ION Solar

Appointment Hell

This company has been a mess since we signed on the dotted line. Delays, miscommunications, and insufficient time to complete the work due to overbooking contractors from out of state. We should have been done by January and we are in March and still waiting for them to finish the final detail work they agreed to do. For the actual installation they gave us a morning time frame. When we called in the afternoon to ask where they were we were told that the original time they gave us was "mountain time" (we live on the East Coast). When they did show the crew had clearly been working hard and tried to get everything done but since they didn't show until later afternoon (for our morning appointment) they ran out of sunlight. At one point they were trying to use flashlights to see the roof and do the work. Unsafe for them and a good way to have poor installation. They had to come back the next morning (wanted to come at 5 am but we wouldn't let them hammer and bang at that time due to neighbors). They were unable to fully clean up due to making their flight (or so we were told). The latest example is they were coming to paint a part they missed originally. Told us someone had to be there so I stayed home. In that 7-10 am window I saw no one. Stayed home just in case someone came later. Next working day I received a text message saying they came but it was too cold so they want to make another appointment but this time no one has to be home. Then why did I need to be home the first time? There are other instances of miscommunication, delays, etc. I get some of these frustrations are minor, but the consistency of them is the issue. In their favor, they have been paying the loan until it gets set up since it is their fault it hadn't been yet. They send multiple text messages and emails and every interaction seems to be followed up with a robotic call/text asking for a performance review. When we have expressed frustration we get a "sorry for the frustrations" but no action to ensure they will not happen again.

Go somewhere else

The too expensive and charge and arm and a leg to do any maintnence to the system. Even if their parts fail under warranty the labor cost is not sustsinable.

2 Stars for Ion Solar

After reviewing three bids for solar installation, I chose Ion Solar based on their lowest quoted cost per kWh of production and the professionalism of their sales rep, Brandon. He was excellent: responsive, knowledgeable, and patient with my many questions. Unfortunately, the experience post contract fell below expectations. Production Estimate Revision: After signing the agreement, Ion revised the estimated system production downward by nearly 5% following the final design review. This represents a $750+ reduction in value based on the original cost/kWh calculation not including future production. At this stage, Ion does not allow cancellation or price adjustments without penalty putting customers at a disadvantage. Their justification that pricing is based on hardware not estimated production is unconvincing although written in the finer terms of the agreement. My concern is if production is how value is measured and quoted, the customer should be protected if estimates change materially. Permitting Delays and Funding Pulls: The City of Henderson initially approved the permit and Ion moved forward with installation. However, Ion later resubmitted for permit approval due to a final design change post installation. While I understand being proactive, this caused further delays and raises concerns about Ion executing work without full clearance. Despite the permit status being unresolved, Ion pulled over $15,000 from my bank account. When I requested a refund until the permit was reapproved, they declined. This creates a troubling dynamic where Ion holds the customer to strict terms while not necessarily following through on their end of the agreement and operating under more flexible internal standards. Property Damage During Installation: The installers used roof sealant that ended up staining 5–6 spots on my brand new carpet. Once dried, the residue couldn’t be cleaned. Ion’s resolution was to give the carpet a “haircut” by trimming the stained fibers. While this might be a practical fix in isolation, it added to a growing list of small issues that should have been handled with greater care and accountability. Final Thoughts: After installation, I reached out to Ion's customer support regarding the critter guard which had 2–3 inch visible gaps in the valleys of my Spanish style roof. My neighbor, who used another provider had flush and fully enclosed guards by comparison on the same roof. Ion never followed up on my inquiry. This lack of response is disappointing especially since it likely places the burden on me if birds or small critters get through those gaps in the future. Ion did ultimately deliver a functioning solar system and I expect the long term benefits of solar will be positive. However, the experience was marred with reduced value, delay, and minimal ownership. I hope Ion takes steps to improve the post sale experience for customers and improves internal accountability.

