A1 Solar Power

These guys don’t respect the Do Not Call list. They constantly spoof different phone numbers just to get past call blocking. When you call any of their spoofed numbers, it leads back to their main line: 818−275−9671. Don’t do business with these shady people. Their illegal marketing tactics should be enough of a warning.

Do your due diligence before considering doing business with A1 Solar. A great place to start is the California State Contractor’s License Board. A1 Solar’s license number is #493 623. In October 2015 four complaints were lodged against them:
We’ve had solar now for over 2 years and on multiple occasions between Oct 22 and Oct 24 I was contacted on my mobile phone while driving by someone claiming to be affiliated with SDG&E and that their records show our electric bills to be over $ 100/​month (how do they associate our electric bill with my mobile phone anyway?). Each time they called I explained that I already have solar, that I am in the national do not call registry, and that I wished to be placed on their internal DNC list. The numbers that A1 Solar’s telemarketers called me from are:
619.535.7769
619.535.7786
It’s difficult to block them because the next time they call the number is slightly different from the previous time. I had to block these numbers also:
619.535.7761
619.535.7768
619.535.7772
619.535.7781
619.535.7782
619.535.7784
When you try to call back one of the numbers used by A1 Solar, you hear this message:
«The person at extension 818−275−9671 is unavailable. Please leave your message after the tone. When done, hang up, or press the pound key. Sorry but the user’s mailbox can’t accept more messages.»
A1 Solar has multiple offices all over California but legal documents show the calls originate from A1 Solar’s call center in Van Nuys, they purchase VOIP lines in the local area code they are targeting for sales so the calls you receive look as if they’re coming from your local area.
There are three class action lawsuits currently pending against A1 Solar in California Central, Northern, and Southern District Court regarding illegal telemarketing practices. The most recent lawsuit was filed in San Diego on October 20, 2015.
Reading the legal complaints, they show that A1 Solar created a separate business entity, Energy Enterprises USA, that shares company officers and office space with A1 Solar’s headquarters in Van Nuys. A1 Solar claims that this «separate business» is not affiliated with them, that they are a 3^rd party contractor, but legal documents show otherwise. In court, A1 Solar is arguing that the person who calls you isn’t actually selling anything, on one of their previous websites they claim they are just a referral service «like 1−800-DENTIST». Except that they only refer to A1 Solar.
To further obscure their identity, A1 Solar keeps filing dba’s for their telemarketing company, Energy Enterprises USA. Some of the dba’s previously and currently used by A1 Solar (as Energy Enterprises) are:
National Renewable Energy Center (filed 6-​7-​2013)
Go Green Education (filed 7-​15-​2013)
American Pro Energy (filed 6-​12-​2015)
I personally would not consider doing business with any company that employs this sort of shady business tactics. The thing is, if A1 Solar just honored the DNC Registry and the TCPA and stopped harassing potential customers, the reviews appearing on Unilocal would be about their solar services and not their illegal marketing tactics.
For more information on the current lawsuits against A1 Solar for their telemarketing practices:
Marilynn Loveless v. A1 Solar Power, Inc. Case 5:2014-cv-1 779 Filed 8−28−14
Panacci v. A1 Solar Power, Inc. et al Case 3:2015-cv-532 Filed 2−04−15
Waterbury v. A1 Solar Power Inc. et al Case 3:2015-cv-2 374 Filed 10−20−15

I was just verbally (f$&? you) assaulted and had a brochure thrown at, me in front of my family, by these clowns. When Kenneth «Yaakov» Mark showed up I asked him where he was from. He identified himself from A1. Interesting since the person who called my wife identified himself from SDG&E.
I politely told him we were not interested and then kapow! Throwing things and cursing at me in front of my wife and kids. Classy.

This company calls me several times a week, even though I’ve told them repeatedly that we already have solar in our home. I’ve asked to be removed from their calling list, added that we are on the DNC list, yadda, yadda, yadda. Also explained to them that I would NEVER work with a company that does phone solicitation. The only thing that stopped them was spending $ 120 for a phone system that blocks calls. Now when they call… which they still do… the call is immediately disconnected.
Before you even THINK about using this guys, give it some thought. Do you really want to work with a company who does business like this? Before we purchased our new phone system I would listen to the recording, and then «press 1» to speak to an operator to be removed. Instead, I was disconnected. The phone number they are calling from isn’t even from one of their offices, and isn’t listed under their name. Any company that is this rude and sketchy certainly isn’t going to get my money, and shouldn’t get yours.

