SolarCo Solutions

My wife and I started looking for alternative energy early this year in anticipation of higher energy cost and use. We shopped around, looking at the popular companies, and at the end of the day, we chose Solarco over others. Solarco fit into our need with a very competitive pricing.
The customer service was exceptional. The representative we talked to, Eric, was informative. He answered all our questions throughout the day and into the night. It was not just Eric. There were people in the office that returned our calls almost immediately and answered or put the right people to answer our questions.
In terms of pricing, Solarco was the most expensive but it the cheapest per kilowatt. We wanted more than enough panels to cover our electricity bill and Solarco delivered.
The installation was fast and the person in charge (Cameron?) was accommodating. He schedules the installation and final inspection based on our availability. He went through the basics for each part of the installed pieces.
I would definitely recommend Solarco for your solar panel needs.
P. S. (Throwing shade) SolarCity is garbage!

I’m giving SolarCo 3 stars only for the ease of the whole installation process. Besides that I would only give 2 stars due them not installing the specified amount of panels that the engineer drew up on the plans in order for our system to produce 4kw. We upgraded to the 4kw system and not one day has our system produced over 3kw. The engineer stated to us that the specified number of panels that he drew on the plans would produce 4kw minimum. They did not install the specified number of panels that the engineer drew on the plans for our 4kw system. October had some nice sunny and cool days and our system only produced over 3kw. The manager said that we would have to wait a year whole year to see if our system averages 4kw. If not, then they would install more panels. We are going to be losing out due to waiting a whole year in order for them to see if our system is producing 4kw. Our system would have probably produced a 4kw day back in Oct when the days were sunny and cool if they installed the specified number of panels that the engineer drew on the plans. We are not a satisfied customer. We spent over $ 35,000 on a system that we thought we were going to get per the engineers plans. They cut us short by not installing the specified number of panels on the plans that I signed and approved in our agreement. I would be careful and make sure that they install the number of panels that the engineer specified on the plans. The engineer is the expert and knows how many panels it would take to produce the amount of kw for your system.

My husband and I began exploring the possibility of solar power when we purchased our new home in July 2015. One company looked on Google Earth and said it couldn’t be done. Another company, High Definition Solar, gave us a quote of $ 31,200 for 12 panels for 260 kwh. I was painting and cleaning one morning when the doorbell rang and a SolarCo rep was standing there. Although pretty discouraged by this point I thought what the heck I might as well make the appointment and see what they have to say. During our appointment we were quoted $ 23,000 for 24 panels for an 800 kwh system; and the guaranteed more panels if this system didn’t produce enough to zero out our bill. Not only that but they guaranteed us the lowest price in the area. Quite a difference. We accepted the offer and from there everything was smooth sailing. SolarCo completed all the paperwork with the exception of a few things we needed to personally sign. Kyle came out and completed a design for our roof which we were able to see and approve. Installation day arrived and Cameron and his workmen came early and got right to work and they worked all day long in the heat. They were unable to finish the job because my roof is very steep and it was a difficult installation. They came back the following week and finished the job. The guy were very professional and courteous. They were very careful with everything and cleaned up after themselves. They even went to Home Depot to buy and install a light bulb that was accidently damaged during the installation. The real text came a few months later when the electric bill came and we went from a $ 300+ bill down to a $ 10 electric bill. We are also able to monitor our power production any time we want using the link. They also take care of maintenance and repair for free!
My husband and I do not have enough good things to say about every single person we dealt with in this Company; the rep who set the initial appointment, the guy who gave us the quote, the ladies at the office who dealt with financing and scheduling, the crew who did our install. I would highly recommend them to family, friends, and anyone else who would listen. I would go on T.V. and stand behind them. If you’re going to go solar, hands down this is the company to go with.

