About a year and a half ago my husband and I got Solar City for our house. That first process went well and we had no complaints. We even referred people to them. After we got roommates we saw that we were going to have to expand the system so we contacted Solar City to get that done. It took several attempts over a 3 month period to finally get someone to follow up with us. But we finally got connected to a Sales person to help us. He explained that the process was pretty much the same and that a second account would be opened. When I expressed concern about this he said it was no problem. Once the system was up all I had to do was call Billing and they would merge the bills. The installation seemed to go fine and on July 1 we were finally told we could turn the system on. When we did we got an error that it could not connect to the grid. We called support and they opened a ticket and after working with my husband determined there was a part missing and they needed get it installed. They told us they would escalate the ticket. We never heard back. In the mean time I started getting calls and emails from them saying my monitoring service was off line. I asked one of the people that called about the open ticket and she said she would find out and have someone get back to me. No one ever did. My husband had to call back 3 times before finally getting a hold of someone who could get us a status. The status was that the ticket had been just sitting there in queue being ignored the last few weeks. He escalated it properly and at the very end of July we finally got our part. Why was there even a missing part in the first place? Well, during the install the part was bad. A ticket was opened to have a tech come out and install the part. It was assigned to a tech. The tech, rather than do his job simply closed the ticket out. Now it is the beginning of August and I still have not gotten a bill for the new service so I can call and have the bills merged. I call Solar City (wait time 45min-1hour wait time) to inquire and am told I will not get a bill the first month. About 2 weeks into August I finally get a bill. It is for July and August and is already 2 weeks late. I call the Billing department to find out what the issue is (45min-1hour wait time) and to get my bills merged. I also want credit for July since the service was not working that month. I get told several things: 1. Solar City can't merge bills. Their billing system can't do that. But we offer auto withdrawal from your checking account (I declined as this is a major security risk to myself. I don't really care if other people are willing to take that risk I am not). 2. They can't give me credit because that is "not how their billing system works". They can only give credit at the end of the year if my system fails to generate the Watt Hours they promised. 3. They have no idea why I was not receiving bills but they don't charge late fees so it's "no big deal" The person I talked to would not let me speak to a supervisor and then gave me a phony Customer Service number to call. I had to Google the correct number to call. I call the Customer Service line (45min-1 hour wait time). I am finally connected to a supervisor who tells me again that she is sorry but can't help me but will try to find out if there is a work around for my billing issue. Why do I need the bills merged you may ask. Well, like most people I use online bill pay through my bank and if I try to set up an account that shares the same account number, name or address with another account the system thinks it is the same account and merges them. When it merges them I lose all the payment history. About a week later I do get a call back from the manager I spoke with who said she still had not found a solution but would follow up again. I never heard back from her again. Instead about a week later (the end of August early September) I heard from Solar City's collections department asking me if I would like to pay my now 3 month's overdue bill. After talking to that supervisor he agreed to take me out of collections and refer me to the corporate office. I have never heard from anyone else since. I was still getting emails intermittently about my monitoring service however. I told them to about my issue over email and again they apologized and said they would forward my issue to billing. I still have never heard a word from anyone, and I still can't pay my bill. What I want is credit for the month I did not get service. This should not be hard it is what any other company would do for a customer. I also want to come up with some compromise that works for me so I can pay my bill. I have offered to make 2 payments if I can get Solar City to give me a different address to send the second bill to. It's the only other option I have at this point if the bills cannot be merged. Ultimately, Solar CIty should be able to create a master account I can be read more

Wanted a well known energy company to install a powerful solar power system in our house and replace the main electrical panel. I got in contract with Tesla on November 23, 2022 to install (20) 450 Watts panels with mini-inverters (new technology) and install a new service electrical main panel 200A solar capable. Tesla unbeknown to me hired LA Solar, LA Solar hired someone in San Diego to install the solar system, someone else for the panel upgrade and another company for the stucco. These companies (except Tesla) are based off Los Angeles and I am in San Diego. A week after contract was signed, LA Solar sent a message to notify me they were going to show up 2 days later to install the solar equipment. Without pulling a permit with SDG&E or absolutely nothing. I asked if they were sure because time line was insane to me and this process usually take between 4-5 months. Appointment came and nobody showed up. 2nd appointment was set, no show. 3rd appointment with 8-10am eta: nobody showed up. I called and raised hell. One person showed up 1pm. He informed me he was just hired. Installed rails and several panels, a 2nd guy showed up at 4:30pm after he got out from his regular job to come help his friend. 