Warranty issues

You install a system that will take 20 years to pay for and you warrant it for a very short period compared to how long it is supposed to last. the equipment you installed warranty last longer than your commitment to keeping it running. i think if the equipment stands behind its part I believe you should stand behind your installation as well, after all you put the stuff in and I'd like to think you know how long it will last or is that the case and why your warranty is so limited.

Careful what you sign up for.

The install was fantastic but once the install was complete the service has been nothing but problems. It seems that everything they do has built in delays and a lack of interest in actually helping customers. When I purchased the system I was told I could add batteries at a later time. A few years later I call and ask for a quote. About a month later I get a message that they do not do expansions on systems and only do new installs. Another incident - our system went out. We call for support. After prepaying for a tech to come and check out the system, a payment process that delays things a week, and another week or so wait, they call and set an appointment 2 weeks out. A month without the system and the tech shows up and does the repair. Recently we had a panel damaged in a storm. We call and again prepay for service that does not show up for a few weeks. The identify the damaged panel and have us prepay for a new one. Again, weeks later we are still waiting for them to "find a compatible panel." The practice of pay in advance, wait weeks to set up an appointment weeks out and selling products they don't even have in stock or access too seems to me to border on fraud.

Too expensive

Good quality install however price point is literally twice as high as it should be. Shop around and get a better deal, especially if you need to reroof.

Service and communication is lacking

I purchased a home with an existing solar system. After a few days I went to transfer into my name and discovered that the monitoring system was off line. Talked to Enphase who walked me through some trouble shooting to no avail. Contacted ION and they said they would need to send out an electrician. AFTER I paid $250 they would schedule a visit. Within minutes of getting an emailed invoice I paid, yet a week later I have had no communication initiated from them and still no scheduled visit. I have been told conflicting reasons for the delay. As of now I am out money and stuck with a solar system that doesn't work with no recourse.

After 2 years, YOU gotta pay $250 to even schedule a visit.

From their webpage at https://www.ionsolar.com, "Full-service customer support before, during & after installation With ION, you get a dedicated project coordinator, weekly check-ins, as well as fast & friendly support via phone, email, and live chat." Literally ZERO support. I was told by my original consultant that once installed, they would monitor my energy production and let me know if even one panel was producing less than it should be. HA. My system did not operate from July 25th, 2023 until NOW and not a word. I found out from my electric company in the form of a bill that tripled. No worries, I have a warranty, right? Ha! 24 months and then no matter if they installed JUNK on my roof, they won't schedule a tech until you PAY them $250. I paid it on August 25th, 2023. It's 2 PM on September 5th and guess who is still without a tech and without solar? This guy! I strongly recommend against this solar company. I like having solar but when a company will only warranty their equipment/installation for 2 years before jabbing you for $250 every time something THEY installed fails, I think there have got to be better options. My email is martysmith@hotmail.com if you would like more specifics

We DO NOT recommend Ion Solar

0/5 - Salesperson (Enrique Guzman) 3/5 - Project coordinator (Thomas Nevin) 5/5 - Installation team 2/5 - Overall communication ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TL;DR - Enrique Guzman (sales) promised incentives but did not deliver on these incentives until I reached out to corporate to complain 60+ days after panel installation. Enrique also misled us on PGE billing after installation (details below). Project team was helpful. Installation team was courteous and respectful. Overall comms were pretty messy. Our interaction with Ion Solar started in Nov’2022 with a D2D sales rep knocking on our door to pique our interest in solar. From there, we scheduled an appointment with their salesperson Enrique Guzman. Enrique showed up and presented us the “potential savings” of installing solar and how it will essentially pay for itself as it will offset our electric bill entirely. He also mentioned that we would be put on a 12-month billing cycle with PGE after installation. Neither of these points turned out to be true. I asked a good friend of mine if he would be interested in going in on solar together to see if we can get a better deal from Enrique. Enrique offered us each a $1,000 check and $300 Nike/HOKA gift cards to be sent upon installation if we signed up with him. We thought it was a good deal so we both signed up. Mind you, these incentives were verbal agreements; none of this was on paper. Fast forward to Jan’2023, panels are installed. My friend and I reached out to Enrique Guzman for the promised incentives and were both met with a short “yup on it”. This went on for 30+ days. We would reach out to check on the progress of these incentives and Enrique would either send a “will these sent out ASAP” or straight up ghost us. Having been fed up, we reach out to Ion Solar corporate. Thomas Nevins hears our story and sends an email out to Enrique and cc’ing us both on it. Enrique Guzman responds to the email with a “yup on it”. To our surprise, we received the $1,000 via Zelle a week later. However, the $300 Nike/HOKA gift cards were still nowhere to be found. At this point, we’re 60+ days past installation and we were still missing the last half of our promised incentives. So I finally submitted my post-installation survey, giving them a score of 1/10. Enrique IMMEDIATELY responds by sending both my friend and I the promised $300 gift cards. Why did it have to take so long and so many different parties to get Enrique Guzman to fulfill his promise to us? Furthermore, why did he have to lie to us about the 12-month billing cycle? This was a complete bait-and-switch. Had we known that he was going to treat us like this after signing, we would NEVER have signed with Ion Solar. And to be honest, both my friend and I are struggling with buyer’s remorse after this experience. We would NOT recommend Ion Solar.

