksgiving. He took time to talk with me at length about the problem and said he would try to have someone out on Monday. He actually called me back over the weekend to let me know he had talked with the company and there would positively be someone there on Monday and to make sure we had no additional problems. They were there on Monday. The problem seemed to be resolved but the next day we noticed a problem again. I called and someone was out within hours and it turned out there were two separate problems, both of which are now fixed and it is working great. I am still amazed that I was called back over Thanksgiving weekend to confirm someone would be there on Monday. Pretty good customer service in my book!!!

A bit of a delay getting started, but once the crew was able to begin it was great. They were very knowledgeable and professional about their work, friendly, willing to answer questions and very good about cleaning up. My husband was impressed by the great soldering job on the many pipes. When the work was completed they came out and went over how the system worked and even labeled some of the system parts so we knew what did what. We are very pleased with quality of the work performed and the attitudes of their staff.

They are quick to respond. They are quick to provide professional advice on what you need to do. They are very professional and are easy to work with. They are willing to come back if needed.

There were a couple delays getting all parties concerned (power company linemen, electrician, power company inspector, installer) together on the same day for the final connection to the grid but all in all the installation went very well. The people at Sundance Power were very friendly and helpful.