American Array was great up until we signed the contract and paid the deposit. After that, it was a mess, including American Array damaging my roof and refusing to take responsibility for it.
Initially, we were really excited about American Array. We started talking with them in January 2023. They offered a very competitive price for a high quality product. Our sales person was knowledgeable and very patient to explain our different technology options (e.g., solar panel brands, sunlight backup, battery storage). Another selling point for us was that American Array is licensed for both roofing and solar work, so we thought we could depend on them to protect the integrity of the roof--we were wrong.
Once we signed the contract and paid the $1000 deposit, things started to go awry. We had told American Array there were a few specific parts of the roof where we didn't want the panels, but in February and March they presented us with multiple designs in those areas we wanted to avoid. After about four tries, they finally gave us the design that met the constraints we had specified--which was fortunate because the designer told us he couldn't make any more designs for us because he was already spending too much time on our project. I understand that they were probably overworked to process all the last-minute projects that came through under NEM 2, but it's not my fault they repeatedly ignored our design constraints!
The installation seemed to go smoothly enough, but American Array damaged our roof and really put up a fight to deny responsibility. Over a few days in July, American Array installed the panels, performed two quality inspections, passed the city inspection, and connected us to the grid.
American Array said the job was complete and started asking for the final payment, but before we paid, we asked our roofer to inspect the roof to make sure everything was fine. Our roofer found over 40 nails strewn about the roof, including some that had damaged our roof--likely from being stepped on. Even after two more quality checks (making four quality checks total so far), American Array was saying everything was fine, there was no damage to the roof, and they insisted that we should pay in full. I repeatedly explained my concerns about the roof damage and offered to pay the invoice less the amount to fix the damage, but they refused my offer. I showed American Array pictures of the damage, but they insisted there was no damage until my roofer told them in very specific terms what the damage was and how to fix it, at which point American Array changed their story: they said they didn't know if there was damage because we hadn't let them do a quality check--despite that they had already done four at that point and multiple people at American Array insisted there was no damage. One more quality check later (making five total), American Array finally acknowledged the damage, but said it could be made "good as new" with a wet patch, which would be covered under the 30-year roof damage warranty that came as part of my solar contract. I asked American Array to confirm this warranty in writing, at which point American Array said the wet patch would be covered only by a 5-year warranty--which I explained to them was not acceptable as it was less than the warranty on my roof.
After about a week of back and forth with American Array, I decided it wasn't worth the time and stress to keep arguing and just wanted to move on with my life. I decided to accept the $300 adjustment that American Array offered "as a courtesy," despite it covering less than half of the cost to repair the roof damage.
In summary, lessons learned:
- American Array prioritized selling me a product over quality installation and customer service.
- American Array overstated their expertise as roofers--it was mostly a marketing tool.
- American Array gaslighted me and cut corners to save themselves a few hundred dollars at the expense of my roof's integrity.
- Always have a third party roofer inspect your roof after a solar installation.
- Budget at least $800 for roof repairs after the solar installation. read more