Good panels...rotten advice

Before I purchased my solar panels from Ion, they inspected my roof. They told me that the roof had a good 10 years left on it. (I had purchased the house without knowing the exact year of the last roof installation.) In less than 14 months after the solar panel purchase, my roof needs replacement. It turns out it was years past the warranty. If I had been given accurate, honest information about the roof from Ion, I would have waited until after the roof replacement to purchase the solar panels. Now I have to pay almost $5000 for the panels removal and reinstallation. What a ripoff!

Good panels, poor communication

The panels themselves are good, but the communication surrounding the installation process was terribly bungled. Ion's central offices often told us one thing, then the local office/sales rep would usually say something different. We ran into complications with needing a minor roof repair, but the two Ion offices couldn't seem to agree between each other and we often ended up feeling like middlemen between them trying to figure out what kind of repairs we needed. We finally went with the local office's recommendation, paid $4k just to get the job moving along. When it came time to do the installation, the installers showed up ready to make all the repairs for free, but we had already paid out of pocket and done it ourselves. We were assured that Ion would compensate us $1k since we had to pay for work that didn't end up needing to get done, but we still haven't seen any of that arrive in either our accounts or on our loan. I don't think that communication takes place much past signing up. Because of all the communication problems, we only got permission to operate this week in October, but we started the process in March. Be warned, the panels are good, and the service is worthwhile, but if there are any complications it would appear that Ion is not capable of adapting to them.

Bad organization

I started a project in June and am still waiting. I get mixed messages from many employees and now my “sales rep” does not return messages. Disgusted!!

Poor Staffing Drives Poor Customer Service

I was referred to ION Solar by a neighbor. Referred is to strong a word. I asked my neighbor what company was installing his solar panels and he told me about ION. He told me that I should be wary because his solar had not been turned on because a part that was on endless back order. I should have listened. Fast forward, my system is installed with only minor annoyances, missed appointments, etc. Immediately after the system is turned on breakers start tripping in the house. I called customer service and they promise that someone will come and and correct the situation. A month passes and someone finally comes out but he doesn’t make a through report to customer service, who is in Bumfuck, Egypt. So, when I call customer service to find out what issue they found when they came out, all I get is non-answers because the field agents haven’t reported back. Instead of sending an electrician to fix the problem they take the easy answer, ITS THE CUSTOMERS HOUSE NOT OUR SYSTEM. Conclusion: They don’t have enough personnel to service their equipment. If you have a problem, you are on your own. Good luck.