After having several different companies come and try to sell and lease us solar panels, we decided to go with Solarco due to the cost of the panels, the warranty, and Eugene was very informative.
The process to get us approved, and the panels installed went very smooth. We didn’t have any issue with the install or the inspector.
However, I issue comes to the over cost and the usage between the panels and PGE. We are in Yolo county so we do not have Smud. Our usual PGE billing cycle is approximately 140 to 150 a month with about 750 to 800kw usage a month, averaging 25kw per day. Well since we have gotten the solar installed in September, we have decreased in Kw per day, but only to about 15KW. Some days we are using the same out of total KW as we were prior to the solar panels. I contacted PGE to verify that our account was set up and we had everything correct. Sure enough we did.
When we were sold on the solar panels we thought that we would hardly be using any PGE and the solar would cover our usage. I guess we were baited. Our solar panels only produce energy during the day when at full usage, and that is only giving us 1 to 3 hours of low usage hours. See we both work away from home and children go to school. Therefore all our energy is consumed at the end of the day when it is dark outside and our panels are not being used. The stored energy for the panels are only being credited back to us at 4cents ($ 0.04) per kilowatt not the first tier rate that was told to us by Solarco.
The notice I also received from PGE states that the average customer will still pay AT LEAST $ 500 a year in energy cost. Please note that PGE will only bill you once a year once signed up with solar. So at the rate my family is going at 15kw a day, 30 day billing, at $ 0.16 per kw we will be pay $ 72 per month, $ 864 per year. This will be saving us about 50 percent from what we were paying; however, factor in the cost for the panels $ 233 per month we are now paying $ 305 per month for the next 15 years; which, has increased our spending by approximately 50%.
With being on a budget, working away from home during the day, and not enough energy usage decrease during the day. Not to mention that I haven’t even turned on the heat so I sit in my cold house with blankets to keep warm. I would recommend to skip solar.
This review is not to discredit the company, this review is to explain my experience with the solar program as a whole.

We had been researching different solar options for a couple months when representatives from SolarCo showed up at our door scheduling in-​home consultations. We figured it wouldn’t hurt to welcome them into our home for a no obligation quote, and our appointment was set for three days later. Wayne Mackenzie arrived on time, and we sat down to a pleasant conversation about the benefits of solar. He analyzed our current PG&E bill and yearly summary and educated us about how much we were paying on average and how much we could potentially save if we were to go solar. We were already interested at the time, but Wayne helped us to understand why SolarCo would be a better solution than other options, without putting any other companies down J. He wasn’t pushy or demanding, like sales people can be, which made it a comfortable experience.
One thing that sets SolarCo apart from other solar companies is that they do not contract out. Everyone we worked with was directly from SolarCo, from the Sales Consultant to the design team, to the Installers, down to Cameron, who worked hard to track us down for signatures and to drop off paperwork (even coming out to my work when he was running a few minutes late… no fault of his own, since SolarCo is located 43 miles away and there were accidents on the News that morning). From our initial conversation with Wayne until the building permits were signed, only 14 days had passed, and our solar system was complete and running just over a month later. The installers were very professional and clean. They upgraded our Electrical Panel along with the install and made sure we understood everything they were doing. Total install took less than 6 hours.
The back of our house faces South, so the panels are visible from the backyard. From the front of the house nobody can even tell we have them. The Enlighten App we downloaded on our phones shows a layout of our system along with detailed information about how well each panel is producing. It is fun to open throughout the day to see how well the system is working, but the best part hands down is watching the meter go backwards, even when it is slightly overcast.
Our bills went from in the 400s, to $ 250 when it was completed in the middle of a billing cycle, to $ 6 this past month! We are happy with our system, the customer service, and with the whole process. We would definitely recommend SolarCo to not just our family and friends, but anyone interested in lowering their PG&E bill. Thank you SolarCo!

My husband and I sat down with 5 different companies. We told our Sales rep our restrictions that we don’t want a lien to be put on the house because we planned on moving within the next 6 months to a year. The sales rep told us «Oh no we absolutely do not put liens on the homes. It is your system it is like a car loan.» Awesome we will go through with the process. They were all very nice and helpful. The whole time I had a gut feeling something wasn’t right. Well we sold our house and low and behold there is a lien on the house. Thank you Solarco for selling our loan to a bank and bamboozling my family. Now we are living in our motorhome because we had to use our new home down payment money to pay down the solar so that they would remove the lien.

We had looked at a few different companies for solar before deciding on SolarCo. Our sales rep Wayne was great and explained everything very well.
We had a rather large system installed, 46 panels in total so the install took just over a day to complete and overall that went smoothly. We did run into a couple of issues when it came time to have the city inspect the install and we failed the first inspection. Some of the communication was a little lacking on when someone would be back to correct the issues. Due to the nature of my work and the commute, I can’t just be home without a couple of days notice ahead of time. Since we failed the inspection we weren’t supposed to turn the system on or we could face fines from the city. By the time the corrections were made and the second inspection performed, I had a payment due for the solar loan in about a week… a bit depressing since I had just barely been able to have the system turned on.
A few weeks later we had another inspector from the city come out (completely unannounced) to count panels and check the arrangement of them. It turns out that the inspector told us that while the count for the panels matched up, the layout was different from the layout in the plans submitted to the city. No big deal though, the inspector told us… the plans could just be updated to reflect the changes. Solarco contacted me a couple of days later and told me that they would need to come out again and rearrange the panels to match the plans and that sometimes their installers don’t lay them out according to the plans because it makes the install easier. I mentioned that the previous inspector said that the plans could just be redrawn but no one could seem to verify that or elaborate more other than just telling me the panels needed to be rearranged. Eventually (after a postponed appointment by SolarCo), the panels were rearranged and we were getting close to the same output, maybe slightly less than in the previous arrangement of panels.
The only other hiccup we had was getting a username/​password for the Enphase website to monitor the production. The welcome email went to a completely wrong email address and had to be resent.
Overall I’d say the experience was mostly good with the pain points just being communication after failing the first inspection.

