PUGET SOUND SOLAR
About us
We are a full service solar energy company, residential and commercial. We installed the first permitted residential solar electric system in Seattle in 2001 and continue to be the leader in the field locally. We also sell and install electric vehicle charging stations. We currently have 32 employees and do all solar projects with our own crews. We carry two Washington Contractor licenses, Gen. Electrical - PUGETSS920RH, and Gen. Construction - PUGETSS932MU Our design staff does initial consulting on site for free that is very comprehensive and informative. Our prices quoted in our proposals are firm, with no hidden costs, or surprises. We have extensive construction experience (over 40 years) and solar experience (over 16 years) and back up our work with a 10 year warranty. As of 2016 we have done more than 1,350 solar energy system projects in the Seattle area.
Business highlights
Services we offer
Design, installation, sales, service of solar panels and solar energy systems.
Amenities
Emergency Services
Yes
Free Estimates
Yes
Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
---|---|---|
94% | ||
3% | ||
3% | ||
0% | ||
0% |
"Hi [Member Name Removed]. Thank you for taking the time to post a review and for the kind words. We appreciate you trusting us with your project and please let us know if you have any questions or if any issues arise."
"Thank you for choosing Puget Sound Solar TWICE [Member Name Removed]!!! We appreciate your decision to go solar and for trusting in our company to help you with your solar projects."
The whole process was pretty great. Scott the sales rep was very patient with my questions and provided all the info and payback calcs for different scenarios. It took me several months to decide and he was responsive the whole way. The install was also great. Their workload was pretty high at the time, so scheduling was a bit of a challenge, but once they started, it went pretty quickly. I got a really clean install, which is what I was really concerned about getting. I like this company. Now thinking about getting a electric vehicle charging station installed. They do those as well.
We are retirees, and we are homeowners who evaluate contractor bids VERY carefully, and always have many more questions than the average owner may have. In addition, because we were on a learning curve about the installation and operation of solar panels, as well as the many incentives currently available to owners like us, we had many more questions than usual. PSS employees, from the initial estimators, through the project manager, installers, electricians who did the hook-ups, were ALL excellent educators of us, the owners, explaining every step of the way about what was going to happen when. AND everything was done in a very expeditious manner -- when they said it would be done, and took no more time than they told us it would take, always patiently explaining everything and answering our questions along the way. The follow-up appointments after the initial installation were on-time and all initiated and scheduled by them. And their technical knowledge about their product, about solar energy production, as well as about all of the practical aspects of installation and energy savings and metering, were first-rate.
AND, during the first year, when we had questions about our City Light utility bill, not consistent with what City Light had originally told us our bills would reflect, our PSS follow-up person spend several hours with us, and did the total follow-up for us (as well as their other customers) with his supervisor at PSS as well as with City Light, to figure out and explain (and correct) the way our billing was being done. We had discovered, and brought to PSS attention, some aspects of the utility billing which PSS did not know about -- and they totally picked up the ball and ran with it to "get to the bottom" of what City Light was doing with our bills (and other customers). ALL PSS employees were well educated, polite, patient, interested and curious about answering our questions, on-time, and superb representatives of this excellent company. PUGET SOUND SOLAR IS DEFINITELY THE #1 GO-TO COMPANY IN WESTERN WASHINGTON FOR SOLAR INSTALLATIONS. You won't regret your decision to choose this excellent contractor for your home solar energy installation.
I contacted PSS in July and within a week I was able to get some basic info from Michael Rehder and we scheduled a site visit. Michael was awesome to work with. We spent about 90 min and he taught me a lot about solar, explaining the bid and giving me my options. I didn't feel like he was pushing any one option vs another and there were some big tradeoffs.
1) Number of panels to instal (I had a choice)
2) Manufacturer of pannels / efficiency of panels
3) rebate incentives
All these variables impacted cost, and payoff timeframe. It was all graphed out and explained clearly.
In the end I went with the less efficient Washington Panels (285W vs 345W) as the incentives were much greater and this meant a payback timeframe of 6 years (to break even) vs 11-13 years.
However, right as I was getting panels installed, Seattle City Light announced they were going to restrict the incentive by 30% next year as a result of too many people getting solar and the funding being exhausted. Still, even with this I will come out ahead of the out of state panels.
Once we locked on my options, I signed the contract and handed over a deposit and got on the schedule 6 weeks later.
