SolarUnion

Update: The business contacted me pretty quickly after posting my reviews. We again went over everything and they asked me how much I would be willing to pay. I responded I would not pay any of the extra charges as I never approved them. Finally the company agreed that I was not responsible and took off the extra charges. I am really hoping that the company has no further issues from here on. My system has worked without any issues since the October 2023 installation. I am not sure how I feel about this company. I do know it was hard for me to find a company that would work on my tar and gravel roof but they were definitely not the only option. Original post: I contracted with Solar Union in March 2023. They said due to the rush to get NEM 2 status they skipped my site survey and went off pictures I provided to them. We contracted for a 10 panel string optimizer system as that was what fit for our budget. We already had 16 panel microinverter system from another company installed in 2019 but were told the two systems would not tie into together. I was asked to approve the design on March 28, 2023. They informed me they wanted to switch to a microinverter system , direct quote "Yes, since your existing system uses microinverters, the best will be to keep it the same. We will be connecting the new panels to the existing enphase combiner box so No extra charges either" I replied "As long as the cost is the same the micoinverts are fine to use" The actual site inspection occurred 3 days later. I was never informed of any other changes after the site inspection. The system was not installed until October which I was very patient about knowing about the NEM 2 rush. I sent off the milestone payments 1 and 2 the moment they were due. The amount requested fell in line with our contract amount. During the installation I was quite surprised to see an extra box being installed as we were told no additional equipment was needed. No one alerted me about it or asked if it was ok to install. I was never alerted of any additional charges . We did not get our permission to operate until January 2024. At that point the last payment was due but when the sent me my final invoice there was an additional charge of $3400 for "cost over run on main breaker and sub panel". I of course questioned these extra charges I had never been informed about. Direct quote response "We understand a no cost was mentioned by Operations but this was since we were just working with pictures on your project at the moment we had to move forward we noticed we had to work with additional equipment and scope of work due complexity and what was being needed so the system could work correctly" So why was I never consulted or informed about this if they knew about it since March 31, 2023. My milestone payments had not increased and they were supposed to be a certain percent of the contract amount. I never approved any changes outside of being told they wanted to switch the inverter type at no extra charge. On top of this the total they are trying to charge me is $1800 more then the first system quote I rejected which was for a more expensive panel brand and a microinverter system that would not be tied into our current system therefor needing its own combiner box. SolarUnion's position on billing has not changed even though I've explained our position and given them a timeline of everything. The last email I sent in March said it seemed we could not come to an agreement and where do we go from here. I didn't receive any communication from them until yesterday June 7, 2024. They are saying they plan to be acquired or will acquire another company and our balance must be paid. They have stated I will not be able to get my warranties or my federal tax credit until they issue a final invoice. They have also threatened to take away my NEM 2 status. I am so truly disappointed and disgusted by the way this company has responded to the disputed bill. You can't just decide to change the equipment stated in the contract and then just charge whatever you feel like. We were very clear we needed to stick to our budget from the very start. I would avoid this company.