5:30pm they come out, informed me installation wasn't complete because since 1st guy had never installed a system like this, they had to dismount panels, flip them and reinstalled up to 5 panels. Garbage was left behind. Informed he was coming back next day. Next day and over 1.5-2 weeks passed, nobody showed up. The day he left I received a message from LA Solar saying that now the the installation was "complete" they will notify me of next step. I told them installation was far from complete and informed of what had happened. 4th app was set, same unskilled guy showed up again very late. Said he completed reminder 25 panels in about 2 hrs. I contacted supervisor and instruct them to come inspect everything because I vet it was bad and risky. Weeks later the boss came, saw the mess. Came back weeks later with 2 other guys and re-wired panels and what not up there. I get a message from LAS to inform they were showing up next day to meet City Inspector to inspect panel installation. I informed them the panel had not been installed yet, SDG&E had not fielded the property, City Inspection had not issue permit either. I asked them to cancel appt immediately. Contacted Tesla and informed them of the horrible experience and in desperate need of their intervening since the company they hired had zero idea of how to install solar panels or further less a main electrical panel. They intervened. Luckily I had already applied myself on November directly with SDG&E for the solar install and panel upgrade, I obtained the project number and cc'ed LA Solar and Tesla throughout communications with SDG&E. One day, I asked LA Solar when they were going to replace the panel, they said they had not receive approval from SDG&E, I informed them they were notified and approved 1.5 weeks ago. Installation was scheduled 1-2 weeks later. Installers showed up early, he wrongly called City Inspector and SDG&E to show up to inspect and re-connect if approved way to early. Inspector and SDG&E showed, inspector failed the faulty grounds and panel wiring installation. Inspector ordered them how to do it, he told me to fire them because they had no clue of that what they were doing. Installer re-did his work as per Inspector instructions. He missed deadline 3pm for inspector to return and SDG&E to reconnect. He texted pictures of finished work by 5:00 pm, inspector approved via text. Installer left and left me without a generator to take us through the night as the inspector and SDG&E told me it was the law. Next morning SDG&E showed up, nobody here to ensure the re-connecting was safe and good, got re-connected to the grid and SDG&E crew stayed with me to ensure no electrical fire was developing. I had to flip all the breakers, several kitchens outlets not working now. They never r turn to fix their mess. I hired electrician to rewire my outlets at the panels so I could have electricity in the kitchen. Server to monitor the system was not provided but after I contacted Tesla to ask, they finally send it 1 month later vs the day the panels were installed. Refused to give me my log in and password information or what website or app to use despite the fact I received invoice saying it was paid in full ($50,000.00 project with loan closed/approved). Received message system is still not working, keep being told about a future appointment, no appointment. This company LA Solar and their installers are incompetent, a wreck and have no clue of what they are doing. Still not completed 09/17/2023. Very frustrating that I went with who I thought was a top notch company with solar energy, only to be paired to a very unskilled, incompetent 3rd party company. Tesla should be a lot more aware of who they sell their jobs or tell the customers read more

UPDATE: Hurricane Ian just finished up here in Tampa bay, 215K lost power, we had solar from the Tesla system the whole time. We made sure the battery was fully charged before it hit, and turned off the pool and hot water tank to reduce our usage. Power went out at 1:23 on Sept 28, we were watching the storm on TV, we had no idea the power went out until later when our next door neighbor came over and let us know it was out. We were the only house on the block that night with outside lights on. The Powerwall 2+ provided power all night, we had AC no problem, next morning the Solar Panels started recharging and were again at 100% by 10:00AM charged even with light overcast. When the Power was restored we had no idea that it had come back on until we looked at the Tesla app and we could see the grid was back. The system was automatic, and seamless. Instantaneous switching from grid to the battery, to the solar panels, or a combination to provide what was needed. Also the panels are installed to withstand hurricane force winds. We had no problems. For the money I could not be happier. I have the Tesla Solar panels, and the Tesla Powerwall 2+ up and running 11.6KWh Ordered it in January 2022, installed in April 2022, Inspected in June 2022, Permission to operate from Duke September 2022. The whole process was flawless from start to finish. My Tesla advisers were quick to answer texts and email, they would call if further clarification was required. Permits were handled real fast. I can say there were no lagging problems at all. The crew that arrived was solid gold. They were happy friendly and knew their job. We stayed out of their way and it was installed in one day. The installation was immaculate, perfect job. The electrician did a beautiful