Pretty happy so far. Chris is amazing. Hopefully all will go thru without incident. I just wanted to say, after going thru all the Unilocal on this particular company I just have to say «Shut up you whiners!!» Obviously telemarketing is part of business if you don’t like it then you probably shouldn’t let them get your phone number, huh!!! Most of these guys didn’t even get the product. So I have no idea from their reviews about the company in general, only that they blew up their cell phones. How does that help a person who needs Solar power??? Anyway I will let you know in a week or so if they follow thru on all their promises to get us Solar power.

These guys are the worst spammers for making unsolicited phone calls. They even spoof a name for caller ID so you don’t know it’s a telemarketer calling to sell you their service. If they were a legitimate solar company, they wouldn’t be so low as to do this type of solicitation. I’d stay far away from A1 Solar Power.

I spoke with three solar companies about buying a system, getting estimates from each. While two of them functioned more like consultants, this company’s representatives were sell, sell, sell every second I was with them.
Their initial bid was 50% higher than the other two, who were very close in price. But the regional manager wanted to talk to me — he was obviously the closer.
At our meeting he massaged the numbers to come into the range of the other two companies, but insisted it was a «take-​it-​now-​or-​never» offer. I consider that a warning sign and let him leave without a sale. He in effect took the company out of contention with that failed maneuver.
I have no information regarding the company’s quality of work, but their sales folks are using old-​school tactics inappropriate for even semi-​sophisticated potential buyers. And that to me waves a big red warning flag.

These guys call me a few times a week, often just hanging up on me! It’s really annoying and harassing! I wouldn’t do business with them if I were looking for solar just based on their marketing practices. I don’t even live in the San Diego area anymore (and haven’t for almost ten years…) but they still call my number! Find another, mote honorable company.

These guys spoof their number and have telemarketers calling multiple times a day. Constantly getting numbers from 619−216-xxxx and they are all fake. If you follow the recording long enough it ends up with these guys. I have filed a Federal complaint against them. Check the internet, these jerks are spamming people all over the city with their recording. You cannot block it because they pick a new number every time. When you try and get some info out of the person on the other end after the recording they will either hang up or scream at you. I will NEVER use this company and make it my goal to tell as many people as possible about their sketchy, immoral. and ILLEGAL advertising methods.

These people keep bombing my cell phone, my home phone, and my son’s cellphone with 3 and 4 calls per day. I would never buy anything from these people. And after reading about their financing scams, it seems my decision is well founded.

This review will be long, but if you are looking at A1 Solar, I encourage you to consider the following:
The permitting & installation process went like clockwork. The work was performed exactly as promised. To my untrained eye, everything looked very professionally installed. In addition, my electricity bill was greatly reduced this summer, even though we used air conditioning considerably more than in years past. So far, so good.
Our issue with A1 Solar is more an issue of honesty. The sales pitch by Scott went like this: Scott examines your prior years’ electricity bills and determines your average monthly expense (in our case, $ 250). He asks how long we would like to finance our solar panels purchase. We indicate ten years. Scott then works on his calculator for several minutes and announces: Well, for a ten-​year loan on the system you require, the payment will be $ 250. However, we want to beat that so that your payment for your solar panels is less than your current electricity bill. So a few calculations later and Scott announces our payment for a ten-​year loan will be $ 245. Electricity rates are rising, and so in short order we will be saving much more than $ 5 per month.
Here’s the tricky part: We sign an application for this loan. We are advised they will let us know shortly when /​if the loan is approved. Within a few days we are advised the loan was approved. The panels are installed, and we are (for the moment) very happy.
We then receive notice from Green Sky Credit, which is a finance company that A! used to obtain our loan. They advise us that the monthly payments are $ 319, not $ 245 as promised. I realize this is only a $ 74 difference, but over ten years this amounts to $ 8,800. So I call Scott and ask him to look into this. He apparently forgets to do so for a couple of weeks. When I was finally able to reach him again, I asked him to swing by my home. He missed a couple of appointments, but eventually did come by. And initially he was honest. He indicated he just simply cannot figure out how he came up with the $ 245 monthly rate. He couldn’t duplicate it, though he tried for 20 minutes to do so.
After that point, A1 Solar went dark: Phone calls not returned; emails not answered. I even sent a letter to their corporate offices, asking if they could assist. No response. After a very considerable amount of time elapsed, I received a call from Scott. He now remembers how he came up with the $ 245 figure: He gave me some credits and therefore my payment was now $ 319 instead of $ 245. I suppose I should be grateful he didn’t give me too many credits so as to push my bill over $ 1,000 per month. Well, that was his response, and he was sticking with it.
And, by the way, they consider your application to be your final loan documents as well; so even though the interest rate is not designated and/​or the monthly payments are not listed, they are taking the position that this is a binding contract. But, to be completely fair, they probably don’t really care at this point because they have received full payment from Green Sky Credit, so it’s not really a concern of theirs any longer. In speaking with the Green Sky folks, they advised me that in their discussions with Scott at A1, he admitted to them he made a mathematical error when calculating my loan payments, but he decided to not correct his error. Green Sky had the same problem reaching Scott or anyone else at A1 as well. Green Sky indicated they had a window of opportunity to cancel the loan once I brought the issue to their attention, but A1 was so slow in responding, that their window closed, and by law they cannot cancel the loan at this point. So in that sense A1 is pretty clever; hiding and dodging actually may pay off in the end.
I am hopeful that our solar panels operate problem free for the next 20 years because if the A1 warranty folks are hiding under their desks along with Scott every time the phone rings, I am truly in for a frustrating couple of decades.

