Solar Side Up - Profile & Reviews

Reasons for choosing Solar Side Up:
1. Sales person was driving electric car both times I met with him and he showed me the output of the solar system he installed on his mothers roof, so it was obvious he was a believer in the product.
2. Offered panels and microinverters from American companies made in the US/North America.
3. Agreed to the installation of a solar skirt. Adds a nicer look which was important to me since due to the roof positioning required some of the arrays to be obvious from the street so I wanted it to look good.
There were a few complications that arose:
1. In order to install the number of panels needed to ensure a complete offset, the electrical panel for my house had to be upgraded. This added a substantial amount to the initial cost of the system. In addition, due to current supply chain problems we had to get a different size panel, which required that some of the decorative stone on my home be removed and reinstalled after the upgrade which was also an unexpected expense. However, the contractors recommended by Solar Side Up did a nice job and these jobs were completed promptly. This did add to the over all cost of the project, so be sure to have your panel checked when they are giving you an estimate. Better to know going in, if possible. Otherwise, know that it can happen.
2. When I was signing the contract, I asked about the solar skirt and the salesperson agreed to it and initially said to be sure to tell the electrician to order it when he was ordering the other supplies. However, he then told me he was going to write it into the contract. I assumed (and we all know what means) that I no longer needed to specify this to the electrician so it didn’t get ordered. This was partially my fault since I didn’t specifically tell the electrician to order it once it was included in the contract. As a result, the installation initially just had the critter guard installed. Once I brought it up, the electrician came back out and was able to add a skirt that looks great.
The company took quick care of permitting, dealing with Xcel and my HOA. While they warned me it could take some time to get the system turned on, everything happened pretty quickly for me. I love the app which allows real time system monitoring and since the system has gone live we haven’t used any electricity from the grid. I have wanted solar panels for years. The project is now complete and my overall solar experience has been very positive.

TLDR: I recommend Solar Side Up for installation.
I managed to get a few quotes for solar. Solar Side Up was very responsive and the sales people Michael and Clint were every knowledgeable and friendly.
My only minor gripe about the pre-sale process were the electric savings over the life of the panels. I felt they were over estimated more that what I’ve seen other places, but that being said: Solar panels even with loans should net even within 10-15 years and after the panels are ‘paid off’ not only are you paying less for utilities, you are minimizing the reliance on fossil fuels. With the direction of Xcel bills lately, they totally could be right. I like conservative estimates or at least the math based off the rates now.
Once I agreed to a system and signed the paperwork, they took over everything. They requested information such as HOA contact, Insurance, and Xcel bill to get account information. They contacted for permits very promptly.
The Head installer/Electrician Geoff came out to scope out my house and determined some changes were needed to be made based off shading of my house with trees/optimal placements. They ended up with less panels with more output to meet my needs.
From the start, every person at Solar Side Up set the expectation that the process can take weeks if not months to get approved, a time period to do the installation/inspections, and then it can take many weeks after install to have Xcel finalize the meter and approve it to be powered up.
To my surprise all permits/HOA requirement approvals went very quickly and they were able to install much quicker than expected.
Installation went great and took several days to do electrical and get the panels up on my roof. Geoff was fantastic at answering the many questions and hypotheticals I asked him. He could talk technical if I wanted the details, but could also speak as a human for things that I was not familiar with.
A few weeks after install (With email confirmations every week or so stating where the process was at) Xcel came and put in the new meter.
My Solar was switched on at that point.
The next day, I discovered that my system had a minor issue and it was tripping a breaker when the output was near peak. I texted Geoff what was happening. The next day it tripped again, confirming an issue. Geoff made the effort to get out to my house that day to diagnose and resolve the issue. Since then I have not had issues and I am really thankful that they were able to go the extra effort to get my system back up and running.
Michael has followed up with me several times to make sure I am happy as a customer.
Overall I am very pleased. The hardest part about going solar was first deciding that I was ready, and then selecting the company who I wanted to install. If you are on the fence, about going solar, give Solar Side Up a call and just get it done.

I was having trouble finding a Solar company to come and look at a problem I had with my existing solar system, and I wanted to expand the existing system. The company that installed the original system apparently went of business. I started calling companies, and the first 4 said they more work than they could handle, and were not taking on any customers with existing systems. I finally got to Solar Side UP. Michael DeRosia helped me trouble shoot the system over the phone. Then they set up a visit for the expansion and fit me into their busy schedule. Great experience. I highly recommend Solar Side Up. Geoff the installer came out and did a great job, very professional and knowledgeable. I cannot say enough good about them.