Customer Service Response Sucks

I was initially thrilled with this system we had installed in February 2022. On August 21st, we experienced a neighborhood-wide blackout. On September 9, I received a production report from Enphase that showed the last communication transmission our solar gateway had with ION/Enphase was on August 21st. In the time between, I received zero notifications that the system was not reporting. When I mentioned this to customer service, they said I should have received something. No ma’am. Anyway, I sent an email and two messages via the ION App to customer service. This was after I spent two days and more than a dozen attempts at their reconnection troubleshooting. When I called today, 09/02/22, it was the first time I was able to communicate with someone, as NO ONE responded to my messages. Apparently, a ticket exists for my issue, and a tech is assigned. This call was made around noon. After being told the tech was busy and would call me back when finished with the current call, my stupid self stayed at home until 3:30pm, expecting a call that still hasn’t come. In the meantime, I can’t get an answer as to why I was never notified, and I’m stressing out wondering what my electric bill is going to look like, since there’s no way to monitor if an production was banked. So much for “you’ll be in good hands” and “we’ll take care of everything.” If it sounds perfect or too good to be true, chances are you’ll find their flaws sooner than later.

Started strong, finished terrible

They promised the moon and the stars and everything ended up fizzling. We had a deal in place and when I wanted to negotiate getting a few more panels added, the agent lost his mind. He text me that the deal was canceled and that he was tired of dealing with people like me. I was shocked. Totally unexpected especially since I was about to fork over $25 of my money to them. I reached out to a manager and she told me that another agent would be calling me the next day to repair the damage that had been done. I never heard from anyone again. They are SUPER friendly at first but if things don't go their way, they'll look for the next sucker's money. There are better companies out there. Don't get me wrong, they've got an amazing product and top notch panels. Just do your homework that the agent is really a genuine person.

ION SOLAR is good and bad

The main reason for a 2 star review - the horrible customer service after the sale and install. The sales and the install process was pretty seamless and everything seemed to move fairly efficient. The single biggest issue I ran into was when it was time to obtain my paperwork (which the solar companies are supposed to provide). I contacted ION Solar 6 times in 2 days by various means even going as far to contact prior people that are involved with install process. And they reached out directly to customer service on my behalf so more like a total of 8 times in 2 days. I needed my paperwork to file my taxes in an attempt to get my NM rebate. When they finally contacted me (2 weeks later) they said "we see you contacted us on March 29th, the state ran out of solar rebate funds on March 28th - sorry". I then proceeded to inform them of my contacting them 8 times 2 weeks earlier. After a couple of weeks of back-and-forth phone calls - I was told too bad so sad for you. I wanted them to make this right - at least if I was given the chance to file for the rebate but I was late and the money was gone - that would have been my fault. But, the lack of any customer service after they sale and install prohibited me from filing for the rebate. I realize there is not guarantee that everyone gets the rebate, but, to cause my chances to go from maybe to no chance at all is very poor service by ION Solar. So I lost the opportunity to receive the 10% NM rebate ($4100) and you can't file in the next year so the rebate is one and done - IN MY CASE NONE AND DONE!!!! I could recommend ION for your solar needs, but, I can't and won't. I was steered away from a competitor of ION's for poor customer service after the sale and install - so I hoped for better. But I would recommend a company that's local to your state and not a corporate solar company in another state. They get your business and get the job done - but after that you are pretty much on your own. So final word is DO NOT GO WITH ION Solar!!!!!