install. One reason to go with the Tesla Powerwall2+ is that it is a string inverter, meaning that the power is only converted once by one converter. The power coming from the Solar Panels is DC, it goes into the battery as DC, or right into the inverter, the inverter changes it into AC, then to the house or grid. This is more efficient as each time it is converted from DC to AC there is a loss. String inverters use one inverter. Line inverters convert solar to AC then to a battery which means it has to convert it to DC this loses 20% through heat. Since I had a battery I was able to operate in a self powered mode, and produced about 75% overall of my power needs. I only got one power wall which is plenty for running the house for 12 hours at night time. I held off on getting a pair because here in Florida one can always count on the Sun. Now that I am able to export to the grid I am able to offset more of my usage so I have KWh that I use to supplement the battery at night or when the storms block the sun. For instance is I use 10KWh from 7:30PM till 6:00AM I am able to return that 10KWh to the grid and show a low usage for the day. Anything left over at the end of one year I get a check or a credit. Net metering only charges you for what you use minus what you generate back to the grid. If you are thinking of getting a Max sized system think again. Look at the point of diminishing returns. My Pool consumes a good part of my out put, and well as the kids taking long showers. Make sure you can cover your averages. So if your bills are lets say 22,000 KWH per year, shoot for a system about that size. Most of the time you are using far less than your max. I am shooting for about am 88-90% offset on my power. This will pay itself back in 6.5 years, less if the cost of power rises. Use my referral link to purchase Solar Roof or Solar Panels and get a $300 award upon system activation: https://ts.la/christopher575723 read more

I have ZERO to say bad about this company and nothing but amazement at how competent they are. Their attention to customer satisfaction starts with clearly stating things in the contract like "we place no lien against your home". It's extremely customer friendly to not pursue having any kind of lien, and they know that by stating it very clearly in their contract. The contracts are available for download on SolarCity's web site. If anyone is interested, I strongly recommend downloading them and reading them. Yes, it's boring legalese. However you'll get many of your questions/concerns answered by the contracts and you'll be in a much more informed position to ask much more informed questions of the sales person when you see him/her. Like me, you'll probably also find one or two things in the contract that might make you concerned about "do I need to worry about this?", and you can talk it through with the sales person. Just remember that SolarCity places no lien against your home, so that essentially answers a lot of potential questions one might envision when it comes to something like selling your home. I have never ever seen a company rely upon wireless technology for efficiency as much as this company. SolarCity has near-zero "paper"work. Practically EVERYTHING is done electronically even between their own workers. The sales person will do a cursory review of your home/roof and then show you a simulation on his/her computer of where they can place the panels and how much power they'll generate during the various months of the year. The sales person will use a satellite view of your home's roof. After telling the salesperson you're willing to proceed, they then schedule a site inspector to come out. The site inspector will do the in-depth site evaluation and documentation to make sure there won't be any "gotchas" to get in the way of the planned installation. All that "documentation" is done entirely electronically through things like taking pictures using their company cell phones and apps. When the site inspector left our house, I noticed he was sitting out in his truck working for a short while before finally driving off. Within about 1/2 hour after the inspector walked out of our house and went to his truck, I received an email from the company saying everything was fine with our site inspection and we were good to go. So the inspector had filed everything electronically and the company had jumped on the approval. Just yesterday afternoon the crew was out to install the panels, inverter, etc. A five man team to install 12 panels and the associated inverter, etc. Took them about 3 to 3.5 hours. All extremely polite and professional. Safety is also extremely important to SolarCity. They'll use that yellow "caution" tape to mark off "stay out" areas around your home where if, for example, they were to accidentally drop a bolt or something in might come flying down off the roof at hit someone. SolarCity also requires them to wear tethered harnesses while working up on the roof to protect them from accidentally falling off the roof. Cynics can say that's all for insurance purposes, but there are plenty of contractors who don't worry about that level of safety for their workers. SolarCity is a definite combination of customer friendly and efficient. And for anyone who might not know this, SolarCity is a sister company to Tesla (the electric vehicle company). Addendum: City inspector just left. No problems with the installation. He said he never sees any problems with the SolarCity installations. read more

