Celestial Solar Innovations

Prompt, responsive, professional, and a pleasure to work with

First month’s electricity bill just came: $8.36, which is the minimum charge for distribution. And we have a 50 kWh credit for next month. That includes generating power for our our EV and plugin hybrid. We do have gas heat, and did charge the vehicles at work, so our carbon footprint isn’t yet zero. Still, very happy with the purchase.

Super responsive, real craftsmen.

Jim was one of five contractors that provided us with estimates for our rooftop solar system. He and his crew were by far the most responsive and professional. It’s nice to deal directly with the people involved in the project. There were a couple of quotes that were slightly cheaper per kWh, but Jim offered top-of-the-line hardware, which will make a difference in the long run. Jim and company put together a good design, met all deadlines, and communicated clearly about the process, including interaction with PepCo and the Maryland Comptroller. There are many solar installations in our neighborhood, and the work done by Celestial is a work of art by comparison – everything lines up perfectly, there are no stray conduits, and its obvious that the crew takes great pride in their work. We went solar in November with CSI and 5 months later we have consistently generated more energy than we have used. I highly recommend Celestial Solar Innovations.

Friendly, no-nonsense, responsive: Highly recommended

We had a very positive experience dealing with Celestial Solar Innovations. Jim was one of three contractors that we obtained a quote from for our ~8 kW, 24-panel installation. He presented us with options in no-nonsense fashion, and was willing to work with us to meet some specific requests about how this would be tied into our home's electric system. Installation was done as scheduled, the crew was efficient, friendly and did a great job. Both Jim and Becky were very helpful (and are still now, bill fully paid), and respond to emails quickly. We're very happy that we went with CSI for this project. Highly recommended!

A trusted professional

We were shopping for solar panels for our house in Maryland, but wanted to put them on a new shed we were building. The shed roof was designed to maximize number of panels, faces south southwest and has no shade. We called several companies including a large supplier in the area. We were impressed with the responsiveness and professionalism of Jim Reilly with Celestial Solar Innovations (CSI). We had done quite a bit of research online before contacting any companies; Jim’s informative approach was just what we needed to fill in the blanks. He listened to our “requirements” and offered options for the type and number of panels that satisfied all of them. Jim acted more as a mentor than a salesman as we discussed pros and cons of each option. Jim’s quotes were in line with the large supplier and more reasonable than other companies. We decided to go with CSI and Panasonic panels. Panasonic for their performance knowing we will be in the house for a long time. Part of our discussions with Jim included the installation process. Once we signed the contract we knew we would go into a ‘quiet’ period for a few weeks before the physical installation took place. During this time we would get sporadic e-mails from the county and the electric company so we knew Jim was busy taking care of the permitting/approvals. Once we had approval the installation was scheduled for a couple weeks out, the delay was due to weather. When the crew arrived they were polite and enthusiastic. Have not heard that much banter between a bunch of guys over two days without a cuss word (which impressed my wife and not our granddaughter). Each knew their role whether wiring in the house, in the shed or installing support rails and panels on the roof. Before they left they cleaned up to the point we would not have known they were there except for the panels, inverter and disconnects. The utility installed our net meter within ten days after the system was ready and we are now monitoring the performance of our system. Could not be more pleased with Jim and CSI!

Best Solar Company there is!

Hands down this is the most professional company I have dealt with in a long time. Jim and his team are top notch! Jim gave me multiple options to fit my budget, and in the first two weeks, I produced enough power to cover my electric use in December. I am excited to see how much solar power these things can bring in. They have the best solar equipment there is. You will not be disappointed. Go Solar with Celestial Solar Innovations!!

Great to work with

Celestial Solar Innovations installed a 13.65 kW system for us in March 2018 and we have been very pleased. With the exception of a malfunction in one panel that was quickly detected and repaired, the system has performed flawlessly, even producing more electricity than estimated. The owner Jim Reilly is great to work with and is directly involved in the project from start to finish. From the beginning he was respectful of our time and schedule, meeting us at home on a Saturday morning. He explained the options, costs and the potential return on investment in a clear and concise manner. We found him to be very knowledgeable and honest without being pushy. Jim remained the main contact for the project and responded quickly to questions and concerns. The project was truly turn-key. Jim took care of all the paperwork-permits, PEPCO forms and rebates. We only had a little work online to confirm the changes with PEPCO. We were kept informed as to the schedule and the times when we needed to be home to provide access to the house. His crew was neat, orderly and efficient. We needed a new roof and Jim was able to provide a recommendation and coordinate the project with them. It has been a pleasure to work with Jim and Celestial Solar Innovations. He clearly cares about his company and his customers. He has our highest recommendations.

