Demand Construction

I appreciate that Rudy of Demand Construction was very helpful, professional, and patiently answered my many questions. I ultimately went with a different installer, due to parts in stock, but after interviewing six different companies, Demand was one of my final two.

It started out well enough, they designed a system based on my input, and applied for building permits. When those were approved they wanted the 2/3 payment (after the $1k initial}. Fast forward 5 months they finally gave me an installation date but didn't show up. I have asked several times when or if they ordered my equipment but they never answered. I am now considering my options.

Jon was very helpful and informative on the product. I got more information than any other vendor i talked with. He helped understand the need for the solar powerwall. I was impressed by the fact that he helped me take a decision rather than like others who tried to convincing to go solar without giving any info. I will definitely recommend Jon to everyone i know.

Marsel Koci of Demand Construction was more than helpful on our journey to solar and storage! Demand Construction is lucky to have him as a representative and I was lucky to have him representing me! I was considering multiple solar and storage providers, including one not on EnergySage, but Marsel convinced late one night that he and the better panels they have were the reason to go with Demand Construction! We had a complex situation that Marsel was always ready to help me work through. The issues were that we only had 1-2 months of energy bills at our new home and that we needed a new electric panel (a 200-amp upgrade with expensive to work with underground lines). Marsel was with me every step of the way and Demand Construction's Project Manager worked well with me and Marsel to help my project move forward! I am very pleased with Demand Construction overall and I will be recommending others to go with Demand Construction for solar and storage. I am sure all of their representatives and project managers are excellent, so if you do not get Marsel, know you are in good hands with Demand Construction!

The initial sales and project design was very professional. However, it has now been over 6 months since we signed our contract and more than 3 months since the system was actually installed. I have emailed several times asking for an update on completion timeline. The response is only that they will ask the operations director. It has not be clear on how to escalate.

First, the good. Overall, the workmanship seems to be fairly decent. Though it was a bit concerning to see one person on the porch and another on the roof with the person on the porch yelling up to the guy on the roof whether or not he was missing the beams: "a little more left. No, now right, ok good". I assume I have some extra holes up there. Hopefully they did a bit better on the roof, but it's been raining a lot and no leaks that I'm aware of. Now, the bad. I signed the contract in October, with the Energy Sage quote saying expected project completion would be in December. I did end up going back and forth a bit on the design and site survey, which I think added a week. But here it is almost April and the system still isn't online. Permits were finally approved in early December, but with the holidays I thought it was pretty reasonable that we missed December. But even after permits were approved I couldn't be given an installation date. They just straight up wouldn't give me one. Mid December they finally contacted me with an installation date of 1/28. On 1/27 I texted them because I hadn't heard anything, just wanting to confirm installation was still planned for the following day. They responded that no, it wasn't on, and that they didn't have the materials needed to do the install and would have to reschedule. They again wouldn't give me a new date to reschedule to. After a bit of back and forth, they told me that they'd be able to give me a date in February. Again, radio silence. Mid February I followed up again, and was told the week of the 17th would be the new date, and would get a call the prior week to confirm specific day. That week came and went, and no contact. I again contacted them to be told that no, we weren't on, and they still weren't able to schedule the install. Finally, a week later, they were able to pick a day to install, and they did come out and nearly complete the job in two days. They came and went, and no one said anything more. I followed up on next steps, and was told it was up to PG&E now, and that it should take about two weeks. Two weeks came and went, and no contact. Another two weeks passed, making a total of four weeks, and I was called and asked if the following Monday would be good to install the backup switch. Wait a minute, I was told we were waiting on PG&E. Turns out, they hadn't actually finished the install at all, and were simply blaming PG&E. Now, with the backup switch finally installed, it finally is actually on PG&E, which has given me a two week window to come connect the backup switch to the meter. After which, the city still needs to inspect it for me to be given permission to operate. I was also told by sales that immediately after the system was installed, I'd be able to use it, just not export to the grid. This made sense to me. But I've now learned that that's not true, and PG&E doesn't want it operational until city sign off. I don't believe sales was lying, I think he probably really believed he was giving me good information. But he wasn't. The project manager also I don't think was lying to me, I think he probably just had no idea what was going on and was clueless when he told me that we were waiting on PG&E. He probably just didn't take the time to look at the actual project and that we were waiting on his crew to finish the project (sub-contractors). People say you should avoid companies that use sub-contractors, and I could have sworn sales told me they don't, but in the end there were, I believe, a few companies that worked on the project, and so information wasn't always accurate or correct. TLDR: They told me the project would be done in December, and it looks like it's on track to finish some time in April. Only 4 months late. I get that things happen, supply problems exist, but the real problem was the complete lack of communication along the way, and the inability to keep me informed of what was actually happening. I had to dig every step a long the way. Otherwise I'd hear nothing at all from them.