Awesome experience with SolarCo. Zayeth was very professional, and explained everything to us before the install. We wanted the 4K system, but the roof of our house was too small for the amount of panels required. But, that didn’t stop SolarCo… they gave us as many panels as they could, and our daily solar power ranges from 3K to 4K. I couldn’t be more happy. The guys that installed the panels were great too. They installed 19 panels in about 6 hours. This is a great company, and the quality of work is second to none. I would definitely recommend to anyone wanting to install solar, to go with SolarCo!
I need to add, that we haven’t recieved our first PG&E bill yet, since install, but watching the power meter on the side of the house roll backwards on a sunny California day, makes me look forward to the next bill rather than cringe.

We had not seriously considered going solar for our home due to very limited South roof exposure, heavy shade, and relatively low electric bills. Several companies approached us and gave presentations, did «calcs» (no light meter on roof?) and more or less confirmed our assumptions. The cost /​benefit they offered was simply too high based upon the number of panels they said would be required to get the guaranteed production required for our 2700 SF, two story home.
So when Solar Co approached us, we were dubious, but one essential difference immediately got out attention; we would be buying their system, not leasing. And, their engineers, using light meters and careful calculations, were able to guarantee the appropriate production using our unshaded East and West exposures. Their price, including installation, was also VERY favorable compared with the others, and using more panels than offered by the competition.
Not only were we impressed by the thoroughness of their sales presentation, but each SolarCo employed was considerate, friendly, and very knowledgeable about the system, installation, and whole process. During the install, they took great care to clean up, and they left my landscape undisturbed when delivering the panels.
We are currently producing about 15−20% more energy than promised, which is also impressive. I have already recommended them to several neighbors considering Solar.
Even the building inspector commented on the high quality of the installation. Specifically, he pointed out the type of fasteners used for the panels as being the best, most secure he had seen, and he’s seen many.
Thank you Wayne, our representative, for working hard to gain our trust and show us the benefits of a Solar energy home!

We just purchased solar panels from SolarCo… we couldn’t be happier! The sales rep was very knowledgeable, and didn’t try to push anything onto us… gave us all the info we needed to make the best choice for our family. The installation went very easy and they kept us updated throughout the whole process! Would definitely recommend to family and friends!

After looking into solar for several years and meeting with many other solar companies I finally chose Solarco to do my installation. My solar consultant Zayith did a fantastic job walking me through the process and helped me figure out exactly what solar system size to go with based on my needs.
After doing extensive research on countless solar companies in the area it was clear to me that Solarco owners have been in business for 37 years, had the best reputation in town, top of the line equipment, best warranty and the lowest price I have seen anywhere!!! I am not the easiest customer in the world but these guys exceeded my expectations from start to finish. If you are thinking of going solar then save yourself the hassle and give Solarco a chance. You’ll be glad you did.

Rapid, professional installation.
SMUD’s final approval and meter installation was the project’s only significant hold up.
SMUD should hire additional staff.

Thank you Solarco for working with us to make our home solar efficient! Solarco offers financing and willing to work with customers and also accepts those who want to finance through their own bank. We chose the latter path and while it took more time than desirable, as soon as it had occurred, a day was scheduled, Gabe and his team came out and completed the install, & provided a personal explanation of how to read the panel. My only feedback to Solarco is to work on the follow-​up with the southern CA team that process the applications with PG&E as I had to send it to them twice because the first application was lost in process of delivery. Glad to be finally part of the solar solution!

My husband and I just bought our house last June and had been researching many solar companies… from lease options to purchase options and all the different system types. The sales rep was very knowledgeable and informative. He didn’t push one system over another nor did he push lease over purchase. He listened to our concerns and recommended the best system for our family.
The installation was done in a day and the installers were awesome in keeping me updated with their progress.
We would definitely recommend SolarCo to all our family & friends!