Howard Jow | Glendale, AZ | 11/05/2021
Buy your panels and microinverters with 25 year warranties
We started taking bids for solar earlier in 2021. Some companies only wanted to push an expensive lease option that would have cost us more than $60000 out of pocket by the end of the lease! Sure, they take care of all maintenance and repairs, but when you do a little bit more research you can find that reputable companies have 25 year warranties on their products. Luckily, I started reading about microinverters and decided that I wanted an Enphase microinverter instead of a string inverter. From there, I searched Enphase's website for an installer in my zip code and Black Platinum showed up as a "platinum" level installer. At the time, the next one listed had a "gold" status. We got a quote for $38000 for 13.3kW with LG Panels and Enphase microinverters. The payoff at the time was ten years, but recently Arizona is pushing APS to cut the off peak time from 3pm to 8pm to 4pm to 7pm and they are forcing them to stop charging people with solar for a grid connection fee. These changes will definitely shorten our payoff time a little. Black Platinum had us make the payments in four phases which worked out for us to help space out the large checks. The first phase involves getting city permits, the second phase is installation, and the last phase is APS approving the install and giving you the go ahead to flip the switch and turn on the system. We opted for no battery in our system since our solar buyback rate is locked for ten years. After ten years, I'm anticipating battery technology to be much more superior along with the Enphase technology for being able to go "off grid" while still being connected to the grid in the event of a power outage. After the install, we had a few hiccups that either we solved or Black Platinum solved: 1. One of the trees that the previous owners planted was shading my roof and blocking sun to three of my panels. I had my landscaper trim the tree down beneath the roof line on my house. He still needs to work with my neighbor to trim the same tree on my neighbor's side. The three panels are probably running at about 60% right now (up from 16% when they were shaded). 2. Three panels did not have power after the system was turned on. Two of them weren't plugged in correctly and the third needed a new microinverter. I coordinated with David (Sales Manager) to get the repair team to my home to fix these three panels. I love the Enphase Enlighten app for my Android phone. It shows your energy use so you know when you are doing things during peak energy charges. It helped us realize that if we shower between 3pm and 8pm it uses 5kW just to refill the water heater. Now we shower outside of that window given that our APS bill is negative at the moment (it could be even more negative). The way our system is designed we are expecting to get money back during the cooler months and we're expecting to pay some money during the four hot months in the summer. It should balance itself out. We are looking forward to getting the rebate next year and hope that the solar tax credit is extended to help more people get solar in the future. During each phase of getting solar, David was in touch with me constantly via text on my phone. I was also in touch with John Black (owner), Melia (permits), and David via email. All of their estimates for the time frame for permits, construction, and APS were pretty spot on. They had to cut into the wall in my daughter's room and garage to help hide the power conduits and it's very professional. The drywall people patched it up like it never happened and we just happened to have painted my daughter's room recently as part of a kitchen remodel (using the same painters). A few coats of left over paint and we can't even tell anything happened. I highly recommend Black Platinum if you are considering going solar and I have given their information to a few of my neighbors who are thinking about it for themselves.
CRYSTY W | Peoria, Arizona | 05/05/2021
AMAZING!!
Darien (a Black Platinum Employee) showed up at my front door about an hour ago. Now, I have owned my solar panels for 3 years and I submitted a 5 Star review after the panels were installed expressing my extreme joy with their service, kindness, and customer service. Today ... I was no less impressed. Darien shows up, rings the doorbell, and said that he was here to check my panels to see why 3 of them weren’t working. He asked my permission to hop up on the roof to have a look. After picking my jaw up off the ground, I said yes, of course. I told him I had no idea that there was an issue. He said that John, the owner, gets an email for everything these panels do, and that he was notified that 3 of the panels were not working, and that is why he was there. All I could think is WOW!! They are a small, family owned company, and they are taking care of each and every one of us, and monitoring every single detail for us. AMAZING!! In addition, they have employees like Darien, who are knowledgeable, helpful, kind and just all around great people giving special attention to the customer service that makes them even more AMAZING!! Thank you so much Darien for being a great and very pleasant guy, who was willing to answer the questions I had, your bosses are lucky to have you!! Thank you to John, and the rest of the crew for staying on top of all of your customers systems and making sure we are all in top top shape. We are all truly lucky to have chosen Black Platinum Solar!! You really are the VERY BEST!!
