We have worked with American Solar in the past and had a good experience with Joel, the owner, and…read morehis assistant, but it appears the company has changed. This week a different crew came to replace some insulation and to install a "critter guard" to keep animals out from under our panels. When they left, the price of the work was more than 40% higher than what was in the written, itemized estimate. I spoke with Joel, the owner. He told me that the cost of a both the service call and labor had increased, but no explanation was provided for the failure to update the quote. The main increase in the invoice came from the labor time, which was nearly twice what was originally quoted. I asked if the crew was inexperienced so it took them longer, and he told me that he had sent an experienced team who knew what they were doing. They had called him during the work, however, to report that they were slipping on the roofing shingles, so it took nearly twice the usual time to finish the job. They had even tried to use some kind of a safety harness, but it failed to solve the problem. I told Joel that it would have been appropriate for the workers to tell the client that they were not feeling safe on the roof before the work was begun. I never would have allowed anyone to continue working on a roof they claimed was dangerous. Joel then told me this was an inexperienced crew who were unable to assess conditions on the roof until they were well into the job, and at that point, they couldn't really stop working. In sum, I was told that the crew was experienced enough to work efficiently, but they took four hours to complete the job. I was then told they were so inexperienced that they spent those four hours slipping and sliding around on our roof, but we heard no sounds of this inside the house, and nobody informed us there was a problem until it was time to pay. I was told that American Solar decided, without informing us, the homeowners, that they would continue installing materials on a roof that their workers had reported was unsafe. Even setting aside the contradictory statements, we find it difficult to believe that an established company would disregard both safety and liability in this manner. No offer was made to honor the quoted pricing. No offer was made to honor the quoted labor cost. I was simply thanked for my "feedback" and told that "this is why it's called an estimate." We were charged $1200 for 30 feet of insulation and wire guards to keep squirrels from nesting under two solar panels. We paid the invoice in full, an expensive lesson learned. We will use another company for any future needs.

Joel and his assistant were wonderful! We have an old system of thin film (not installed by them)…read moreand yet they detached the broken strip, reconnected the wires, reset the system- which was not easy- and got us up and running again. All this on the day of the Climate Summit...how fitting! :)