SolarMax Technology, Inc.

SolarMax installed solar panels on my house in summer 2019. The process took far too long - more than 3 months from when I paid my deposit until the system was powered on. One reason for this delay is that they damaged my roof and took several weeks to remove the panels so that the roof could be repaired. I signed a contract with SolarMax on June 4th and paid my deposit on June 5th. The system wasn’t installed until August 1st, partly due to permitting delays, which were probably outside of SolarMax’s control. When they installed the system, they put a 1-inch hole in my roof, and then filled it in with caulk. I have no idea why they did this, and they didn’t even mention it to me. They also tore a few shingles. My roofer found these issues when I had him inspect the roof a few days later. To maintain my roof warranty, I needed to have SolarMax come back to remove the panels so that the roofing company could repair the roof. I notified SolarMax about this issue on August 7th, and I requested that they come back to remove the panels. I called and emailed repeatedly after that to set up a date for the panel removal. SolarMax’s project manager, Noe, usually didn’t answer my calls or emails. On August 16th, Noe promised that he would call me back by August 19th with a date for the panel removal. However, on the 19th, he still didn’t have a date figured out! The crew finally came by on August 23rd. I had the roof repaired, and the solar crew came back on September 3rd to reinstall the panels. I paid my roofer and requested reimbursement from SolarMax (my roof warranty would have been void if SolarMax or another contractor did the roof repair). On August 5th, SolarMax’s inspection team came by to inspect the system. On August 15th, they called me to say that their photos didn’t come out, and they asked me to take the photos for them. I was happy to do this to save them a trip, but it was another example of their failure to manage the project well. Finally, on September 10th, I received Permission to Operate from the local utility. I called SolarMax to ask them to power up the system, and they said that the earliest they could be onsite was September 25th - two weeks later! They said that I couldn’t power up the system myself. This was really frustrating. I had paid for my system in full, and it was ready to operate, but they couldn’t come by my house to turn it on, so I still had to pay my utility bill! My system was finally operational on September 25th. It works well and looks great. I can monitor the system’s performance throughout the day with the SolarEdge app on my phone, or on the SolarEdge website. It's been a few months, and the system consistently produces more energy than I use, so my electric bill is negative. SolarMax finally reimbursed me for the roof repair on October 21st - two months after I paid my roofer, and about 1 month after the system was powered on. Overall, I was happy with the system, and I appreciate that SolarMax eventually reimbursed me for the roof repair, but it took far too long to get the job done. SolarMax's sales team contacted me on November 4th (about five weeks after my system was operational, and two days after I wrote my EnergySage review). They set up a call with me help make things right. During the call, SolarMax's Director of Sales and Marketing said that my experience was not typical, and that they care about their customers and their reputation. He assured me that SolarMax will respond promptly if I have any issues with my system. To compensate for the installation delays, they sent me a check to reimburse me for three months of utility bills that I paid over the summer. I received the check on December 28th. I appreciate the gesture, and I hope that my experience with this installation was not a typical customer experience. My system came with a 10-year power performance guarantee and 10 years of monitoring. Less than three years after the system was installed, the monitoring stopped working due to T-Mobile retiring its 3G network. When I called SolarMax to ask what to do about this, they said that I would need to pay $625 to install a WiFi card, and that my power performance guarantee would only be valid if I paid for this upgrade. When I purchased the system, the salesperson told me, via email, "Our system does include monitoring. We do not charge additional for our monitoring." He didn't mention the 3G modem or say anything about the monitoring being conditional on a third party supporting 3G. With 7 years remaining on my power performance guarantee, I have no way of verifying that the system is performing as expected. If energy production decreases, then I won't know, and SolarMax won't compensate me for the underproduction. I feel like I'm being forced to pay an extra $625 for something that was supposed to be included in the upfront price.