Disorganized and disappointing

We signed up for panels from ION in November 2019. We loved our salesperson and she continues to be responsive when we have questions. Unfortunately many other aspects of our experience have been subpar. Installation was supposed to happen quite quickly but kept getting delayed, then COVID hit, so we waited about 7 months between signing the contract and being able to use the panels. It seemed like there had been little to no communication between the central office people, the installation people, the electrician, the city permitting office, or our power company (Dominion). The installers thought we had a tin roof (based on old google maps images) and when they discovered we had a TPO roof, I think their solution was pretty improvised - the panels are literally held in place by cinder blocks, and a mason who came to repair some pointing expressed concern about the amount of weight on the roof now. Not sure how that will pan out. I don't know how ION compares to other providers price-wise, because, like an idiot, I didn't get multiple estimates. I will say that their estimate of how much of our electric bill would be reduced seems pretty accurate so far. For us, the motivation was just to try to move in the direction of less reliance on traditional energy, even though we knew we didn't have enough space on the roof to put enough panels to cover all our energy needs. My most recent disappointment with ION has been with respect to Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs). We received an email from ION inviting us to sign up for these through a company called SREC Trade. We completed the automated paperwork and then...nothing. I called SREC Trade a week or so later, and they said they hadn't gotten my application yet, that it has to come through ION. In fact, the first question they asked was, "By any chance was ION Solar your installer?" which did not bode well. Apparently ION is making a name for itself disappointing customers. It has now been about two months since that initial email. I have sent multiple emails to ION, almost all of which they have just ignored; when I'm lucky enough to get a response, it provides no useful info. I just called ION again this morning and, unsurprisingly, got no information at all from the person I spoke to. No timeline, no nothing, other than, "there's a queue and there are some people behind you in it." Some of my neighbors are also interested in getting solar panels, and unfortunately I've had to discourage them from using ION. I would really love for solar panel use to be more widespread, and I know there are other solar companies in my area, so hopefully they are more organized than ION. Aside from the salesperson, communication has been terrible, and I just have the sense that they are in over their heads.

Unorganized

I was very disappointed in this whole process starting from the beginning. I got called everyday wanting to install and I request a rep to call me back but answer a few questions which no one could answer for some reason. Then when I was ready to go with the the install, I requested ION call my wife because I work long hours 6am-6pm and she would be home during the install. I specifically requested ION call my wife from 9am-3pm because she works in the evening and ION immediately called her at like 5pm-6pm to install which then she text me from work telling me to deal with it. Then on the install day the electrician didn't show up!?!?! A few days later the electrician shows up but couldn't finish the job because of parts and ION support was closed because it was so late and I believe he came back again and told my wife he still wasn't done? On top of that, I received at least 10 emails telling me to complete an install survey which I don't even thinks complete. Then I was told to take picture of anything that's not complete? How was I suppose to know that??? What a horrible experience.

Inefficient, poor communication, 3mth paying&still not operating

If I had the time I would write a very lengthy detailed review . I am very unhappy and regretful of sign a contract with ION. Terrible experience and I am not fully operational yet! Going on my 4th month of paying 2 bills one my full electric bill and the other ION . I continue to have to make a “ticket” and wait 1-2 weeks each time to get someone out here just to leave and not complete the task. It’s Stressful, it’s a headach. After everything at this point I don’t believe or trust anything ION has to say or offer, I feel since they are already taking my money they don’t care to make things right! I will never recommend this company.

Richmond Team needs some major improvement.

Well, I was really looking forward to having solar and doing the Green thing but if I had to do this again for some crazy reason at another location, Ion would not get my business. The sales side for me was great and I believe that was mostly because we wanted solar and just needed to get started with the process. From what i’ve read in the neighborhood posts, lots of my neighbors weren’t happy with the pushiness of the people coming to their homes trying to get them to the next part of the sales process but we were on board as soon as they said solar so they didnt have to be pushy with us. After that dealing with the sales rep was great and we couldn’t wait to be on solar energy. Once we signed the papers we were turned over to the install side and things couldn’t have been any worse! It was a disaster from pretty much the first time someone came to do the site survey on to the “FIRST” install of the panels. The calculations were off for how many panels could go in the agreed upon location, so the first crew lead led us to believe he could switch it on the fly and it would look good. Well he was incorrect. It was hideous and even some neighbors were commenting to us about it. It just didn’t flow at all. So that had to be redone and the second crew was a night and day improvement and got it straight. And even after that there were other small issues just from lack of attention to detail, and honestly not the right leadership on the install team. Finally it was time for county inspection and what do you know it did NOT pass because the screw used to secure the conduit to the siding was the incorrect kind and the inspector had a feeling it was gonna be because he had done another Ion inspection and failed it for the same thing. So even after the first time the issue for the correct screws wasn’t addressed. Another simple mistake that could have been avoided the second time around. Once finally turned on, of course i had a faulty inverter (which I understand parts that are mass produced can have a faulty one here or there but just my luck after all this) so they come out to replace that and said it would take a day or two tops for it to be working well that wasn’t the case either. So after 2 weeks of scheduling and rescheduling due to weather they finally came back out to replace the recently replaced inverter and I was told that the one that was just replaced just never had the old serial numbers removed and the new serial numbers entered to have the panel operating and reporting like it should. Once again another mistake made that could have been avoided. And for the several weeks that we were down a panel no one offered to compensate us for that either. All this said I’m glad its finally working like it should (KNOCK ON WOOD) but I wouldn’t recommend this company unless they make major overhauls in management and have some more positive reviews moving forward.