I ordered an 8 kW solar panel system with 2 Powerwalls in mid May and had my system installed 5 weeks later. I didn't have to wait long on hold any of the 6+ times I called in with questions throughout the process. Everyone I spoke with on the phone or dealt with in person on the survey and install days were friendly and helpful. Everyone was on time to every appointment that was set between the virtual notary session for permits, to site survey, to install. My installation was done by 2 crews and complete within 8 hours on a single day. My experience may be atypical due to my region and how close I am located to a Tesla Energy office. Tesla has not delayed at all in scheduling parts of the process, collecting permits, having my county perform the post-install inspection, etc. There were a few things I wasn't sure about until installation day that I think Tesla could improve on. I will list these as separate points below. One of the times that I called in and spoke to a representative, I was told that the aesthetic trim pieces for the solar panels were an optional extra cost. They didn't tell me what the cost was, and left me to assume that someone would contact me at some point and ask if I wanted it. When the crew came on install day, they told me that it was included and that they'd be installing it. My design originally had me getting a SolarEdge inverter according to a different representative that I spoke to one of the other times that I called in with questions. I was not sure whether I'd get a Powerwall 2 or Powerwall+. On the install day the crew showed up with a Powerwall+ (so no SolarEdge inverter for my system) and a Powerwall 2 to complete my x2 Powerwall order. My design originally had my Powerwalls going outside by my utility company's meter. The site survey technician told me that they should be able to put it on the opposite side of that same wall (therefore inside my garage), and that the cost difference should not be much. He added to the notes from the survey that I wanted them installed in a different place than the design depicted. Nobody contacted me to discuss this, but the crew checked with me when they arrived the morning of the install. They said it was trivial for them to accommodate what I wanted, so they did install it inside my garage. However they mentioned that if I were to ask for them to install them in a more complicated area, there could have been extra costs (a $2,000 fee was mentioned). I saw some text at the time that I place the order, or in some documents during the initial phase of the project (before design), that hidden conduit was an added cost option. I was interested in this, but nobody discussed it with me. I asked the site survey tech to include this in his notes. Again, nobody discussed it with me. To be fair, I think I forgot to call in and explicitly ask about it. The roof crew lead discussed it with me the morning of the install. I wanted the conduit going between the panels and the inverter (running down the side of my home) to go through the roof and come out the soffit, instead of wrapping around the outside edge of the roof (where gutters would be). They didn't have the kit used for having conduit enter the roof, and therefore could not accommodate this. I'm working with Tesla to see if they will be able to correct this after the fact once they have the kit/supplies. read more

The process of starting to go Solar started a year ago when I first encountered SolarCity at the San Diego Home and Garden Show. A representative came to my home and presented various options including the Lease and Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) options that were fair and viable. However, I wanted to do further research and sat on my proposal. I was finally approached by another representative named Evan B. who proceeded to tell me about a new program called MyPower, where ownership happened from Day 1 and my monthly utility bill would essentially be a loan payment stretched over a 30 year period with no pre-payment penalty. As with the Lease/PPA, there was Zero down and no out-of-pocket costs! The system that was quoted for me would take my $500/month utility bill down to $150/month, and after reinvesting the federal energy credit into my loan, the monthly payments would be even lower! Evan was extremely knowledgeable and helpful, and most importantly, I felt that he not only genuinely believed in the product he was selling, but he was also willing to listen to my concerns and address all my reservations without applying any undue pressure to make a quick start. As a result, I signed on and the process has been smooth and efficient, with a site survey, the actual installation which only took one day, and the subsequent inspection by both the city and SolarCity consultant. I am happy to say that today, I turned on my system for the first time and I'm looking forward to many years of savings and production of green Solar Energy that will help me to save on my utility bill and also help the environment! I want to give a special thanks to the crew that came here to make the installation happen. They came on January 25th, and the crew team name is "EXODUS", led by Team Leader Luis and included David, Alex, Rene, and George. These guys arrived at 7:30 am but waited outside my home and didn't want to disturb me until 8:00 am to start. They were quick, efficient, professional, and they're work ethic was unbelievable! I was in doubt that such a large system coupled with the high pitch of 40 degrees on the upper roof would allow them to complete the job in one day, but this is precisely what happened! In fact, Luis who was responsible for managing all the main electrical components didn't even eat lunch as he was so focused on his work! Today, Rafael Z., the Regional Supervisor came out to double check all of the wiring and commented on how clean all of the connections were and how this team paid special attention to detail to make this install the superb job that it is! Major Kudos to Team EXODUS for such an awesome job, and I am so grateful they were able to accomplish everything with such speed, efficiency, and most importantly, QUALITY! I understand and appreciate the minutiae of fine detail, and I am greatly satisfied with what I've seen! I made a little comment about painting the metal pipes the same color as my fuse box and Rafael the Regional Supervisor is returning this week to paint it....now that's service! read more