Ok to begin my project started prior to covid; but I had been comparing solar companies for a long time. SO my search starting here at energy sage helped a lot. so do your research. To start with my representative is Mario Garces a very knowledgeable individual who helped me with most of my interactions with solar max; but again i don't know if it is covid. that is what they say throughout this narrative but he sometimes doesn't respond right away. With him i believe it because in the because in the begging he was right on top of it and as covid got worse the time between message and response got longer and longer. Well the price was for solar and battery pack so it was going to be one project but turned into two. Tesla battery backs were pretty much in high demand and there was a wait. So solar panels went up first. Make sure you have someone there and specify that you want them painted to blend in (provide the paint) also make sure the plans are correct apparently didnt read them well and they wanted to put the back up battery in the front of the house. My late wife god bless her soul and the tech who was during the install I cant remember the name changed it on the spot so that was good. So after multiple delays in getting solar panels installed; i blamed NOE now they say it is because of short staffing but his name comes up a lot. I now have solar panels. They looked fantastic and they left no mess at all. Although They did go to the wrong house initially but again they were told that was the address. They called and I guided them in. So multiple delays ensue; mind you The battery pack is on back order because of the shortage so when they get it am very happy. But getting it installed another story. first time out. it fails to connect to network to be updated and linked. Now during each time solar max comes out you must be there. So each time solar max is there i am there. I didnt like missing work as nurse we are short staffed as it is. Yes I also blame covid. So i stay around and no go. Second time they come out and they still cant get it linked apparently there is something wrong with the interface and they need a part from tesla to interface with that. So off to 3rd time to install they finally get it up and running it is not paul this time and it is up and running. BUT.... now on the back up line it trips when two devices i have always used previously prior to back up are on in kitchen. So all the power in my kitchen goes out. So i Tell mario and they send rick out to my house but due to time constraints they have to make it when i am on vacation so two things kept going out my kitchen and my den. My sister is there not me and he Rick says i have to many things plugged into den; mind you i am on vacation in another country at the time with my sister at my house so I ask about the kitchen. same answer. too many things...... Really it worked all those appliance prior to back up and now with back up it trips the kitchen? So I am calling again and again. I am tempted to call again I think the only one who responds promptly is Yvette (she is in billing) every time they came to my house she would call in a couple days to get the next payment believing the assignment was completed (it wasn't) She would also try to get messages to NOE (hard person to get ahold of) as well as electricians who were assigned to update/install/ fix battery pack. SO now we wait to get them to look at kitchen. Just an FYI for battery back up they put one circuit for one area. 1:always read schematics carefully and always be there 2: always plan on taking a day off anytime they come over 3: staffing issues make it hard to return phone calls, give updates on install (noe/electricians) or time of arrival 4: expect a long long long wait if you want a tesla battery pack. 5: you get 5 areas to back up; test everything out after back up installed to make sure it can handle the load like it did prior to running the area through the tesla back up battery circuit.(see above) 6: bird proof your solar panels after installation; i didn't put in body as i found out afterwards birds love to nest underneath them and poop everywhere. 7.Billing is on top of it and it you use credit card you have a cap before a fee is charged. be aware if you are thinking of using your credit card for getting points and then will pay off with cash (may not be worth it) Don't get me wrong I love having back up power it went on and i didn't even know it and was amazing it was seamless. and the tesla app is very useful. Will edit review if/after they come and fix the back up circuit breaker issue. Will keep you posted. ok it took a couple of months but they were able to fix the problem; they installed a ground line to it would prevent the issue from occurring the Cisneros brothers were awesome. it took them 40 min and were able to correct what took a long time of back and forth to fix. So most of the problems i experienced was on the management/ leadership side as to the boots on the ground good job from Michael in sales to the cisneros bros the techs who repaired.

I purchased a system from Solarmax. There was a big hurry-up to sign. Then it was 2months and 10 days until installation. It was not waiting for permits, but it seemed the middle-managers either didn't know or did not care which end was up. It was almost impossible to get a response from them. The so-called planning seemed to take forever. In contrast, their workmen were competant and hard working, especially when they seemed to get little support from the "office". For installation day they were late because some truck broke down, then they did not have all the parts needed, so they had to go chasing around town for them. Big problem I think is that the company is in Riverside, and they have no facilities in San Diego. Our system went officially on line on Dec 21. But we still cannot monitor it. "Someone" was to contact us in 1 to 3 days to set up the monitoring. Yesterday, the 4th of January, I had to initiate contact for it. My phone call of December 24th regarding the monitoring was never returned- which has been the rule, rather than the exception. I cannot recommend them to others

After waiting years to go solar, researching equipment, shopping around with several different companies, we finally landed on SolarMax. SolarMax was the 10th quote that we'd received for solar equipment installation. The primary reasons for selecting this company was that they were local, the proposed equipment was highly rated, and that they were dependable and honest. After signing the contract, we did have a bit of a lag in getting the design prepared as has been noted with other reviewers, but nothing excessive. We did also have a few bumps along the way in our project with getting permits issued by the City and the approval to proceed issued by the HOA. While not all of the delays were SolarMax's fault, we did exceed our estimated time frame - Not too bad for life in the age of COVID. I would recommend SolarMax as a company for their value and their ability to get the project completed.

Fulfilled on every everything I was told up front, no surprises or games…very straight forward and communicated with me during the process. I felt comfortable with SolarMax’s experience and size as a company.

Review removed pending attempted resolution