UPDATED (6/7/24) -3 stars Absolutely horrid and very sketchy. So in 2023, they sent me a "Final" bill for an installment invoice for the first time ever. After researching the matter, it did look unpaid (probably because it was uninvoiced - duh), so I paid it even though it was about 2 years after our original installation. Because we're looking at doubling our solar panels, and I wanted to stay in good standing. Uh... I shouldn't have done that. Because fast-forward a year later and they are trying to extort an additional $1K from me, citing contract terms *that weren't in the contract I signed*. And additionally, claim it is for permitting cost of something that unrelated to the scope of work, but they have provided no receipts or documentations of that claim, nor that such work was agreed to by the homeowner (me! why? because I never agreed to any work outside of the scope of business). And if it is a permitting cost, there should definitely be some documentation that I can easily look up from the City. They sent me pictures of my garage instead. It is basically extortion, harassment, and exploitation. They have brought their "Treasury Department" into the picture and sending intimidating texts that imply that the IRS. WHAT IS GOING ON?!? They are now threatening to withhold the warranty for the items I purchased and paid for in totality. Their validation for why they are invoicing me a new "Final" payment is being pitched as a "positive liquidity event". Be forewarned - SolarUnion is one of the sketchiest companies I've ever worked with. Do yourself a favor and RUN! == UPDATED (2/14/22) +2 stars Solar Union resolved our outstanding issues. They were proactive about contacting me to fix them - fixed them all, and fixed them well. We have not had any additional problems since. We're happy to have solar, and relieved that when problems arose, the company fixed them expediently and responsibly. == ORIGINAL (9/17/21) So we just got our "Welcome to Solar" email from PG&E and what should be a really exciting day turned out to be really frustrating. Because it turns our solar panels actually haven't been working. We've had lots of problems with Solar Union, from the first day when the person who we were supposed to meet with wasn't available. I was sent a text from the rep about an hour before the meeting saying "I have a party for my son. Can we reschedule?" We were able to get a sub, but it was clear that information did not get passed along later. I also frequently had to check in to make sure that next steps were being taken. The original rep told me it was because their scheduling system had changed and there were glitches. Fine... except there were plenty of miscommunications down the line. When the technicians came for the install, we were asked to provide plywood and paint. The technicians said the project manager should have informed us about these needs in advance. They did not - fortunately, we had plywood on hand. We did not have extra exterior paint. The technicians also broke the railing on our stairs during the install. I had to follow up with the company about monitoring just to see if our panels were doing anything. They gave me a link, and no information about who to call if there was an issue, or how to use the monitoring system. The inspector came out and actually *didn't inspect* our panels. I don't know if there was a previous "trust" relationship with Solar Union and the DBI, but he didn't even climb up on our roof to look. You can make your own judgments about whether that's expedient, but I think it's kind of sketch. When PG&E reviewed the application, it was at first denied because the approvals from DBI hadn't been submitted. This was remedied quickly by Solar Union, but that's a pretty big omission to leave out of the application. The panels worked for a couple of weeks... until they didn't, which I found out 2 weeks later when I happened to log into the system just to check on it. A level 4 (highest) alert. No email, no call, no text - and no way to configure the system to get a push alert. Now, it's pretty obvious Solar Union isn't doing any monitoring on their end (although they could easily). So, we've had panels that haven't worked for about half the time we owned them, and I had to troubleshoot and flag the issue myself. So basically, if you choose Solar Union, you're on your own. Be ready to figure out a lot of things on your own, and to keep an eye on *everything*. They seem pretty responsive once they know about an issue. Jury's out as we still need our stair rail repaired as well as figuring out the production issues. I don't know where product non-delivery falls in all of this. Clearly, we're not receiving any solar energy *still*, and still paying our PG&E bill. We were kind of swayed by "Diamond Certified", but I'm wishing we hadn't been. Service has been responsive, but the number of problems very early on has been very high.

From beginning to now, it’s been painful. I selected them because I thought they would understand coastal properties. They don’t. The right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. Every correspondence takes a week or two for a response. It’s been a year and nothing has happened on my property, though they have collected $13,500. They sent a handyman subcontractor from another company to get started, but he had the wrong equipment/electrical panel. He was not a licensed electrician but they were planning on having him install a new panel upgrade. I want my money back and to transfer my PGE interconnection approval and county permit to a new contractor. They say they plan to keep $5,500 of my money for the work they’ve done. Other contractors said the $1,000 initial deposit normally will cover the work they’ve accomplished (just NEM 2 and permit). So frustrating. If a warranty issue arose, I’m very doubtful they would even respond. Do yourself a favor, choose a better company. They are no longer recommended by Energy Sage. When you read reviews, filter from the lowest reviews. That is the real insight.

Solar Union was easy to work with from my first interaction with them. I knew nothing about the different types of solar and they walked me through every step and even helped me compare different systems, setups and prices that competitors were offering. They were very responsive over e-mail and the phone and knowledgable enough to answer any questions I had. Honestly the entire experience was very positive, and the only hiccups came from issues with city permits or PGE applications, but the SolarUnion reps were always quick to provide any documents or guidance that would help move the process along -- none of the challenges had to do with SolarUnion themselves. Even after the install, the customer service is still very responsive and helpful with any questions about our setup. I'd recommend them to anyone in the market. The whole process was effortless, and for a project being built from the ground up, it was a breath of fresh air not having to worry about the solar system setup.

Shortly after asking for quotes here, I got a phone call from SolarUnion. I had given no permission for any of my contact information to be release to installers. Note EnergySage's blurb on this from: https://www.energysage.com/about-us/company/ ""We protect all your contact information until you decide to share it with our installer network." Somehow, they managed to get access to my phone number in violation of that policy. Anyway, that call was from "Gelica from SolarUnion" at (415) 992-3283. Even though I've closed off my Marketplace by saying I've picked another (non-EnergySage vendor), I continue to get spam phone calls from them. Oh, and BTW, SolarUnion's quote here (as were 3 of the 4 quotes I received) was non-responsive: I put exact requirements in my request and they ignored them.

We chose to work with SolarUnion after analyzing offers aggregated on Energysage. SolarUnion was able to install our system before the promised delivery date and the system is producing at or above projections. We enjoyed working with the SolarUnion team on this project