A1 Solar Power, Inc.

A1 Solar
This company is horrible took forever to complete the job so many lies never comes out to do maintenance like they said just horrible don’t use this company

Just received my first PG&E bill since the solar installation and it was a seven dollar credit. Thanks again to Ken Camp and A-​1 Solar

A1 solar put a system on my roof and procedure to destroy my roof in
the process. Their roofer came out and confirmed the damage and recommended that
the roof be replaced. I have been getting nothing but a run around and
have now been turned over to the legal department. The system is now not recording
energy production. I have been waiting 3 months to have it repaired. Their customer service
is not a priority at all. !

STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!!!- I’m posting this in hopes of helping others as I am now forced to file a complaint with Contractors State License Board and Small Claims Court.
Long story short company has not refunded my $ 1000 deposit since 7÷10÷15 !!! Numerous calls and emails with nothing but avoidance. Matt Madwin the Customer and Project Support Manager who has been fully aware (down in Van Nuys) had even responded via email 08÷14÷15 that a refund will be issued, even met with regional manager Alex Rosenburg on 8÷21÷15 (who tried to save the deal) also stated a request for refund would be issued. I even filed a complaint on 10÷6÷2015 with the «Business Consumer Alliance» (which they proudly display this certificate in their contract package, which is just a glorified paid membership to lead you to believe this is a reputable company) and I finally received a response on 03÷15÷16!!: «Our company would like to apologize for the length of time it has taken to resolve this issue. We have gone through personnel changes as we research this incident. A customer care manager will reach out to consumer for additional information and work towards an appropriate resolution. Please call 855−410−4700 and ask for our Customer Care Manager with any further questions.»
First– Matt Madwin is still with the company and has been aware ALL along.
Second — I had already spoken to the Customer Care Manager Anita Jimenez on 2÷26÷16 (she couldn’t find the ticket of this incident so I had to tell her the entire situation) she did speak with Matt Madwin and left me a vm on ²⁄₂₇ stating he will be issuing the refund and then on 3÷22÷16 I called her again for a timeline commitment (again she couldn’t find the incident ticket so here I go re-​telling the entire situation) –I’m still awaiting the usual response from this company.
They have several complaints on the CSLB website, check before you consider this company:

Unwanted telemarketing calls from this company. Wish there was a «no» star rating. This guy called a phone that was on the national do not call registry. My wife put up with him for a few minutes and then politely asked to be taken off their call list. The guy from A1 solar refused to do that unless we told him how much we were paying for our electric utility. Opened up a complaint with the FTC/​Do Not Call Registry. Looks like these losers are pretty popular for rude telemarketing calls, plenty of complaints on the internet. Hopefully the FTC will catch up with them soon.
I wouldn’t do business with a company that treats potential customers like this. Obvious they don’t care about the FTC Do Not Call laws, so unlikely they’d follow National Electric Code or any other rules/​laws/​requirements.

A1 gave me an estimate of $ 26,000 after all the rebates and a few other obscure things. We got 2 other bids from companies on the «approved solar list». They ranged from $ 4,600-$ 5,100. That’s over a $ 21,000 difference. Same panels, buyer beware.

First of all, this is a scam. They pressure you into agreeing to a meeting with their agent by calling several times and giving you misleading information. They said they were a neutral entity providing free information and that their services were paid for by the government, no cost to us. Turns out they are a private company, with a different name than they gave us on the phone, and that we were roped into a sales pitch.
The agent showed up an hour and a half late and was so drunk and/​or high that a) he almost ran over our dog and b) could barely coherently explain his sales pitch.
I would avoid these guys at all costs. Of course, with the Unilocal reviews they have, its no wonder they give you a false name to get you to agree to the meeting.

If there was a NEGATIVE 10 stars, A1 Solar would be the the recipient of the year. I have nothing against the engineering team, because they did what they were suppose to do and they did it well. However, when it comes to the people who do the sales pitch, the project coordinators and the administration; they lie to you; all the while pretending that they finished all the legal work when they either left it incomplete or did not even start it.
For example, for the roof permit, I was told many lies about about the permit being finalized, when it was not finalized at all. I called them multiple times to ask them to submit the papers to finalize it, and each time they said that they already submitted it. Then, when I called the issuers if the permit to double check that it was submitted, they told me that these papers were never submitted. It has been over 6 months and THEY STILL NEED TO SUBMIT THESE PAPERS.

