American Array Solar and Roofing

Our solar system has now been operating for two years. The system was expertly installed and has performed flawlessly, producing even more energy than originally estimated. We are very pleased.

I had solar installation done by American Array Solar. I am extremely satisfied and happy with the outcome. Adam at American Solar is extremely professional. I had a personal emergency and Adam worked around the schedule to put in all the plans together. Before that Saeed from the company came over and did a detailed study and explained everything to me. They were very mindful of the timeline, since I wanted to avail of NEM2.0. On the day of installation I had to cancel and reschedule. Sam worked around and immediately rescheduled to the day I wanted. After the installation, they came and again explained everything and were present for city inspection. During the entire process, Adam and his team kept me informed and completed all the work without me having to keep pushing them. Adam, Saeed, Sam and their entire team are very professional and I am glad I chose American Array Solar.

The solar installation went well, if long in duration, including the roof prep by another sub-contractor. American Array were responsive, fixed issues and completed the install up to final payoff. They even remote-reset the system after payoff to take care of one of the cells. Around 6 months later, the CA rains came and found a leak in the roof. Initially, they responded they would send someone out. And said they were still planning this a month later. Now, 5 months on, they have stopped responding at all. This suggests any warranty American Array promises is not likely to occur. Caveat Emptor.

I had a bad experience with Sun Power and so I was very guarded when talking with subsequent companies. I was wary of a good sales pitch and follow-up, even pressure, from sales people, but some of the companies I spoke with didn't do follow-up and didn't even reply when I reached out to them (Solar Union). If the company is so busy that they don’t have time to reply before the sale, imagine what it would be like after you sign the contract. I nearly signed with at least 2 companies (Solar Optum and NRG) before talking with American Array Solar, but I ran in the other direction when I finally got a look at their contracts. Be sure to read the fine print and know what happens if there are issues along the way. The contracts are usually written so that all costs are beared by the customer, often with an additional 20% profit added for the company, even if the solar is never installed. It certainly seemed to me that it would be fair for the company to forgo a profit if they can’t install the panels due to neither the company’s or the customer’s fault. BTW, American Array is the only company that I found who asks for $1000 when you sign the contract and then waits for the rest until the install is complete. Ehirim from American Array was a breath of fresh air. He emailed to f/u often, but at the same time he wasn't pushy. He was extremely patient with my questions and he was the ONLY sales person/company that was willing to add addendums to the contract that made me feel like things he and I discussed would be binding. For example, that they would NOT use subcontractors. Note: I read reviews for multiple companies and one of the most frequent complaints is that subcontractors made mistakes that cost customers time and money. Once the contract was signed, Ehirim passed me on to Neha for guidance through the rest of the process. I only worked with her for a short period, but she arranged to pass me on to a coworker when she was going out on leave for an extended period. I was very impressed that I didn’t get lost in the shuffle and didn’t need to f/u myself to get assigned to someone else. Gina took over without missing a beat. She was very conscientious and efficient. Gina sent me periodic updates and responded quickly and directly when I had questions or was just anxious about the timeline. She even responded to an email after the install was done. During the waiting period I spoke with Adam regarding the plans and submission to the city for a permit. I asked for a small change, which he made. He also responded very quickly when the city requested a revision. We live in a 60 year old home that hadn’t had an electrical panel upgrade since it was built. Danny was the electrician who came out to do the upgrade in prep for the solar install. He was also very efficient and considerate of our property. I really appreciated that he was willing to give me some great info and advice regarding our other electrical issues while he waited for the city inspector to show up. Jose and his son showed up the day after the city issued the permit to install the panels, on a Saturday no less, so that they could work around the rain and bad weather. They had to split the install over 2 days due to rain, but got the work done quickly and everything passed inspection without problems. My other advice for anyone planning to install solar is to decide which brand of panels you want installed before you look for a company to do the work. I wasted a lof of time talking with multiple companies, that of course said the brand of panels they used were the best, but in the end the facts didn’t support their claims. I found the info on Energy Sage helpful because it was pretty thorough, but more importantly, I felt they were a unbiased source of information. It’s been 3 weeks since the panels were installed/inspected. I’m watching the energy being produced on my Enphase app and waiting for PG&E to grant permission to operate (PTO) so I can use that energy myself. American Array also connected me with Panasonic so I have the 25 year warranty paperwork for parts AND labor in hand.

AVOID ! They just spam you even when you've asked not to be contacted.

First off I want to acknowledge the high demand due to the NEM 2.0 deadline. Even discounting that, I must underscore how poor the sales side of this organization is and how poor their business practices are. I cannot speak to the installation side because our relationship did not make it that far. I learned more than I ever wanted to know about solar equipment. They should pay me rather than get commission. I was assigned to sales in Southern California. The sales rep urged me to get the IQ8+ to go with 400W panels instead of IQ8M, but I persisted and got that line item. Once we got the placement figured out, I had to correct mistakes in their contract 3 times until they got the roof type, panels, and inverter information correct. Yes there is a difference between TPO and Torch Down roofing. In fact, I wrote my roof type in my Energy Sage profile from the beginning, and explicitly told them on the phone. Each time I corrected their mistake, their price kept changing higher and higher. I was motivated to persist because their pricing was competitive and they were a Panasonic authorized installer (which was attractive because I didn't have to worry whether they closed the business before I needed to use the warranty). So, I escalated, which landed me with a Southern California sales manager. The manager confirmed all the correct specifications and said he would send the contract. I was ready to sign it. I waited. I called and he assuaged. I waited. I emailed. I waited. A week later he emails me apologizing that it is now too late for them to do NEM 2.0. Bye, I guess. Given my experience with the initial sales contact, my intuition was that they'd mess up, so I had another installer lined up - thank goodness.