Sungevity

I want you to know we had a terrible experience with Sungevity. There was a lack of communication, misinformation, delays and no oversight from their headquarters up north as to what was really happening here. I am discouraged I went with them.
Midway through the process, we were told we had to take down small fruit trees which were on the side of the house. Sungevity acknowledged they should have told us from the beginning and my sons, who helped me plant these years before, were pained by this. Perhaps their being up north and never being able to meet with any of their reps that initiated the process with us lead to such issues delayed or failed city inspections and so forth. During one such delay, Sungevity was telling me a particular step was done that same day. Simultaneously, the actual workers who they contracted with were here and talked of a multi-​day process. We were told of many things that seemed to change or were confusing. The person who referred us only received $ 250 when believed much more. Finally, I shared final concerns three different times with various Sungevity staff and no one ever followed up with me.
See reviews by Pamela S, Diego M, Scott R.D., and so forth

Sungevity may be the most dysfunctional organization I have ever worked with. Within the first few weeks of signing my agreement with them, I had been put in contact with approximately 8 different Sungevity representatives, few of whom appeared to be communicating with one another at all.
The sales team proposed a system with a certain level of power production before I signed up. Several days later, I was passed along to various members of the design team who, after about another week, told me that the sales team was completely wrong and that the sales team’s plan violated Sungevity’s internal standards (note, this wasn’t based on any new information Sungevity had gleaned from, say, visiting my home; they just said the sales team had done a poor job). Then the sales team sent me an email telling me that, actually, the design team was wrong and that the original sales team’s plan would, in fact, work.
We then scheduled a site visit to our house. Several days later, Sungevity told me everything was fine from the site visit and that I would be receiving a «final» plan very shortly. I asked whether any additional site visit was required, and Sungevity expressly told me it would not be. Several days passed and then I was told that, in fact, a second site visit would be required. Many more days passed and I finally received a final plan. In sending it, the Sungevity rep casually mentioned at the end of the lengthy cover email that I would actually need to re-​roof my house before they could move forward (which they ultimately priced as an additional $ 13K+ project beyond the solar install).
I then obtained 2^nd and 3^rd opinions from other roofers who work with other solar companies. Neither of them recommended a re-​roof. I have had enough and am switching solar companies. So after about a month since I signed up with Sungevity and countless hours of calls and emails spent trying to get some sort of coherent plan of action from them, nothing was accomplished and I have to start over again at square one.

So here’s our ONE year solar panel results! BEFORE we had solar March 2014-​March 2015 our SCE bill was $ 3614.19. AFTER we got solar April 2015-​April 2016 our SCE was $ 174.84!!! TOTAL FOR THE YEAR! Not kidding. Check it out. Would only recommend purchasing rather than leasing, having said that SUNGEVITY is the way to go! We have had 0 problems from the purchase to the installation to the results! A reference from us will save you $ 500 (or whatever the current promotion is at the time). (us too!) Use our reference number 1 232 079.

It started out and 5 months later it was completed. Their contract installers had to come back 3 times to take pictures of the attic. It was a 9 panel installation and we paid cash. I met a rep for the company at a sales booth and I told her that people ask me how much am I saving each month. I could not figure out a «real» saving monthly. she promised to let me know. Still haven’t heard after a month. Lousy service, no one wants to help after the sale. go to another company, there are quite a few out there.

Well I am happy to say that after having waited a month, I was contacted by Sungevity today and was very pleased with the final outcome. Sungevity did the right thing and worked with me on this issue. They restored my confidence and I will once again be willing to refer my family and friends to their services.

I went live with Sungevity in June 2015. A big part of my decision to go with Sungevity was based on their commitment to stand behind their install. I live in New England where an improper design & install can result in snow & ice dams, so their roof guarantee was very important to me.
After the very first winter storm, the snow did not shed properly off the panels as I had feared during the design phase, despite their assurances it would. It created a wall of snow 2′ high downhill of the panels, causing an ice dam and no power generation as snow couldnt slide off.
I called Sungevity figuring they’d be willing to help correct the bad design. They said they were not responsible for snow buildup, ice dams, roof damage, interior damage, or really anything at all. The rep I spoke to said the performance guarantee would kick in, but not how they would stand behind a performance guarantee if they are not responsible for snow buildup that should have shed off the panels naturally.
Buyer beware.