I also had trouble with them even starting the project.
It gets even more incredible. The company convinced us to take out a loan and recommended a loan company that they go through regularly. Even though the solar installations had not even been started, we received a bill from the loan company, stating that the loan had been started. Obviously, I did not start the loan, as the loan company clearly states not to pay a company, until you are satisfied with the work and that everything is done. The loan was started without my knowledge. However, we never started the loan. I realized that if I did not start it, then the only one who could have started it was the project manager /​sales representative of A1 solar, as they are the only other ones who know about the loan. I realize that this is the case because each time the sales rep came to «visit» us to «help us out», in reality, our sales rep has been collecting our information so that they could «start» the loan by pretending to be us. This is ILLEGAL!!!
This is the biggest point I want to make. A1 Solar, has no scruples. They are basically robbing you blind through «legal» seeming means.
THEY CHARGED US EVEN BEFORE THEY INSTALLED THE SOLAR PANELS. IF I DID NOT CALL THEM ABOUT IT, THEY WOULD HAVE CHARGED US FOR THE PROJECT WITHOUT EVEN INSTALLING THE SOLAR PANELS.
In the beginning, we had signed up for A1 Solar Power Inc. to do a Solar Project because it sounded great. The representative from their company had promised us that everything would be done by early May. However, after May has come and gone we thought we would stop and cancel, SINCE THEY DID NOT EVEN START THE PROJECT. However, they said it was too late to cancel because of the «3 days right «to cancel had already passed. They also told us that we would be charged thousands of dollars regardless of we cancelled or not.
In hindsight, I realized that you can’t charge for something that hasn’t been done, THEREFORE THEY USE SCARE TACTICS AND BULLY THEIR CUSTOMERS. Well, since they were so late and were not able to fulfill the promise in time, I had asked if they could give me a discount, I was told «no».
They didn’t start work until June.
Finally, when this whole project was done, I was speechless to find out that all the work had been outsourced! YES, ALL THE WORK HAD BEEN OUTSOURCED! I understand that the roof would be outsourced, since they don’t do roof installations, however, even the solar installation was outsourced.
It makes me think that this is a farce of a company and that they will simply «disband» as soon as there is no «business» available.
Oh and one more thing, because A1 Solar did not get back to us about some questions we had on the contract, we asked some other contractors, who wanted to do the work, if they would not mind answering our questions. This is because they approached us during that Feb through April waiting period. When they looked at the contract, they told us that the contract they had given us was illegal because there was no end date AND the company, A1 Solar, did not sign the contract. Looking back, I should have seen all the warning signs.
I am writing this to let you know what you will be going through, if you sign up with this company. They play cat and mouse games, and you are the mouse.
I do recommend Solar Sense, as they are the outsourced company. The silver-​lining in the storm-​cloud!

They told me there were rebates and discounts where the solar panels were 90% off. They were late getting good to my house for my appointment for nearly 3 hours and when they got here they told me their call center lied to me. What a waste of my day. Do not do business with people who clearly lie just to get in your door to try to make a sale.

They won’t stop calling! I keep blocking their number and they keep coming up with new ones. Most times no one is even on the other line. Finally got a contact number from below and called to be removed (805−852−1149). They said 24 – 48 hours… we will see. I told them I don’t own a home. Good luck to us all in trying to stop the harassment! These are the numbers they have used:
760−206−7342
619−216−0430
619−216−0567
619−216−0554
619−216−0672
619−216−0499
619−535−7782.

the national renewable energy calls me and my wife on our cell phones and is so rude and has not taken our names off their list. We both have filed complaints with the FTC, both of us are on the do not call list! Thank you Unilocal community for the support and ideas, the California Attorney General’s office needs to come after them!
I wish Unilocal had a negative star!

