Alternate Energy

I changed my review on them because at first I thought they were going to abandon me on the dripping noise issue I was having. Alternate energy after reviewing the issue, offered a solution to me at no charge. They came out with the same person who did the initial install and installed a whole new drain pipe to alleviate the noise I was having. It's really great to see a contractor that honors their commitment to make things right.

I don’t normally like to leave bad reviews, but after about 6 months of trying to get someone to check PV system , I am beyond frustrated. My solar tracking app stopped reporting and then I started getting “micro inverters not functioning properly messages. “ I was instructed to buy a new Gateway, which I did for $800. Then I was told it’s probably my WiFi extenders, so I purchased new ones as well. I did several calls with tech support who is supposed to help walk you through the new Gateway setup but that didn’t work either. I work in tech and am very familiar with how to setup network devices and it just shouldn’t be this challenging. I have repeatedly asked for someone to come out to my house to troubleshoot the Gateway and resolve the micro inverters error, but those inquiries never get a response. Bottom line, I spent $1000 on new equipment, 6 months of trying to get things to work, a higher electric bill because 12 inverters are not working - and still no solution in sight. This company is great at installing and getting things setup but long-term customer support is lacking. In

If you use this company, you better hope you never need them to service or stand behind their work. We keep having leaks from where they installed our solar hot water. They came out over a year ago to fix it and with this most recent round of rains, it began leaking again. After leaving numerous messages, I finally got in touch to report the leak. I was told they were slammed and would put me on the schedule and somebody would call me. That was over three weeks ago. I keep trying to find out status of a repair, but nobody ever calls me back. Terrible customer service, A simple courtesy of a phone call would be appreciated.

Excellent service. We had four split air systems installed. The entire team from sales, electrical and installation crew were great to work with. They listened to what we wanted and were very receptive to discussing the pros and cons of different placement options. We were particularly impressed by how well they cleaned up after themselves, and all the units work as intended.

Had alternate energy install a hot water system 14 years ago. That’s about as long as it lasted. Had to replace the pump about 3 times which was about $300 a pump. Called for a price for a new system, the $1000 discount is making it comparable with the other quotes I got. The numbers quoted is not realistic. Basically the pump system they use overheats the tank causing premature failure. Sales guy told me I got my moneys worth. Not to mention the digital gages fall off. I have friends who had their system for 30 plus years. Want a system to last, go with another company.

PV panel repair/replacement

Since May 2023 1 of 13 panels has not been working. AEI has not been able to resolve issue, still under warranty. Last 2 days I’ve been leaving messages for a call back, nothing. Hopefully after leaving this comment I’ll hear from them. Last time I commented I received a call less than 24 hours. Wish me luck.

Install Fail by Alternate Energy!

We have used AE (Alternate Energy) for 2 PV installs and 2 Solar Water Heater (SWH)installs on our homes. They were reputable until our recent SWH install on 5/2021. Upon inquiring with AE why our electric bill had a sudden spike in usage/ cost, they came to check our PV system which was okay. It was upon further research, that the SWH AE installed was not placed in the optimal location on our roof forcing our water heater to be on 24/7 as it never reached its peak performance. This resulted in our electric bill skyrocketing more than $500/mo. for more than 3 months. AE sent a tech to assess our SWH panels and upon their tech's review, the panels were facing the wrong way. AE came and relocated the panels but has not apologized, nor acknowledged their negligence, or offered any compensation for the unnecessary electric costs that I assumed. After many emails (to Yuko Ahina) and phone calls trying to get this issue resolved, I have yet to hear from anyone at AE. Furthermore, this city permit for the SWH is still open (job completed 4/2021) along with another permit they opened back in 11/2017 for a SWH that never was installed, this permit remains open as well.