A Very Happy Customer

I have considering solar panels for years and did a lot a research before going with Celestial Solar. The research paid off! Dealing with Jim and his professional team was great. I really appreciated dealing with the company owner throughout the process. We got a high-end system at a fair price. Our 36-panel system went up cleanly and quickly and without a hitch. Looking forward to the savings we will have on out electric bill this year.

Excellent Experience Overall

Jim and the Celestial team did a fantastic job installing our 40 panel, 12 kW system. We priced out several competitors in the area and felt that we got the best value from Celestial. The install crew showed up on time and did a great job installing the panels quickly. The permit process was painless and the whole experience was turnkey, as promised. Although it is December, the system is performing better than expected and we hope to see continued gains throughout the year.

great job all around

Celestial Solar just came out and completed my 26 panel roof installation. I couldn't be happier. Everything was done on time and with great care and attention to detail. My office is also the area with my electric panel and care was taken to minimize the dust and mess so I could get right back to work. Great job all around.

Outstanding solar panel installation

We selected Celestial Solar Innovations after interviewing two other companies for our solar installation project.Celestial Solar's quote was in the middle of the three companies. We selected Celestial Solar because of the excellent reviews on Angie's List and because Jim was so enthusiastic and knowledgable about solar panels. He answered every question we had and met our concerns. He carried high quality solar panels, and we selected the Panasonic.The installation process was truly outstanding. His team were all very experienced, did a careful and thorough job, and took care to patch up and clean up as needed. Afterward, Jim followed up on the inspection, paper work for tax credit. We are now able to monitor our solar panel production on the internet. The entire process was super smooth and we would recommend Celestial Solar without any hesitation.

Solar Panels running Great

Jim and the team at Celestial Solar have been wonderful. He was patient and explained everything well. I was super excited and have 55 panels on my Pole Barn now. I tried a few other companies, but they really weren't that reputable and I was a bit concerned about them. These folks know what they are doing and are smart and knowledgeable.

A great local company for your solar needs.

We approached several companies for quotes in the Frederick MD area, but Celestial Solar should be your only choice. They came and visited the house to measure the roof for the solar panels. Celestial Solar provided several installation plans for us and suggested we could fit several more panels on a separate roof to nearly cover 100% of our energy needs (we just need more roof space or weatherize our house and we are there). Celestial Solar also suggested a solar loan company which we went with, saving us time and money. We were never pressured and had plenty of time to make a decision. Within three months, we went from the initial meeting to solar installed. A great company which we strongly recommend for your solar needs

Fantastic experience!

I am incredibly happy with using Celestial Solar for my new 25 KW system. My first bill came back today and it was for $5.36 with a month of lots of rain. My normal bill this time of year is from 300 to 350 dollars. Jim Reilly took care of everything from the moment I signed the paperwork. It was completely hassle free from my point of view. The installers were very considerate and courteous and worked extremely hard from day one. I had one small connection issue after a month which Jim had corrected immediately. Everyone was efficient, kind and very professional throughout the process. I cannot recommend more such a professional and dependable organization for your solar needs. Prices seem largely the same across the different Solar companies so I felt service would be the most important variable. I am very pleased using Celestial Solar as they are small enough to get personalized service but large enough for great experience and security in future support. Celestial gets 5 stars from me. I can’t wait to see the savings roll in for the next 20-30 years.

Look No Further

Bottom line up front: If you are reading this, you are considering solar. You have many options. If, at the very least, you do not sit down with Mr. Jim Reilly than you are doing yourself a disservice. It was his professionalism, knowledge, and willingness to answer (many) of my questions; all while treating me like I was his one and only customer that sealed my decision. I have not regretted that decision and love the quality of work he and his team did. His entire team carries his demeanor and professionalism. The ratings you see about Celestial Solar are genuine and indicative of what you can expect. Prior to meeting with Mr. Reilly I had been approached by [COMPANY THAT WILL REMAIN NAMELESS] and the salesman was doing his job. Not knocking him, but the lack of all the characteristics I mentioned above was a deal breaker for me. They did, however, peek my interest in solar. After doing my research and coming across Celestial Solar (and all of their great reviews), I decided to setup a meeting. If you have read this far, you know exactly what took place after the meeting. Again, you have many options, but do yourself a favor and give Celestial Solar a meeting. If my experience is any indication of what you can expect - you will not regret it. It costs you nothing to have the meeting, but it will cost you some "what if" should you go another route that does not workout. Celestial Solar is impressive and I know they will have continued success!