Install time took too long

The Ion Energy Consultant gave a good pitch about the product but did not think it was going to take 5 months to complete the install. There were also issues along the way that I had to keep calling the company so they could complete my install.

U say that I will Lower My electric bill by 75% of what I pay .

My electric bill is higher then what I was paying be for I got This thing ON my ROOF. Now I have to pay 132.00 to Tech CU and my electric Bill which is 25.00 more then be for. I have called Ion once Last mo., a week ago , and again some one was to get back with me>I havce not heard a word from Ion. is this how it's going to be. Thomas

Hated the sales process; seems to be high quality

This company seems to have high quality materials and workmanship, but I absolutely hated the sales process. We are located in Cary, NC and a man came to our door on Friday afternoon and set up the appointment for Saturday. My husband was told it would be a 30-minute consultation. It ended up taking 3 1/2 hours. The salesman wasted lots of time asking us personal questions and chit chatting. Then, he finally described the system and sketched our costs and potential savings on a legal pad. He had no visible identification that we was actually an employee of Ion Solar, no brochures, no pictures to show us, just personal questions and chit chat. We had to ask lots of questions to get him to tell us the details of solar, how it works, what happens when we need to replace the roof, etc. He signed us up for the loan application, asking my husband questions about his income, social security number, etc. before sending us the proposal detailing what we would be getting. We were very interested in getting solar and that's why I eventually agreed to it, but I feel like we went through a high-pressure timeshare-like sales presentation and I can't shake the feeling that we are getting ripped off. I think we could definitely get a lower price with another company, and the only reason I'm inclined to stay with Ion Solar is because the solar panels seem to be high quality and the deal is already made. The terrible high-pressure sales experience has definitely dampened my enthusiasm for going solar.

Not great

We are happy to have solar, but we didn't have a great experience. The sales guy left out a few crucial details about the loan and how solar works: 1) how the loan payment nearly doubles at 17 months unless you apply a tax credit, and even then, it's still higher 2) how we still pay the power company to stay connected to their grid 3) how we have to add solar to our homeowners insurance, which increased our payment slightly. So we kept finding them out later and feeling deceived and like all these extra things made it not the dream deal it sounded like - not a good thing for financial planning! I also didn't like how our sales guy had us create an "account" before we were sure we were going with it, which actually meant signing a contract, so we ended up feeling trapped in something we weren't even sure we wanted. We had 3 days to cancel, and then there was supposed to be a fee for cancelling after. The sales guy said we would NOT have to pay that, but I didn't trust him by then, especially when my name was signed on the contract saying we would have a fee. Then there was some "issue" that was never explained to us, so it took 2 months after the city inspection to even get our panels turned on. Again not great when we are paying both for our solar loan and our power bill. I would suggest shopping around when getting solar, not just getting roped into it by a sales pitch

Terrible coordination and planning

I chose ION solar because it met my needs for system and price. They also had good reviews. The issue cam when it was time to install the panels. They were so unorganized when it cam to planning. On 3 different occasions they came to my house to do the install just to stop and say we don't have what we need to finish. First they came and did not have the proper inspection scheduled to finish, second they didn't get the inspection again, and third they showed up without the hardware they needed. This whole time I had to store the solar panels in my garage so we could not park in our garage. How incompetent of a company does this to a customer?