We started looking at Solar City based upon checking out a friend's system from them. We are very conservation oriented and the cost benefit ratio to build and own our own system was not there. A number of local solar vendors told us we don't use enough power to bother. Until we talked to Solar City. We have a PPA agreement with Solar City, which has zero upfront cost and zero maintenance costs. We told Solar City they could use our roof, if we could buy the power for less than PG&E was charging us. What is wrong with that...nothing! I am truly surprised by the negative ratings & comments here. I think a lot of people never read what is presented to them. All the information we received and signed was (and still is) consistent with what we were told, what was done and what has been going on for the 11.5 months our system has been operational. Out of curiosity, I just went and looked at our original contract with Solar City. The contractual projection of our first year's usage is within 45kwh total of what we are likely to use, this first full year. Therefore our $89.00 monthly Solar City bill is within $2.00 of our actual average usage. Our "true-up" with PG&E will likely reflect a cost of about $10.00 month. Therefore we will save about 15-20% in our energy costs this first year. And PG&E new rates increases are 2-3 times higher than the contracted annual step increases with Solar City. Our contract is clear and consistent with what took place. The site inspection and engineering inspection provided a better design than we expected. The installation crew provided a cleaner installation than the engineering drawings called for. A supply crew dropped off the panels the evening before and the crew arrived at 7:30 AM the next morning. They worked like clockwork and left zero debris behind. They put in a long day, but they did not leave until it was 100% done. Yes, we had to wait about 3-4 weeks for the installation once plans were signed off. This seemed to be related to too many people signing up in Spring 2013. The installation crew came from over 100 miles away and there was a wait for enough panels to become available to schedule the install. Every business should have this problem. When the city building inspector was scheduled, a Solar City inspection specialist was here 30 minutes before the inspector. The Solar City guy needed to change and add one warning sticker on our inside electric panel. The city inspector did a complete examination of the system and was very pleased. PG&E takes their own sweet time changing out the meter and letting us activate the system. But that is not Solar City's fault. I can look at our power generation hourly on my desktop. I can check our net negative or positive flow at our PG&E meter whenever I want to look. I would gladly do this all again, knowing what I know now. I wonder how many of the complainers on Yelp work for competing companies. Because a large number of them did not buy a system. They just complained about Solar City's presentation. read more

It has been a nightmare with the SolarCity experience. SolarCity installed 60 solar panels on my roof on January 20, 2017. The following day, it rained. I found out there was a leak in my master bedroom, and the walls of the drywall started to get signs of moisture. My theater room ceiling drywall started to have water marks, and looked like it was ready to fall at any time. I also found out that I had 6 to 8 other leaks inside my attic right below where the panels had been installed. SolarCity came to the house that night and tried to patch up holes on the roof and placed a tarp on my roof. When they left, the leak in my master bedroom and the leaks inside the attic were still there. I then found more leaks in the attic. I called a water restoration company, to come to the house and check for moisture. Using their infrared camera, they found there was moisture all over my second floor. My second floor is 2300 sq. ft. My whole house is 5000 sq. ft. They said that they would have to remove the drywall and I would have to pack up most items on my second floor to store it somewhere else for them to work. SolarCity promised to come the following day, Saturday, but they did not come. On Sunday it rained hard again, and I called them again. They went to the house and tried to fix the problem and placed another tarp. Their crew went home, unable to fix the problem for the 2nd time. There were still leaks in my attic. I personally placed 6 buckets in my attic and my master bedroom. They came back a 3rd time, placed a tarp again, but the leaking continues and moisture keeps building up. I told them to have a roofer fix the problem. I reported the problem to the company, and I was passed around from one customer service rep to the next. They kept telling me they would take care of the leaks at my house. It has been 7 days now. The leaks have not been fixed and SolarCity has not dried the moisture in my attic and rooms. SolarCity's warranty and repair service is very poor. They have good salesmen but very poor service. SolarCity's repairmen are not qualified to perform any roof repairs. I also received a letter from their insurance company that SolarCity cannot send a contractor to do the repairs. The fastest way to repair is for me to find a contractor myself. Now i have to find a contractor to do the repair . SolarCity has passed me around to different people. They never gave me a dedicated representative to look over the project, or any specific contact person to make decisions on the scheduling of repairs. I have e-mailed the salesperson, the warehouse manager, their installation crew, customer service and other departments to no avail. If you need to contact me, you may email me at nilostuart@yahoo.com. I hired a company to tarp my whole 2200sq roof., and my roof is not repaired yet. it has been almost 3 weeks now. My ceilings are opened and i cannot close it till i get a roofer to fix my roof. I need help please. N. STUART nilostuart@yahoo.com read more