Happy customer

After researching solar products and companies, Celestial Solar jumped to the front of my list because it was local and because reviews gave the feeling of a very personable experience. This was reinforced when the owner, Jim, came by to visit. He spent quite a bit of time with us giving us the history of the company and getting to know us. When we got to the actual products he again spent a lot of time explaining and answering questions though there was no sales push. When we decided this was the way we wanted to go, he provided us with our options and let us decide what was best for us. He remained with us through the entire process again explaining everything that was being done and answering any questions. He was always available and followed up everything quickly. His crew that worked on the panel installation had Jim’s pleasant personality and were very professional in all they did. They also answered all of our questions and were nice enough to let me peek over their shoulders at times to see what they were doing. They were thorough in cleaning up and continually asked if the work was to our satisfaction. The end product was just as Jim said it would be and the final cost was as agreed upon in the contract. It was clearly explained to us what was going on while the system was running and how to use the monitoring app to see what the system was doing. The whole process was a positive experience and we are very happy with our solar system. The company understands what makes a consumer happy and Jim is the perfect leader to ensure this vision is instilled in his crew. This provides for a great experience with purchasing and installing the system and a feeling of confidence in both the product and company. Meet with Jim and see for yourself...I guarantee you will be impressed!

Excellent Experience

I did a lot of research and got qoutes from other solar providers prior to contacting Jim at Celestial Solar. He met with me quickly and was straight to the point with no attempts to upsell. The system he installed for me provides more power and cost less than all the other qoutes. He was also able to go from meeting with me to finished install in under 3 months. I had been working with other companies for almost 2 years with no work starting.

Great!

Jim and his team sold us solar panels and installed them on the house. Unlike other salespeople, Jim seemed honest and trustworthy. He didn't try to oversell us on components we didn't need. The price was good. We especially thought the crew who put them on the house were friendly and helpful. The system seems to be performing even better than they expected too, despite a lot of cloudy days this summer. I strongly recommend considering them.

Highly recommended

Summary. After researching solar, joining the Montgomery County Solar Co-Op, serving on the Co-op Installer Selection Committee, and interviewing more than a half-dozen installers, I ultimately chose Celestial Solar Innovations to install my 9.75 kW system. I liked dealing with the owner Jim Reilly. He and his installers did a great job, took the time to individualize details of the install to my specifications, completed the job on time, on budget, and with a neat, very clean look. Important to me, they used higher quality materials (panels, mounts) than many other installers and were competitively priced. System production has been excellent and the financial payback is on-track. I strongly suggest you do you own research, but I would absolutely recommend this company to my friends and anyone else. Details. I am a scientist by profession and I thoroughly investigated the technical specs of the available panels. In addition to the obvious efficiency and kW output, I suggest you consider the yearly degradation rate in the power output (power guarantee 90.76% after 25 years for Panasonic HIT vs 80% for most others), and the temperature coefficient of power, Pmax (best in class -0.256% for HIT). Less well known are the independent tests of panel failures due to thermal cycling, humidity-freeze, damp heat, etc. carried out by the European tester DNV-GL (do a Google search). Takes a bit of digging to get and sort through that data, but it is very informative. The NREL PVWatts site (Google it) is very useful for estimating energy production. Based on my winter/spring 2018 research I decided on the Panasonic HIT series - far better than cheap panels, often best in class, and less expensive than panels with similar specs (of current panels, only SunPower and LG have competitive specs IMO). I also specifically wanted the SolarEdge HD Wave inverter, which is smaller and more efficient than others, coupled with the SolarEdge optimizers, which allow energy optimization of individual panels. Parallel with the above technical research, I was seeking an installer. I found the large company solar installers to typically push low end panels, be inflexible with changes, and to be difficult to deal with because the salespeople had little control, often minimal technical knowledge, and had no real interest in the project other than using the standard hard-sell techniques to get you to sign for the largest possible system. More than once I had sales reps make statements and promises that later turned out to be untrue. They might be fine if you are OK with a generic lower-end system and are unbothered by the hard-sell experience, but I cared about the details. My own experiences, as well as on-line reviews and some I got through the co-op gave me pause about some of the large companies. In contrast, with Celestial, I found only good reviews. Further, I could get the equipment I wanted and was dealing directly with the owner Jim Reilly. He was knowledgeable, was willing to discuss the various options in detail, and gave me time to investigate and think things through. When I had specific requests, I had confidence that I could trust his commitments. Cost is important, of course, and Celestial was competitively priced. I also needed a new roof and wanted to move some plumbing vents etc. to allow for more panels and give a clean aesthetic look to the panel layout (moving the plumbing vents was straightforward and made a huge difference). Celestial was able to coordinate with a roofer of my choice (PJ’s – highly recommended) and the combined project went smoothly and as-promised. The pre-install paperwork with Pepco, the county, and my HOA was taken care of on-schedule and I was kept informed during the process. Celestial’s installers did a great job and were attentive to details – they had to cut the basement drywall to install the interior breaker and patched it perfectly; conduit runs were neat and discretely placed, visible panel mounting rails were painted to blend with the roof, etc. I’ve seen some cheap looking installs and the difference is very noticeable. I checked the roof penetrations from inside my attic and none missed the rafters. Gary (site foreman) and Chris (electrician) communicated well and were happy to answer my questions. The roof crew was friendly and cleaned the job site thoroughly. Everyone took care not to damage the landscaping. The county inspection was scheduled promptly and went smoothly. After 2 months I’ve had no problems with any part of the system and the production has been better than I’d estimated. The financial and environmental benefits are as expected. The few post-install questions I’ve had have been answered promptly by Jim. My experience has been 5 star all the way. I’m happy I went solar and happy I chose Celestial.

