Solar Review -- Sungevity

WELCOME, 

My husband decided we should investigate using Solar Panels to reduce energy costs.  I  was extremely reluctant--assuming Solar was going to be way out of our financial reach. Nevertheless, I figured, ‘what was the harm in my husband doing some research?’. This weblog will be used to document our experience. 

If you are interested in going solar, you will receive a $500 referral discount by using this code 834359 before/during your iQuote or calling Andy McElroy (Sungevity Sales Rep) at 510-740-2714.

We received assessments from two solar companies in our area -- Solar City and Sungevity.  To my surprise solar IS affordable and we are now Sungevity Customers. We decided to post a record of the events as they occur to give others an idea of what is involved in “going solar”.

Here’s our story.

There are TWO options to go Solar.  

1. You can pay for the panels outright. (This is the only option I was personally familiar with ... and the reason why I dismissed the idea of going Solar.)  

But there is a second option...

1. Signing up for a 20 year lease.  Essentially you lease the panels from the solar company (lease price includes 20 year warranty) AND you get all the advantages of clean energy.  However, the solar company will receive all federal and state utility rebates.

Both Solar City and Sungevity offer a purchase option and lease options.

*The lease provides a 20 year warranty. (Purchase warranties are 5-10 years)

*Both Solar City and Sungevity offer performance guarantees.

*Both Solar City and Sungevity offer two-way monitoring services - allowing them and you to monitor the output of the system at all times.

*They both warranty the Inverter for the length of the lease term (20 years). This is a big deal, because from what we were told the Inverter has a life of 10-15 years and cost $4,500 to replace.

Solar City and Sungevity have a different business setup. 

Solar City is a company of employees who come to your house and do the assessment, project management, installation and monitoring of the system.  Sungevity does the assessment on-line (via a teleconference) and the work is done by contractors.  

This was enough to sell me on Solar City. It was more costly to go with them, but I liked the idea of not using contractors. That is, until I heard why Sungevity chooses to use contractors.  

Sungevity explained (not confirmed with Solar City) that whereas the “business model” of offering Solar has changed, the well-established installation techniques have not. Many of the Solar Installation contractors have been doing this work for decades, have established businesses in the area, and are very good at it.  Since Solar City must source employees to do the work, their installers may not be as experienced. 

Having this explained, it seemed silly to pay more for Solar City. So we signed a 20 year lease with Sungevity.  Choosing this option means we have a fixed lease price regardless of consumption.  (This is different from Solar City, who offers more than one lease option.) 

Solar energy is supplemented by the power company. So if you “run out” of solar energy, the local power company will kick in. The result is that we use less of the power company energy.  For our unique needs, the fixed lease price, plus the reduced energy bill from the power company results an estimated 30% savings on total energy costs.  (Your savings may vary based on what direction your home faces and how many panels can be installed on your structure)

We are recommending solar to everyone and anyone who qualifies.  As mentioned by using our code 834359, you can receive a $500 discount. Please note that as a customer, we will receive a referral bonus when you use the code. So please take a closer look at Sungevity.  If you use the referral code, please email us at weheartsolar@gmail.com  and let us know.

We will use this site to document our experience with the process using Sungevity- good or bad. Even though we are customers, we will be fair and honest in our weblog.  Also, if you have any questions along the way, please email us at weheartsolar@gmail.com.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

The next day after signing our agreement, our Project Manager. Joshua Butterfield scheduled our first in person appointment with the Sungevity “Preferred Installer”, Matthew McFadden with SunnyMac LLC.  We are told that we could be going solar by as early as June. 

We were also set up with a personal website on the OurSungevity.com to track our project and referrals. We are so excited to start saving with solar!  

When Matt came, he needed access to our attic, roof and electric panel. The measurements Matt took indicate that we can fit more panels on our roof than originally expected! This means more energy will be generated. This will also mean a small increase in our lease price. 

Side note: The project manager indicated this assessment would take 2-3 hours, but in reality it took Matt less than an hour. 

In addition, we were delighted to find out that a friend of a friend also had their solar panels installed by SunnyMac. The friend is very satisfied with the work SunnyMac did. 

Matt is VERY knowledgeable and answered all our questions. He was personable and and friendly.  

Next step (from OurSungevity.com)

[Sungevity] designers will engineer a system that's perfectly tailored to your home and meets local building and electrical codes. All homes are different, and if we require any additional information to complete the design, we may need to contact you to help clarify certain details. Once the details are confirmed we'll create a plan set to submit to your local building department. This stage can take several weeks while we get everything ready to go!