3/16/2018 Beware of Solar City 'shills' approaching you in places like Home Depot, or any other businesses who sell products to homeowners! We signed up for solar a few years ago, with the understanding that our energy bill would be $190.00 per month for 20 years. No matter how much PG&E tried to rip us off with increased fees, we were assured by Solar City, (the superhero), that their fee would never change. Well, here's the deal: Solar City did not inform us of the fact that PG&E would, legally, have the right to charge a 'true-up' fee after their fees increased. We have had no choice but to pay them and, these fees have now surpassed $1000.00 per year! Basically, at this point, we aren't even saving enough to warrant the hassle of solar energy. We complained, vociferously, to Solar City that they should have informed us of this immensely important fact before we signed their contract. When we asked their posse of salespeople in the stores about 'true-up', they had no idea what we were talking about! Now, the final insult to the unwary buyer...Our latest bill from Solar City includes a 'true-up' of $297.81 from THEM!! We are now paying these rip-off fees to both PG&E and Solar City. Having just completed a call to their Draper, UT office in which the innocent phone rep commiserated with us, but, informed us that, yes, our home would have a lien against it, etc, if we chose not to pay the mother of all rip-offs! Our system has always produced more power than we use because we have no trees or other impediments to shield the sunlight. What changed? The only response we received from our protest was...read the fine print and pay the bill or suffer the consequences. Somewhere in that contract, there must be a phrase that deals with 'true-up'. What does it say about a company whose very sales people deny having any knowledge about 'true-up'? They pound it home, emphatically, that the true value of their business model is 20 years of a constant fee, based on your energy history. What has become of honest business deals where you do not have to worry about the "gotcha" clause?! The sales person went over the contract page by page explaining the "wonderful" deal for which we were signing. Somehow this extra frosting for Solar City wasn't important enough to let the customer know? I can almost hear the laments and ridicules of those who protest.."should have read the fine print". "should have had a lawyer look at it"...Well, we didn't!! We requested that Solar City come here and reclaim their panels and equipment since (in our opinion) they have broken their contract. Oh no, this cannot happen since we have a contract with them for the next several years, up to 20...SAD!! End of story for now. Please take a hard look if you are considering signing up with Solar City. They have gotten a huge chunk of the market, but, the 'chickens are coming home to roost', and, we're not the only ones out there who have just seen the dawn of a 'new' deal. read more

BAD BUSINESS I DON'T recommend SolarCity to anyone. It has been a nightmare with the SolarCity experience. SolarCity installed 60 solar panels on my roof on January 20, 2017. The following day, it rained. I found out there was a leak in my master bedroom, and the walls of the drywall started to get signs of moisture. My theater room ceiling drywall started to have water marks, and looked like it was ready to fall at any time. I also found out that I had 6 to 8 other leaks inside my attic right below where the panels had been installed. SolarCity came to the house that night and tried to patch up holes on the roof and placed a tarp on my roof. When they left, the leak in my master bedroom and the leaks inside the attic were still there. I then found more leaks in the attic. I called ServPro, a water restoration company, to come to the house and check for moisture. Using their infrared camera, they found there was moisture all over my second floor. My second floor is 2300 sq. ft. My whole house is 6000 sq. ft. They said that they would have to remove the drywall and I would have to pack up most items on my second floor to store it somewhere else for them to work. SolarCity promised to come the following day, Saturday, but they did not come. On Sunday it rained hard again, and I called them again. They went to the house and tried to fix the problem and placed another tarp. Their crew went home, unable to fix the problem for the 2nd time. There were still leaks in my attic. I personally placed 6 buckets in my attic and my master bedroom. They came back a 3rd time, placed a tarp again, but the leaking continues and moisture keeps building up. I told them to have a roofer fix the problem. I reported the problem to the company, and I was passed around from one customer service rep to the next. They kept telling me they would take care of the leaks at my house. It has been 7 days now. The leaks have not been fixed and SolarCity has not dried the moisture in my attic and rooms. SolarCity's warranty and repair service is very poor. They have good salesmen but very poor service. SolarCity's repairmen are not qualified to perform any roof repairs. I also received a letter from their insurance company that SolarCity cannot send a contractor to do the repairs. The fastest way to repair is for me to find a contractor myself. I have proof of all of this. SolarCity has passed me around to different people. They never gave me a dedicated representative to look over the project, or any specific contact person to make decisions on the scheduling of repairs. I have e-mailed the salesperson, the warehouse manager, their installation crew, customer service and other departments to no avail. If you need to contact me, you may email me at nilostuart@yahoo.com. If you know of an attorney to help me please let me know. N. STUART read more