Excellent service

Jim was a pleasure to work with and very helpful in designing the system that I wanted at a price I could afford. He walked me through every step of the process, and didn't need any hard-sell tactics to show the benefits of going with a local company. His crew was very professional, arrived on time and finished in less than a day. They even came back to oversee the county inspection. Now my system is producing nearly as much power as I use, in spite of the morning shade that other installers were afraid of. I could not have asked for a better experience!

Great Work!

The entire Celestial Solar team did an incredible job. From the very beginning of the process Jim was professional and able to answer all of my (many) questions. I am rather particular on the aesthetics of the system and the layout and Jim was on-board (and added suggestions) to make the install as clean as possible. All of the wiring/connections, etc are hidden under the panels, not strung about all over the roof. Unlike some of the big-name companies, Celestial is not in the business of pushing a single type of panel. We were provided a number of estimates based on different solar panel efficiencies, manufacturers, etc with all of the associates pay-back information so that we could make an informed decision on what system would work best for our needs and in our budget. When the install crew arrived, the first thing they said after seeing we have small children at home was "when is nap time" to avoid disrupting our day as much as possible. They were all very professional and extremely competent. Any questions I have I can speak with Jim directly, not an automated minefield of robo-menus. After the installation, Celestial handled all of the utility company paperwork, state grant application, manufacturer warranty, etc. All we had to do was watch our monthly energy bills go away. Anytime someone asks about our panels I always recommend looking into local installers and would definitely recommend Celestial Solar.

Great Local Solar Company

The team at Celestial Solar Innovations were great to work with and very helpful. In our meetings with Jim, he answered all of our questions, even multiple times. We also emailed him questions and he always got back to us right away, either via phone or email. He walked us through the whole process. The installation of the 25 solar panels was quick and painless, and only took a day and a half. They take care of the entire process with getting permits and inspections, making it very easy for the homeowner. Jim made sure that we only got the amount of panels we needed, rather than the amount that would have fit on the roof, not taking advantage of us not knowing everything about solar. We look forward to working with him once battery storage becomes available. We would recommend this company to anyone.

Solar Panels

Jim Reilly and his team at Celestial Solar were a pleasure to work with from start to finish. Jim was very straight forward and transparent about what to expect and with the time frames of everything. He was never pushy which I appreciated very much. He gave us the information and let us decide what to do. His communication throughout the entire project was great. He constantly updated us on where we were in the project. His installation crew was quick, clean, and very respectful. The system is working just as well as he said it would. I felt very comfortable working with Jim and his crew through the entire process. I highly recommend him to anyone looking to go solar.

Celestial Solar Innovations made the process easy

My search for a company that I could trust to help guide me through all of the solar panel installation options led me to Celestial Solar Innovations. The company received consistently stellar reviews. Jim Reilly, the owner, came to my house to present his proposal and options. He fully explained the entire process leading up to installation, what would happen during installation, inspections, and paperwork. Jim honestly compared his prices to his competitors. Jim answered every question I asked, he responded quickly to emails and texts and helped me through the loan process. The installation team was professional and courteous and stayed on schedule despite frigid temperatures. I’ve now had two months of bills with the solar panel system in place and have seen a 50-60% reduction in cost in both February and March. If you make the decision to purchase solar panels, I highly recommend Celestial Solar Innovations to do the work for you. You will find them to be committed to meeting your needs, professional and very helpful.

7.875 Solar System

I first started contacting larger businesses and then reached out to local solar companies. Jim with Celestial Solar reached out to me and discussed all of the solutions and came to my house to present a few designs within a week. I quickly received an estimate and no pressure to go through with the sale. It was a significant discount versus larger companies and I felt extremely comfortable going with Jim. The installation was quick, turnaround with BGE was great and my first complete month with solar I have a -208kWh credit!

Great process and install

Jim installed a 40 KW system at our farm. He had great communication throughout the process and afterward to ensure everything was going well. We are very pleased with the process and the result. We highly recommend recommend Celestial Solar!