When we learned that the 30% tax credit was expiring on home solar, we decided to look into getting…read morea system. The cost of electric is pretty high in Florida and our usage is high as well, so we figured it would be a wise investment, especially considering the tax credit.
I honestly didn't know much about solar so I did a bunch of research on equipment and companies and wound up going with Tesla. I figured, pretty reputable company, should get the job done no problem. This was back in August.
For a solar system to be eligible for the tax credit it had to be producing energy by December 31st 2025. I received assurances from my contact at Tesla that the deadline should not be a problem. But as we got closer to the fall, I started to get concerned because they were getting harder to reach and the "don't worry" promises I got earlier turned into "we unfortunately cannot guarantee an installation date". And their customer agreement does not guarantee an installation date, despite the verbal promises I received.
In early October I decided to pull the plug on Tesla, not wanting to get a solar system and at the last minute being ruled ineligible for the tax credit. I then started shopping around locally, and after checking out a few companies I decided to go with ProSolar. I was impressed with their team and reputation, and they worked with me to allay my concerns regarding the tax credit. They specifically wrote into our agreement that everything would be operational by the end of the year and if it wasn't I would be able to cancel with no obligation.
As the process went forward, communication was not the greatest, however I did have my guarantee that I could cancel if need be and in the end, they did get the system installed right on time. Actually we only had a few hours to spare, as the first day of energy generation was December 31st - right at the deadline. One hiccup, one worker out sick, one logistical issue, and it would have gotten a little messy.
I do want to mention that there was one employee in particular that was essential in moving things along and that was Regina. Without her constantly checking with different departments and employees I don't think the job would have been completed on time. So kudos to her.
Finally as a piece of advice to ProSolar I want to offer some feedback, namely, that it would probably be beneficial to customers if they had something like a dedicated project ambassador to keep people informed about what's going on. I often felt like I was in the dark about the timeline and got the feeling that if I wasn't pestering the office about getting things done, they might not have met the deadline. Additionally once the system was up and running, nobody did a follow-up. I had to reach out multiple times to find out what the next steps were and ultimately I had to wait for a guy to come by and explain how everything worked and to show me how to configure and monitor the app.
A whole house solar array is a pretty big project, and as someone who's never had solar, it would have been nice if they would have been more proactive with the outreach. The system is great and the workers were great and competent, I just feel like a little more personal attention would have been good considering the scale of the project.
In the end I give them four stars and would recommend them if you're looking into a solar project. Although with the tax credit now expired, there's probably much less incentive for people to do so.
