SolarCity

I truthfully I don’t understand how this company stays in business. I put out from the start that I was getting a larger then average system for my house so when the girl submitted my info I thought we are good. Off course they say to speed up the process they have to to run your credit, so I did it, Keep In mind I’m on a time crunch to get grandfathered in for net metering. Now I wait a couple of days for the system design and after 3 days I get something back. Now this system doesn’t even support what I currently have so my additions I would have solar only covering about 60 percent of my needs. So I let her know this is unacceptable and I need a new design. From that point on I had to make the contact to find out what’s going on with the design and I’m here excuse after excuse why I don’t have a design yet. Here I am a month later waiting on a design from solar city after sending multiple text and emails basically saying hurry up and I already got 3 other designs from other companies. So I decided to just go with another Company

I’m a customer and a consultant for SolarCity! SolarCity is the number one company in the nation and Elon Musk, owner of Tesla, is our Chairman and one of the original co-​founders. I’m saving almost 50% compared to what I was paying SDGE utility, no money out of pocket and recieved almost 7k in federal tax credits! Great company to work with and for! There are a lot of local negative reviews by competition and unhappy customers! My customers are very happy and will provide referrals! Look at the whole picture, get the details and contact me when you are ready to join the movement! 858−405−4439

I am a satisfied Solar City customer.
Our sales person, Chad Starling was knowledgable, prompt and friendly. He listened to our needs/​wants and designed a system within our requests. The install went smoothly. We received our federal tax rebate and credited it towards our loan. Our rate paid per kw was then reduced to .12. My electric bill has since been in the negative every month. It feels great to use renewable energy and save money at the same time, a win-​win for us and future generations!

I deleted a comment from I assume a solar city agent … You may ask why. Well I know your people go thru a training and learn how to sell more and learn how to bring up sentences that at the time seem to be logic arguments. Nonetheless you are NOT a non profit organization — you actually want to make money — saying that I don’t know how you calculate things is very true! But trying to make it out as if you are Santa handing out presents and just doing a good deed to society … Well ho ho ho is really not so …

Poor communication and mis-​information from our sales guy «AJ» to start with. Then they sent out a roofer who left our yard littered with hundreds of nails, broken tile bits and tack and who also let out our dogs while they were working!
Now they want us to pay an additional $ 3,200 to buy solar from them because their sales guy failed to tell us they were putting composite on our roof, failed to tell them that i wanted to ask questions when i saw the composite on our roof, and failed to stop work on another house of ours!
AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

Anyone who is thinking of getting Solar in the San Diego area with Solar City, ask for the «Aries crew» they are awesome! Please use me as a reference…

Awful solar company. Awful customer service. We had a roof leak and two outside roof companies told us that it was solar cities fault. They wouldn’t fix the problem which leaves us out of pocket. Awful company. Awful. Please don’t ever get solar through them!

Hay solor city stop calling me to sell solor, I’ve told you dozens of times I have solor STOP calling

The sales people called and came over in person to sell me the whole going solar experience. Everything was great until we got down to the real truth. the bottom line. I will have to pay out of my pocket $ 19,000.00
If I move and the buyers of my home do not want to take over the lease or if I can not take the system with me due to the new home roof not qualify for solar, example I have the wrong type of roof, clay tile, wood shingles, or large shading trees.
THEY WILL NOT LET ME MOVE UNTIL THE BALANCE IS PAID IN FULL!!!
They guy told me not to worrie, I told him to put it in writing that I will be free if this situation comes up. They said it cannot be in writing. End of story…

For the past six years I’ve been the architectural committee point person for a San Diego Homeowners Association which has consistently supported both rooftop and ground mounted solar energy projects. Twenty per cent of our members have Association approved solar energy systems at their private residences, and more are anticipated.
SolarCity sales people have falsely advised our members that HOA approval is not necessary, or have promised ‘We’ll take care of everything.’ Members have been sent Association violation notices, and fines have been assessed because although the CALIFORNIA SOLAR RIGHTS ACT restricts HOAs from prohibiting solar, it does not supersede HOA governing document provisions requiring architectural applications.
SolarCity is the only solar company that has consistently resisted providing basic installation information to our members for inclusion with their applications. Both of the members currently ignoring carefully worded solar energy violation notices had panels installed by SolarCity. Other complaints from members who contracted with SolarCity appear to confirm that it may not be among the best companies to call for either information or quotes!

