So I had heard and read many reviews of Sunlux, and I was quite impressed. It appeared that this was the kind of company that I wanted to install solar panels at my home. However, things got off to a rough start since it was hard to get a hold of a contact person. I had left both a written and voice message to the company, and I didn't get a call back after a week and a half. I decided to contact them again, and I was told that they had been experiencing "upgrade equipment problems"--fair enough. I scheduled an appointment, and our representative didn't show up. In my experience as a homeowner, this is a red flag from a contractor; never good. But, I wanted to reconcile all the stellar reviews with this company, and despite my better judgment, I gave them another chance. I called again, and the representative sounded contrite and embarrassed over how I had been treated and offered me a small discount should I accept their services. After finally meeting with Ryan Reyes, and hearing more apologies, I felt confident about contracting Sunlux . Ryan, by the way was very professional and sounded trustworthy. I quickly forgot about my initial contact with the company.
The entire job, from start to finish was a very slow, and often frustrating experience. From initial contact to final job completion, the whole project took almost five months, but in all fairness to Sunlux, in was not always because of their doing. I live in a section of Southern California that is served by LADWP, and apparently this utility company is rather particular about how they deal with solar panel companies, often making LADWP inspectors difficult to reach and schedule appointments. This in turn just causes projects to stretch out into many more additional weeks.
On a couple of occasions, several glitches came up, and I felt I got I caught between the LADWP and Sunlux to resolve problems. For example, there was a backyard tree in the way of the city power lines. The issue? Who was supposed to trim the tree? Amazingly, this took a couple of weeks to resolve. The whole thing was confusing and aggravating to me.
For the most part, my project manager kept me apprised about the progress of my project. She kept in touch through email, and she quickly got back to me about questions I would submit. However, as the project stretched out because of some unforeseen problems, I would hear less from her, and so I would have to call to get updates. Toward the end, I was having to make a lot of calls to get information. On one occasion, a worker showed up to fix a major problem with the installation location of the panel inverter. I had not been made aware that there was even a problem. I found it necessary to contact a supervisor and to request to be kept better informed of such things. This snafu eventually extended my project even more. However, in the end, everything was made right.
At this point I have to state the following. First, it is not my intention to write a negative review--on the contrary, this report ends quite favorably--please read on. I simply want to describe what occurred. Second, every time I had to contact ANYBODY at Sunlux, I was always treated with captive ears, and was always treated kindly, professionally and with courtesy.
In the final analysis, I have two crucial questions that address the bottom line for my money: did Sunlux stand behind its work, and correct any problems, glitches or fixes that came up during the job?, and does the Sunlux system designed for my house produce the amount of energy that was projected to be generated on my contract? To answer the first question: yes. Although it took much longer than I had ever expected, Sunlux was very complete and careful with anything that came a long the way. All workers who came to my house were clean and professional. I might add--and this is worth noting for any reputable contractor--Sunlux did not ask for their final payment until the very last fix was completed; good for them. And as to my second question, from the preliminary data I'm getting from our system, it appears my system is producing what we had expected, although I won't know for sure for several months, until I get more complete data. This, I think will be the absolute bottom line. After all, this is the reason we choose to go solar, correct? Also, least I forget, if the system does not produce the kilowatt hours Sunlux was hoping for, how well will its promise to pay the difference to customers play out?
Would I recommend Sunlux to friends, family and to others? Absolutely. Are they a worry-free company? No. I don't think there is such a thing, but I think they represent a young company with a potential to become a truly outstanding solar company. From speaking with many Sunlux employees over the last few months, I feel they are sincere and honest.
I hope they take the time to read this. read more