Couldn't be happier with my Solar City panels. The first day they were up and running they generated over 40kwh; that is about one tenth of my monthly usage in one day for this time of year. I will be banking plenty of credits for the summer months in Tucson. Elon Musk who started SolarCIty has taken the problems with solar power, namely the cost and battery storage, and created a system where everyone wins. I read some of the other reviews where people have had problems. Whenever people and other companies, like the power companies whose prophets are infringed and city building code overseers are involved there is likely going to be a problem. At the end of the day, the results are what count. If you have problems, persevere; you will get through it and enjoy the results. I had pretty good communication throughout the process. Most of the delays occurred due to the inspections involved. Sales rep was great. Installers arrived when they said they would and did the entire install in one day, working late to finish. The panels will save me about 10-15% over my normal power bill on average throughout the year. While that might not seem like much, over the life of the system, that will really add up. In my part of the country, the annual SolarCity increase is 3% per year. Trying to evaluate that increase in comparison to the power company increases is difficult. I have not found a simple chart saying this is the average increase of the power company over the last five years. This is likely because the way they charge differs significantly between users. My bill shows 3 different charges under "Delivery Services", 3 different charges under "Power Supply Charges", 5 different charges under "green Energy Charges" and 5 different taxes levied under "Taxes and Assessments". The bill does not plainly say, this was your average usage and this was your average cost for the last 12 months. I can do the math and determine it myself. The more power you consume the more benefits you are likely to garnish from solar panels since the rates seem to be higher after exceeding certain levels of consumption. Solar power is the consumers way to infringe on the monopolies most power companies enjoy. We finally have the opportunity to take a little control over our own energy costs when we have solar power. The leasing system from SolarCity is a great way to take control. Your costs are fixed, they repair any problems at no additional costs to you over the life of the 20 year lease. The system can be expanded if the power needs change. Do not be deterred from taking this solar step by people who have problems. Expect problems going in; be patient in dealing with people involved. They are humans dealing in a system that lacks efficiency and is manipulated by politicians and monopoly power companies. read more

First, let me say that a lot of people don't seem to understand solar energy. They also don't seem to understand that your local power company is going to be involved in the process. I say this because reading other reviews...shows me that a lot of people are not making intelligent choices by doing their own research. Sales is there to sell...period. This is not rocket science....take a 4 hour period and learn the basics including Physics so you can understand what is going on. With that in mind the whole process took 7-8 months for me. I expected this due to building permits...that is not in the control of Solar City. I also ended up waiting on my local power company to install a meter. So the time frame was good enough for me. I called Solar city to shop them...they didn't come to me. That is how it should be. The sales process was great. Friendly, informative, and they listened to my concerns and addressed them. I promised to call back a few times and didn't and they promised to call me and did 9 out of 10 times. They are easy to get ahold of. Don't let other reviews try to explain that they can't get in contact. Just dial the number and talk to whoever picks up! I pressed for an install any time besides winter. I live at 9200+ feet and have nasty weather. The install occurred in Jan of 2015. The installers had to hand carry their equipment because the truck couldn't make it up to my house. They carried everything by hand without one complaint. They worked in the snow and wind to install the system. Everything was properly connected, conduit was run and bolted down properly. I already had 90+ MPH wind gusts and the panels didn't even hiccup. The local power company commented on the good install job and even asked me who did it! I have a 10KW DC rated system and its looks great. Solar City is one of the best...don't let a review on a sales person tarnish the fact that they do provide a quality product at an affordable rate. If you have to write a review on a sales person call their main number and ask for someone else....and keep in mind that YOU may be causing the problem. I recommend Solar city to anyone that wants Solar. Not all locations will work...that is not the fault of Solar City. If you dwell in the city or if your rural...doesn't matter. They will accommodate your needs and its up to you if that fits financially with your plans. Call your local power company and ask them about getting Solar installed. They can help you uncover kinks in the process...like Solar City needing to wait for the power company to install their meter. This delay has nothing to do with Solar city. I hope this review helps someone. I was compelled to write this because many reviews are from people who DONT EVEN HAVE A SOLAR CITY SYSTEM. They are reviewing a sales offer/person! read more