We have saved hundreds in months and my rep is the best! Meital Stotland you rock!
I was very nervous and sketable but my rep and the company are legit. The installation was simple, they moved through HOA quickly, they completed on-​time and they saved us lots of money. My rep checks in too. $ 0 down, 10K tax credit and all it took was time.

Let me start off by saying STAY AWAY FORM SOLAR CITY!!! We recently purchased a home that had a previous arrangement (with prior owners) with Solar City and instead of locking into a 20 year commitment with Solar City upon purchase we decided to have the panels removed at purchase of out home. Now that we are settled in we are deciding which solar company to go with and our first bid to place new panels on our roof informed us that when the prior panels were many roof tiles were damaged and the uninstall but Solar City was not performed correctly. Solar City left broken tiles and portions of their old brackets on our roof!!! We cannot proceed with another company until we have our roof fixed from Solar City’s shoddy work.
We have tried to resolve with Solar City on five occasions but cannot get a return phone call!
Trust me — GO WITH ANOTHER COMPANY — BAD SERVICE, BAD PRODUCT = STAY AWAY!- Solar City should change their name to Solar SHITTY!

I Just turned on solar today and it’s making so much energy that it’s feeding the grid. Finally, I don’t have to pay SDGE as much. I have had a great experience and if you are in San Diego ask for Konrad Chomik 619−261−3547 he was with us the entire time and explained everything. I am feeling green today :)

UPDATE12/​9/​15 — After waiting 8 ½ weeks, the repair we have been waiting on is complete. We ended up going around our original rep and calling in and speaking to Alex H. Alex H. was able to help us. It took a bit over a couple of weeks to get this issue resolved. We are still awaiting reimbursement that they said we would be getting — no status update on that.
We aren’t going to change the rating above two stars. I provided the good things that they have going for them and can still say the install and turn around time to get us setup was good in comparison to others we have heard about. However, the follow-​up customer service once you are up & running leaves a lot to be desired. Thank you Alex H. for getting the repair done!

I have nothing but great things to say about my experience with Solar City. I was apprehensive about going solar only because I didn’t want to get into a «bad deal». My Specialist, Stephen Pike was 100% on the ball and very willing to explain the whole process. He worked with me and my family to make sure we got exactly what we wanted. The whole process took a few months from start to finish and well worth it.
There can be many obstacles when upgrading electrical and we worked quickly through everything with the help of Smith Electric here in North County and Solar City. The installation team from Solar City was so professional. The Electrician from Smith Electric worked with my boyfriend, who is an Electrical Engineer, so that we could cut some costs and get the work done in a day. Now we have a new electrical panel board upgrade and lovely solar on our roof, killing two birds with one stone. I can’t wait for the savings and I really like the phone app. as well. Thank you Stephen Pike, Solar City and Smith Electrical, you are all top notch!

I am regretting my decision to go with Solar City and would recommend that you have your solar requirements taken care of by ANYONE else but Solar City. They have HORRIBLE customer service and follow up.
In the beginning like most companies who want your money they were fairly responsive. I had to push a bit to get things cleared up after the site inspection, but after that they came right out and installed my system. The job foreman had a few issues which he said would be resolved the next day. They did not have the right breaker for my panel and conduit on the roof that stands out was supposed to be moved or painted to blend in. Nothing happened. It took me calling and emailing over and over again to get it resolved. Then to top it off after the installation we had a rain storm and my roof leaked horribly! I have called and emailed numerous times and told it would be taken care of right away. It has been 2 months and still nothing. I call and they say «Sorry we will get right on it and have it fixed». Still nothing.
Don’t walk, RUN AWAY FROM SOLAR CITY! Use ANYONE else but them. Horrible customer service.