6 weeks turned more into 10 weeks as my date moved out. Of all the issues I had my only complaint was that communication about this was not clear. I didn't get a call and no one explained to me why my date moved out from Sep to October. Anyway, minor issue considering the cost and job that was going to be done.
A few weeks before my install date I met with Jacob Hanson. He inspected the site, and we talked bout options for conduit and such. We also went over final details and the start date, length of install and then what was needed to get permitted and turned on.
It turns out, as a result of the kind of meter I had (electronic, but old generation, does not spin backwards) once the system was installed and permitted I could not go forward till I got a new meter. This process was also a bit bumpy as the Seattle City Light screwed up my paperwork and was waiting for me to do something that I had already done. This took a few calls and Jacob stepped in and helped expedite things.
All in all, I'd say the following:
1. Communications 9/10.
2. Professionalism 10/10.
3. Installers 10/10.
There is a lot of paper work and I feel that PSS did a good job, but I had to double check things to make sure it was all correct. Once they included the wrong info on one packet. Corrected quickly. Once some of the paperwork was incorrect (they listed the wrong inverters). And once a page that I needed to sign was not highlighted and I missed signing it (but also wasn't being detail oriented at the time).
Anyway, the point is, getting Solar isn't a sit back and everything happens perfectly. You are dealing with a contractor, the state, the city and your house. Things happen. You need to be an active participant.
As part of the install we opted for the eGauge which gives us real time info on energy usage and consumption. It's incredible. You can see what is going on in your house. It costs and extra few hundred dollars but it's well worth it. I would go for this and think it's a must have.
I'm very happy with the results. In the month of November, with the system running for 2 weeks we have generated 119 kWh and used 665 kWh. So solar cuts back energy usage by 18%. Not bad.
There is really no reason to not get solar at this point. With a 6 year payback and then another 20 years of life on the panels and roof the system will be generating cash for a long time.
All in all it was a pretty good experience, from the no pressure sales process through the installation and cleanup. PSS includes remote monitoring of the performance of the system, and I have been notified on the occasions when my internet provider was experiencing connectivity problems. In addition to PSS remote monitoring, I can monitor it as well and see how the system is performing and how much power my house is consuming at any time. This is a feature not always available from other solar providers.
First, Julie sold the system to us. She measured the solar insolation sky view for our car port, then came inside and explained all the pros and cons. Actually, there are few cons since the system should pay for itself in 5 years (due to incredible incentives from the federal and state governments, and our PUD). She answered most questions, and was very good about emailing the rest of the answers after checking with her experts. We worked with Julie to reduce costs by doing some of the work ourselves (mainly dig the trench and doing annual cleaning ourselves), and slightly downsize the system to use smaller inverters, and omit the automated monitoring system (we'd monitor it manually). We also asked to have some provisions installed in case we put in a 220V line for a future electric vehicle. And our system was sized larger than we need (190% of annual usage) to be ready for that car. Julie had run several systems for us, starting with roughly half the size that was sufficient for annual use, and ending with the final system size. Since the payback was similar, we elected to get the larger system.
After we decided to buy the system, Leo came by to inspect our panel. We needed an upgrade from 100A to 200A. Our house was built in 1908 and didn't have room in the panel for any expansion (e.g., for EV line). All was included in Julie's quote. Leo discussed how that would look, where the equipment would go, and listened to my concerns about our historic house. Then the crew came and installed as we discussed. All went well. It happened a bit later than we hoped, but we understood they were tied up on other homes. It's been a very busy time for solar panel installations due to the incentive program and reduced costs.
Finally David came by to walk through the system for us. He showed us how to adjust the inverter displays to get all the numbers we need, and discussed how to clean, etc.
In summary, we are very pleased with Puget Sound Solar. Our system is pumping a lot of kWh into the grid. It's quite amazing, actually, and fantastic to have free electricity for some years to come, and to do the "right thing".
I was very impressed with PSS. They did a very neat and thorough job. They sent enough people and gave them enough time to really do the job right (which is quite rare for a bid job, in our experience). I did have to push a bit to get them to shift some panels into the positions in the plans (it was merely a few inches, just cosmetics), but they did it. The results are excellent. We would use PSS again without hesitation.
Licensing
State Contractor License Requirements
All statements concerning insurance, licenses, and bonds are informational only, and are self-reported. Since insurance, licenses and bonds can expire and can be cancelled, homeowners should always check such information for themselves. To find more licensing information for your state, visit our Find Licensing Requirements page.
*Contact business to see additional licenses.