Certasun

Overall, I’m pleased with this new system. However, the pricing was the primary concern. During sales, I was informed that both the city and the state would provide a rebate. However, the exact timing of the funds’ disbursement was unclear. Specifically, for the city, I was told that the funds might run out, and I might not receive anything. I asked about the current availability of funds, and the salesperson confirmed that there was money. About a month after the project finished, I sent a few emails to the project manager, expressing my concern about the city rebate. The project manager informed me that the funds had been exhausted and referenced a date that had passed approximately a month after I signed the project. It would have been better if the company had informed me earlier in the project that I wouldn’t be receiving the rebate. Since the project had already started a month ago, I believe I should still be eligible for the rebate or that the company should have filed for me. On a positive note, I’m satisfied with the results of the installation and inspection teams. However, product management was quite poor.

Things started out well, with proactive communication and the company taking the lead on getting us through the process; they were even able to make installation happen mere days after our permits were approved. As much as we loved the quick turnaround, though, things got sloppy once crews got on site--holes in wall, carpets stained, cut wires, trash strewn over our property--and it became difficult to get timely responses from the Certasun office in order to resolve these issues. System works fine; we haven't needed the company since the initial slip-ups.

Decent system; poor office support

Bottom line: We have a solar system and it seems to be working just fine. Getting to that point, however, was quite a struggle, due to the company’s disorganization and poor communication. I believe Certasun sells a good product, and knows their business. Our sales person was great and the installation teams were hard working and generally polite and respectful. While they tended to show up about an hour after we were told they’d arrive, they often stayed late—even after sunset—to finish their day’s work. BUT—and it’s a big “but”-- the back-office and operations planning teams were really sub-par. We bought our system in the summer of 2025, during the crunch to get solar installed before the tax credits expired. We got the impression that the company hired a whole lot of new people to deal with the heavy load, and were in no way prepared to handle it. I’ll be charitable and say that our project manager was probably a new hire and poorly trained—rather than simply incompetent—but the result was the same: important details were dropped, communications seemed lacking, and all this led to multiple delays. Three weeks after our site visit we were told of major electrical work that was needed. Why couldn’t this have been flagged immediately? We were all in a time crunch and those three weeks meant our installation ran into the snows of an unusually early winter. In other cases we were telling her how to do her job (responding to communications from ComEd, for example, about forms that needed to be filled out, which she seemed ignorant about). Also, nobody in the office ever answered the phone: literally every single time we called we got a voice mail, and then a callback or email hours later. The worst part of this whole process was that on the day the panels were supposed to be installed, we were told that our roof was too steep for the design and they couldn’t complete the installation. Now there had been a site visit three months earlier at which this was never mentioned; why not? And we have a Chicago bungalow with a pop-up addition, not an unusual structure for the area. The subsequent scramble resulted in a redesign that reduced the number of panels on our roof and, of course, another delay. They finished installation literally on new year’s eve, the deadline for the tax credit. But, they did finish (although some final details weren’t completed until into the new year). And in the last couple of weeks they gave us a new project manager who seemed to know her job much better, and to be a better communicator. So. I think this company would be fine if you purchase in the spring, and if you live in a suburban neighborhood with traditional house designs and big lots. For tight city lots and if you're in a hurry, I might look at other vendors.

Certasun technicians are above average compared to other companies. Sales team does a great job explaining the Solar benefits & providing the best recommended solution. 3-Stars because, their Operations team is difficult to deal with. Once you sign the deal, they don’t follow up with you like they are post to throughout the process of going Solar. We have had several bad experiences when dealing with their Operations team. For Example, our state Incentives were promised 180 days or six months after installation date & we didn’t get it. We followed up with their team after 08 months, as we didn’t hear any follow ups or updates from them. It’s almost a year and we are still waiting but progress is being made. In short, their Technicians are really good but it’s PAIN dealing with their back office/Operations team once you sign the deal to go Solar.