I really, really, really want to like Solar City. Unfortunately, my experience has been nothing but what appears to be a mis-​managed, no-​managed project. Its been 9 months since my first site survey. I was willing to overlook all of the start-​up related delays, assuming that once the panels were installed, things would get moving.
As of today — 39 days after the panels are installed, I am still waiting for the Chula Vista Building Dept Inspection. I am told that the city must be delayed — however, I think the issue is that the Solar City Project Manager has forgotten to apply for the inspection, just like the installation scheduler could not coordinate with the Roofer for months. I am a pretty reasonable and patient guy, but I have had roof tiles stacked all over my roof (cannot replace until after the inspection) for 6 weeks.
Solar City is good about spelling out the process — so the sad part is that after the Building Inspection (estimated time = 1 – 2 weeks — mine is at 6 weeks and counting), comes the SDGE inspection which could be another 3 – 4 weeks before things can get turned up.
The kicker is that once every 6 weeks I receive a phone call or email from a Solar City Sales guy asking me why I haven’t moved forward with my Solar City Install…
Bad Days happen in all businesses. I don’t write negative reviews on Unilocal unless my attempts to resolve the issue directly go on and on without resolution. That is the case with Solar City. I am writing this to let others know — if you select Solar City — be prepared to manage this company and its sea of anonymous people who seemingly have no concern yourself, and plan on your implementation taking a long, long time.
I do hope I can write a positive review on the results of the final install and how it was all worth it, sometime before 2016 or 2017.

My last review was on 4÷28÷15, as of 6÷3÷15 we finally got our PTO and our solar system has been turned on. That means it took 7 months from start to finish to get our solar turned on. Since then I have called SC customer service, submitted customer service requests on SC website and emailed customer service reps. Everyone I spoke to told me they have done everything they could possibly do. Waste of time. I ended up getting on Twitter in utter desperation for any sort of solution.
On May 22 I tweeted @SCE & @SolarCity asking for help, saying it had been over 6 months since installation and my system was still not activated. Both responded within minutes and 5 days later I received the Permission to Operate letter from SCE that we needed to activate our system! Coincidence? I think not. I don’t know where the blame lies in this case, but I can’t believe I got this resolved by turning to TWITTER of all places. If I knew I could get this resolved in 5 days by freaking tweeting about it, I would have done it a LOT sooner.
Hopefully everything goes smoothly from here on out but I am not holding my breath. Since my last review my husband and I talked with a friend who recently got into the solar industry, he told us that apparently SCE HATES Solar City and drags their feet on all Solar City projects. When I told this to a SC rep she said she «didn’t know why others in the industry were bad mouthing their company, but it isn’t true.» UM OBVIOUSLY my case proves that it IS true! I don’t know what SC did to piss SCE off but they better fix it before their business goes down the drain.

A wolf in sheep’s clothing. I’m coming up on 18 months and what started out as a green move to save energy and money has me seeing red. My solar contract states that if the energy produced by my roof exceeds Solar City’s estimate, I would have to pay $ 0.17/kwh. No big deal right? My goodness, these people should have this to a science, right?
Wrong. Each month of the year, Solar City underestimated my solar production so I have a gap in what I’ve overproduced, each month of the year. I now have to pay the difference because my system produced too much green energy? WTF? Why on God’s Green Earth would producing more Green Energy from a red tile rooftop that Solar City inspected, cost me more? Shouldn’t I have gotten a blue ribbon and a call from the White House?
Nope, I get a «true up» bill. Beware of this language. It should be called the «BS bill» It’s in the contract, but who would think that their estimates are understated? I guess there is a sucker born every minute. This was the bait and now I’m on their hook for 20 years.
There are a lot of positive feelings about Green Energy. I love the sun shing down on my roof, but now I’m rooting for more overcast days each month so my system doesn’t over-​produce! I know, right?
BEWARE, Savings are not what they appear. Green Energy = good, Solar City = Poor Suitor for the 20 year lease.

UPDATE ¹¹⁄₁₄: We’ve gotten through the entire process now, including city and SDGE inspection, and the system is operational. One of the unexpected perks of going with SolarCity was that their document submission to the utility qualified for fast-​track approval, beaning that the utility didn’t have to come out to do a physical inspection. Instead, they were able to approve it based upon the photographs submitted by SC. This is great because it cut about 7 working days from the approval process.
There’s a bit of a thrill that comes when you see your electric meter running backward, feeding solar energy back into the grid. SolarCity was great from start to finish, and I am confident in recommending this company if you are considering the switch to solar.