Frank S | Surprise, Arizona | 05/02/2021
Excellent workmanship and service
Black Platinum Solar and Electric provided excellent service starting with sales from David Armstrong, technical expertise from John Black Sr and Johnny Black along with a high quality professional install team. The team was customer oriented insuring my questions were answered, decisions were fully understood and agreed upon. The installation was completed in 1 day and running within 1 week.
Gary Shapiro | Scottsdale, Arizona | 03/11/2021
It doesn't get any better than this!
I don't often write reviews, but was so happy with my recent solar installation by Black Platinum Solar and Electric, I asked them if I could write a review! I started discussing my solar needs with four different solar companies in December of 2020. Black Platinum came onto my radar due to their many positive reviews in Nextdoor.com. In late January I chose them because the sales manager David Armstrong was most informative and the most responsive to my many questions. There was no sales pitch, just an honest desire to help me make an informed decision. My system was designed in early February and installed in early March. Everything went exactly on schedule. The crew was on time and cleaned up after themselves. The owner John Black personally phoned me several times to ensure I was informed about the progress and answer any questions I had. My system is now up and running, and I could not be happier. And John followed up again to be sure I was happy. I truly am.
R Cook | Scottsdale, Arizona | 03/05/2021
Installation by Black Platinum
I contacted 4 companies to discuss my interest in having solar installed. One never returned the call; two others left we feeling there was a lot of information missing from replies and it almost appeared they subbed the work out. One also laid out part of the panels on my neighbors roof. With Black Platinum, they spoke to me at length on the phone and then scheduled a home visit to look at the roof sections and how they faced. They then submitted a proposal to me with there exact layout. Costing made me down size the proposal and they were happy to work with me. The modified work was completed and I am very happy with the quality of the company, all personnel, and the system. As funds permit, I will definitely use them to complete the install of the additional panels.
Stacey | Glendale, Arizona | 02/27/2021
Great company
Black Platinum Solar is one of the few solar companies out there that won't harass you. All the other companies were super pushy, calling all the time and showing up at my door, and threatening that their "great deal" would expire if I didn't pick them soon. I like to do my own research and make decisions in my own time. I reached out to Black Platinum and right off the bat, they let me know they wouldn't pester me and respected that I knew what I wanted. Communication throughout the process was great and I felt fully informed of what to expect. There was minor hiccup in getting cleared to operate but they were on top of it. It's been 3 months now and I've been very happy with how it all turned out.
Scott | Buckeye, Arizona | 02/04/2021
Great company
Very happy with my new system. The quality of the work was great. Can't believe what a good job they did. Nowadays it's hard to find anyone who will take the time to do things right. John called me a few weeks after install and said they had made a mistake and over charged by $100. He sent me a refund check a few days later. Talk about honest.
Dave Johnson | Wickenburg, Arizona | 01/27/2021
Excellent, helpful, responsive company
I selected Black Platinum Solar because of the large number of positive reviews (I talked with 4 other companies before deciding). Now I'm adding my comments to these reviews in hopes this will help someone else. John Black and David Armstrong are very easy to work with. I made 3 changes to the number of panels I wanted. They worked with me, APS, and our HOA to get the installation completed before the 31 December deadline for a 26% federal tax credit. The installation involved courteous workers and the entire job was completed in a day. Clean up and installation quality was very good. My neighbor also went with Black Platinum Solar and we are both very very glad we did.
Sunny dAZ | Scottsdale, Arizona | 01/26/2021
Nothing new under the Sun
Best of the best. Proceed with confidence. Black Platinum delivers. Veterans in the industry. My builder used them on his home and was able to confirm first hand regarding their capability. Neither of us is easily impressed. We are both very impressed. I have a 117 PV 40kWh system. Helps keep APS at arms length.