If you are wondering if you should rent or own, read on — I’ve done both. Here is my experience in case it helps you decide. My energy bill was SUPER HIGH — sometimes over $ 400. A few years ago, we leased solar panels — 22 panels at a monthly rate of $ 214. No money down — just had to qualify for the program with credit score and energy usage. When I sold that house, the new buyer had to be ok with $ 214/​month and also qualify for the solar lease. When I moved to my current home, we decided to PURCHASE solar panels — 22 panels for about $ 20K. The cost is A LOT lower in the long run plus I got almost $ 6,000 back in tax credit (so my panels cost me about $ 15K-​ish). This is the tax credit that will go BYE-​BYE in 2016. If you do the math, over 20 years, leasing can cost over $ 70,000! So consider buying them.
If you BUY them, be aware that the panels save you money when there is lots of sunlight out (not when it is overcast/​night). In my situation, I am connected to the SoCal Edison grid — so when it’s overcast or night, I use their energy. SoCal Edison bills me annually. I was surprised to get a bill of about $ 1200 for the year — the rep told me how to get that bill greatly reduced:
1. Get taken OFF direct payment (your bill will be mailed to you).
2. When you get the bill, look at page 4 for new solar energy amount.
3. Add that amount to the tax amount (usually under $ 2) on page 4 and write your check for that total, send that in.
4. This will prevent SoCal Edison from double dipping (as was explained to me).
5. You will always have a large credit so just ignore the «do not pay» info.
I got my panels through a company called Sungevity, they did a good job, no problems even with high wind in Etiwanda. If you want to use me as a referral, you will get a discount of $ 750 that you can use towards the lease or purchase (by the way, you will NOT get this discount if you sign up at your local home improvement center). I am not sure how long this referral discount program lasts. My referral code is 1 237 593. My rep’s name is Jon Dickson at 510−496−5507. His email is
. He can answer any questions you have. What do I get? $ 250 for each person who uses me as a referral. I really don’t care if you use me as a referral or not — I’d be happy just helping you make your decision to go solar. By the way, Jon told me that around springtime, there MIGHT be an additional fee to connect to the grid if 5% of the people in our utility district go solar. So get in early, get grandfathered in. And remember if you buy solar panels in 2016, you get a substantial tax credit that sunsets after 2016. Good luck!

We were very excited to switch over to solar panel and be part of a progression towards less dependency on foreign fuel. While I still stand behind that, we clearly are working with a company with poor customer service. Sungevity had the panels installed on our roof and it has destroyed our home. The installation, was pre approved on our roof to be deemed safe, which it hasn’t. The posts are causing leakage and damage in our roof and in our bedroom ceilings. Our kids wake up with plaster falling on them, and them breathing in the particles. We’ve repeatedly asked Sungevity to help fix the problem. They have patched our ceiling multiple times but then want to charge us thousands of dollars to have the panels removed, which are essentially destroying our home. I would suggest making sure whichever solar company you chose has better client safety in mind.

Gave my information to the sales rep working at Lowes. At that time I told him we were already thinking about going with Solar City. A rep for Sungevity did call me exactly when I was told they would call. I missed that call and didn’t get a chance to call them back. From that day (10÷31÷15) forward they have continued to call every day 2 – 3 times a day. It has now been almost a month. The first couple calls I missed but now I just ignore the calls. I did answer a few calls to tell them to stop calling but they hang up before I can talk to them. Why would I want to work with a company that is now harassing me with constant phone calls. I’m glad we are going with someone else who has much better customer service.

My wife and I have just signed up and got the ball rolling with installing some solar. Sean Nassiri has excellent customer service. He is easy to listen to and fun to talk to about this whole process. This rating is for the service so far and I am sure I will be posting the same amount of stars after the project gets started. Thank you Sean.

Went into Lowes in Carlsbad on Palormar Airport Road and talked to the Sungevity guy standing inside, gave him all my info and made an appointment for them to call me at 10am the following Monday. Got the call as promised, talked to another sales guy who passed me on to a woman who scheduled a 3pm next day call to go over the plans based on some computerized survey. They not only failed call me back I’ve heard nothing from them for a week now.
How I judge contractors of any type is if they deliver as promised, started with the basics of returning a damn phone call and if you can’t get a SALES person to call you (so you can give them your money!) then what are the chances the people who do the work will be responsive to you?
Obviously Sungeviy doesn’t need business, so I would suggest not giving it to them.

After interviewing many solar companies we decided to go with Sungevity. We really liked our Sungevity rep Jake, he was a no pressure, very informative sales rep. However, since we signed we have been having trouble getting people to return calls/​emails and today we had an appointment at 10:00 with Sungevity’s roofing contractor and they never showed or called. We finally called them to ask where they were (after all they gave us this date and time WE didn’t pick it) and they basically forgot about us. They said they would try and come around 12:00, so we’ll see. So far I’m not impressed with the follow through and customer care of this company and their contractors. I hope it gets better. I will post updates and information as we go along in this process and keep you posted.

First, Sungevity tells me I can cancel the agreement before installation, but when I find out the other solar company seems a better fit for me and I want to sign up with the other company, they are reluctant to cancel the agreement. So they lied to me.
Second, they try to show me what kind of mouthing system they use on the roof, but I don’t really have time to go over this detail with them because their contract doesn’t offer a longer period of warranty as others. So this is wasting my time. Why don’t they cancel the agreement right away if I already make up my mind?
I hope this experience may help other people who want to go solar.