Updated by Oct.11 2017 After 5 months struggling with Solarcity customer service department with my inverter's issue, at this moment I feel helpless and sad, exhausted and hopeless!!! I am so disappointed with Solarcity's customer service! How could you just say my inverter's shut down issue is normal, is just like laptop or tv, just shut down no reasons, but can be rebooted and will back to work!!! I can't accept such a ridiculous explanations!!! After I wrote last review on yelp, The Solarcity customer service finally contacted me proactively, a Sr. customer relations specialist called me and told me they will arrange another technician to my home to check my inverter's issue ,then after that they will give me a feedback and what is the next step for my inverter. This Monday, Oct 9 2017, the technician came to my home who is the same one came to my home several time during the past 5 months, he could do nothing and just told me there is something wrong with my inverter and he will report to the local manager and I need follow up with the customer service department. This Tuesday, Oct 10 2017, I called to that representative, Sr. customer relations specialist whom is in charge of my case, to get some feedback from him. He just told me because my inverter is still under manufacture warranty, if the inverter has something wrong, Solarcity technical department need do troubleshoot with manufacture, but this time they sent technician to my house and the technician could not find anything wrong because at that time my inverter was working well, my inverter didn't shut off, so they couldn't do anything!!!!! I just thought maybe because I am immigration and English is not good enough, they just fool me, but I am not idiot!!! This is your way to treat your customer!!! What did you do for the past 5 months! Every time when I noticed my inverter shut down, I almost contacted with Solarcity customer service team immediately, Not even one from customer service team told me that my inverter is still under manufacture warranty, if in this scenario, I should not reboot my inverter, I need wait technician to check the issue when the inverter has error and shut off. I am a normal customer, not technician guy, when my inverter has issue, the only way what I can do is calling the customer service to get instruction how to do step by step. For my experience, I just treated like I am foolish by them. For the current several months, I feel so stressful and sadness, I couldn't sleep well. Because I installed the solar system for Solarcity. I paid in full and got disaster for my family. It's so hard to communicate with Solarcity, It is not my fault but I need take the result. My requirement is very simple I just want to protect my rights! I need my inverter work propertly!!! read more

The Good: The ordering process was very easy, but I had no idea how long it would take to schedule to get the roof installed. after about a year, I was contacted. Once it was scheduled, I received updates all via text or email. I'm very happy with the installation. Crew was very professional and kept everything clean. Roof looks good. The not so good: Logistics of delivery of materials to my home was not coordinated well. A box truck came to my home on a Friday evening to drop off the pallets of material for the job that was scheduled to start the following week. The truck driver was unable to get the pallets off the truck using a pallet jack without my assistance. This took about an hour to get the pallets unloaded. One of the pallets was 10+ ft long and could not be loaded onto the truck lift and had to be unwrapped and manually carried off piece by piece. This delivery should have arrived when the crew was on site so they could have helped the driver or two delivery men should have been sent. During the installation, a second delivery with the PV tiles was needed after the underlayment was installed. This was expected to arrive during the day as the crew was waiting to start installing them. Unfortunately, the same truck arrived at 6pm after the crew left, and these pallets were even heavier than the first delivery. The driver was ready to leave and drive back to warehouse 2.5 hrs away and come back in the morning. I offered to assist AGAIN in order to have the work started as soon as the crew arrived in the morning. Tesla needs to work with the warehouse to improve delivery logistics. I think Tesla should look into using a delivery POD that could be loaded up with materials and delivered by a truck with roll off capability. All materials could be stowed in the POD. Inspection was coordinated by Tesla and attended by a Tesla rep which was helpful. A separate QA inspection was performed by a Tesla rep who did identify a few minor things that were corrected. This is a good practice by Tesla. I had a question about the SRECs which I still have not received an answer about. I called and emailed the account rep with no answer. On the purchase agreement, one of the forms asks if you want to trade your SRECs with your own GATS account or if you want Tesla to do this for you. The form has Tesla pre-selected, so I suspect this is to their benefit. When I made the agreement, I didn't take the time to research what SRECs were. It turns out that they are a commodity that utilities buy Solar generated power. My unanswered question is will I get the proceeds from the SREC sales or did I give Tesla the rights to my SRECs without knowing their value which was not explained on the form? I'm still waiting for an answer on this. read more