So far I have blocked:
925−439−8620
925−439−8661
925−439−8689
925−439−8787
925−439−8811
925−439−8741
925−439−8496
925−439−8695
And they just use a different number next time. Filed detailed complaint with FTC. STOP @#$%&* CALLING ME

I get random calls at all hours of the day from these numbers. I am on the National Do Not Call list.
925−439−8620
925−439−8710
925−385−2555
925−221−2318

This company should be ashamed of themselves. They hired or are affiliated with a telemarketing company called «Go Green Education» or
, who literally has been calling me at random hours every other day trying to solicit an appointment for a solar expert to come out and inspect my home. Even though I’m on the national «do not call» registry, they still call. Even though I ask each time to be removed from their call list and added to their do not call list, they hang up almost immediately. I basically had to play along and ask questions about booking an appointment to get the real number because they use a different number each time they call, so that you can’t block their calls. If you would like to call them yourselves and get removed, call (805) 852‑1149 and ask for a supervisor. I spoke with a supervisor, Natalie, who sounded like she finally got the point to no longer call me. Seriously, I don’t even own a house at the moment. Also, I would never do business with a company like A1 power or Smart Energy USA Inc, because of the sales practices they use shows signs that they currently don’t care about customers or the experience.
P. S. Also filed a complaint with the BBB for good measure.

Annoying! Keep Calling 4 –5 time a day!!!
Terrible company!!!

I have been harassed by telemarketers representing this business on a DAILY BASIS, even after MULTIPLE REQUESTS TO BE PLACED ON THEIR DO NOT CALL LIST!
I called A-​1 solar to complain and spoke to their operator on duty. The operator at A-​1 Solar Power gave me the phone number of the telemarketing firm itself so that I might raise my complaint directly with them.
The number given to me by A-​1 is 877−593−2995. Google shows this as belonging to the «National Renewable Energy Center» (Which, unsurprisingly gets an F grade from the BBB).
The BBB website lists the address and web info for these scumbags as: 5632 Van nuys blvd., van nuys, CA 91 401
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Do with this information what you will. I plan on filing as many complaints as I can with as many appropriate agencies as I can. I hope you will join me in that.

If this company calls me one more time after I have repeatedly told them to stop, that I was uninterested and proceed to block their number from calling me — they will be reported for harassment to the FTC as well as authorities. I even blocked their numbers with my cellular provider and they use a different dial out to call.
I have already reported them to multiple outfits for this practice as a solicited call is illegal after the consumer expresses for the company to stop calling.

Negative stars. A1 Solar Power aka National Renewable Energy Center employs illegal and abusive telemarketing practices. They have been calling my home for over a year, 2 – 3 times per day, and are rude on the phone or they simply hang up. In one case a telemarketer told me «go f**k yourself!»
DO NOT do business with A1 Solar Power!

I have not done business with these folks but the calls are RELENTLESS! They’ve been calling me for the past year and will not stop.
It’s annoying that it has to come to this, but I’ve blocked their number. Very inconsiderate and if or when I am in the market for solar I will steer far, FAR away from A1. What a shame to have such poor reviews because you simply won’t stop calling.
Here is a link that shows you how to block unwanted callers such as A1:

A1 Solar has recently expanded from Van Nuys to Concord. It seems the reputation for terrible service has traveled with them. We signed a contract in July. It is now November, they’ve charged our credit card for the final payment, and yet have not completed the work.
The service is great up to the point the panels are set on your roof. After that people will show up, or not show up unannounced. Emails are rarely returned. When they are returned the response its usually «This isn’t my area, talk to this other person.» You again get no response, or are passed to yet another person. You will never know when an installer is coming, or an inspection is happening until the knock on your door occurs.
When they damage your house someone will assure you it will be fixed. And then you will wait, and wait and wait. And when it gets patched you hope all the holes accidentally drilled in your roof while in search of a beam won’t fill your attic with water once the rain starts.
The panels seem to work, and the output seems like it will probably be what they claimed, but as they’ve taken the money and run away leaving us with only a partly installed and working system, we’ll never know if they are working correctly or not.