Horrible customer service. Was told I need to have computer access for the presentation, had to reschedule for a call on another day, did not receive that phone call, called the day after, and the person who set the time for the call was shocked that I did not get the call. Called the next day set a time for 3:00 called on time then put me on hold, for how long I do not know I hung up after 15 min. Too many other choices in the solar field to play games I will find other company’s to work with.

I was referred by my brother (we both got discounts, win-​win!). I reviewed the payment options for me:
1-​PrePay lease was the cheapest, break-​even in 6 years;
2-​purchase was the next most affordable with the 30% tax credit, break-​even in 8 years,
3-​zero down the most costly by double, however, savings for me would be about $ 500/​year based on my current $ 155/​month usage.
I signed on 6/​26, home visit 6/​30, design completed ⁷⁄₁₃. They wanted to install the week of 7/​13, but I was not available. Install ⁷⁄₂₇! Then a wait for Costa Mesa Inspection (est 2 weeks), then SCE can take up to an additional 25-​days to approve.
Overall, very happy with the process. All questions were answered quickly. Definitely get a referral code as it will save you $ 250-​$ 1000 depending on the current program.
I will update once installed & running, hopefully in September.

I contacted 12 solar companies and got proposals from 6. Sungevity had the best price for purchase, and provided the best power guarantee as well. On the plus side, my Sungevity rep, Parker Thompson, was professional and did not aggressively push me to sign as all of their competitors did, except Solar City.
Parker worked with me on the installation as I did not want any conduit running across my roof. Conduit was run in my attic. As a result, I have a clean installation which I’m very pleased with. My electric bills have been less than $ 2, most have been a credit.
Additionally, thier smart phone and table apps track your power generation hourly. I recommend them highly.

I recently had my solar installation completed in the last couple weeks. I noticed that my front driveway that is completely concrete had 6 or 7 holes in it. These holes were not pre-​existing and I don’t have proof that the installation team did it. I talked with my installation team lead and reported it. They told me based off the holes it was impossible that the install team caused the damage and that it must have been pre-​existing. Disappointing that this is how I am going to start my relationship with a solar company.

I interview over 12 different companies last year before deciding to use Sungevity. I’m a bit of a Tech nurd and wanted to see the numbers first, and did some research on equipment and technical equipment and then found out who used what I wanted.
I gave them 4 stars because of lack of transparency in communications between sales and Project leader., but overall I’m very pleased with the outcome. My Bill for Electrical was average $ 196 /​month and now after taking the option to do a one payment in advance for a 20 year lease my bill is about $ 7 – 15 a month and most of that is just the GAS! I asked for the Sunny Boy inverter which can give you the OPTION of having some Solar Electrical Energy when all the rest of the grid is down. Not full power, but enough to keep my food from spoiling in a Power Outage {Earthquake}. Sungevity gave me more options without hard pressure sales like most of the other Solar companies did. very happy. Solar City — the big guys have a contract you should avoid… from 2 former employees. My Payment is less than most people i have met with solar. My Payoff to Completely FREE solar Power is 5.4 yrs. I have a 5k system. Dennis

Ok I have read the reviews here and decided to share my review. Sungevity is a broker of solar power and does a good job for those who need to go this route. With Sungevity you can purchase a system, lease a system and even do a pre-​paid lease. So with this company you can have more options. We utilized the pre-​paid lease because we were not sure we could take full advantage of the tax credit and that cut $ 12,500.00 of the top of the purchase price. Now the process sucks, but it is not all Sungevity’s fault. The design from the satellite and the design from a walk on are two very different things and keep an eye on the promised number and the designed number. The longest wait is for the permits and that is a city issue. Once permitted Sungevity contracted out to a solar installation company… (Ask for Milholland they were awesome). Then you have to wait again for city inspection, utility company inspection and the right to energize. The whole process took four months from the day we signed the papers, which is shorter then the average which is 5 – 6 months. The project went well, my meter is running backwards and I will have to wait to see if I get the designed output for the year. But just watching the meter run backwards is sunshine to my eyes. Why 4 stars and not 5? The billing office was flaky, and I did not like the lack of coordination from sales to production.

I’ve been in discussion with Sungevity for the last few months. Everything looks great and promising on the surface. However, their initial design process is so slow and lacks transparency. Takes atleast 2 – 3 weeks to get a site visit. The sales rep will promise you something that the site visit team have no clue of. The design team after the site visit has taken over a month and still not gotten back to me about the design for my system. Everyone else in the competition gets you the system design the day after their site visit. 1 month to plug in numbers into their software and come up with a design.
Let’s see what they design and how this process evolves. Will post to update.