Telemarketing nightmare! Don’t know how they get away with it these days but they’ve been spamming with calls for months. I politely declined their initial offers and ask them to take me off the list. Now they just call and hang up simply to annoy. They call from 619 216 0900 most often.
Any respectable solar installers out there … you should be all over these guys and shut them down. All of your reputations are being ruined by these unscrupulous losers.

It’s been 9 months and I’m updating my review because although my panels have been great the company has not. I’ve come to learn that they made promises just to make a sale. I also learned they are overpriced. There are so many other companies that sell American made panels for 30% less and with good business ethics. My advice is to stay away from this company.

A1 Solar installed our system within only about a week period of time, we got our permits rather quickly, and system turned on. We were impressed with the customer service, the professional manner in which the technicians worked, and speed at which we were able to run our solar. Tor at A1 did all the work for us. He was quick to answer questions and take care of all our needs. I would highly recommend their services. The quality of panels is excellent as well as the customer care.

I walked into A1 San Diego location the other day to an extremely rude lady at the front desk. I believe her name was Brenda and asked to speak with a salesman. She stated that they had many but to speak with Scott. I asked to speak with him and she said he was in a meeting and that she was to busy to help with anything else. (might I add that she had a personal cell phone to her ear from the time I walked in to the time I left. She never set it down) Not to sure how business is conducted here but I can see why this company doesn’t have great reviews. I typically would not bother with this but the lady was extremely rude and unaccommodating.

We’ve been looking into Solar power
for our house. We got a phone call from
A1 Solar trying to sell us Solar. we made
an appointment, and had a good meeting
with one of their salesmen. His quote was
not out of line with others we had got.
Then a week later, we get a call from them.
They have excess panels in a warehouse,
and can make us a better deal…
They offer to send a Regional Manager out,
who could save us thousands. Sounds great!
After 3 or 4 phone calls, another salesman shows
up an hour and a half late.
Wheres the manager? I ask. He knows nothing
about that. The salesman, who’s been doing this
for 2 months, goes on with his quote.
He badmouths the previous salesman and his
quote ends up $ 3,000 more than the previous one!
Then I try to call A1, no answer, no response, they
won’t get back to me.
They obviously don’t care about their service.

I cannot review their installations/​prices/​etc. because we did not get that far! A telemarketer called to set an appointment (said they were referred by S.D.G. & E.). We set an appointment. The day of the appointment, they called THREE times to make sure we would be there at 4 PM. We assured them we would. 4 PM came and went; at 4:15 we called their number and left a message; at 4:45 we called again saying we would wait til 5 PM, but then had to leave. At 5:15, just as we were preparing to leave for a 6PM dinner party, the guy shows up. I told him that he was 1 hour, 15 min late and we had to go, but thank you anyway. I closed the door and he began to beat on the door. I opened it and he said «I have to talk to you!!». I replied no, that we had to go. As I began to close the door, he started yelling at me telling me I was very rude, he had driven all the way up from San Diego to Oceanside, and it was a long drive in traffic. I said I understood, but he should have called. He said «I don’ not have a cell phone». (NOTE: A mobile sales person without a cell phone?). I asked for his card, he gave it to me and said «I suppose you want to talk to the boss», I said «Yes». He replied, «I am the boss». Now, not meaning to be too critical, but this guy had not shaved for at least 3 days (not the George Clooney look), was very disheveled looking, had a back pack (no briefcase or notebook), on his card, a cell phone was listed. He insisted on giving me a presentation and I finally demanded that he leave the property immediately. I feel sorry for him; no sales skills and definitely no social skills.