Kota Energy Group

They take your money and run

After 8 months of installation my solar isn’t producing. I called the number they provided and all you hear is a beeping noise. Some say they’re out of business but others say they’re still scamming people. Now am stuck with solars that’s not producing.

Never use this company

Owner beware do not use this company. You have the worst customer service once they install if they ever complete accurately and completely you will never get a phone call back if you need assistance. They are a poorly and do not care about their clients.

Thieves

Stay away! They will promise things and never follow up! Waiting for class action lawsuit to start so we can jump on board. Terrible customer service and never respond!

If I could give a negative number, I would!!!

Kota told the previous owner in 2022 that to install the solar panels the house needed to be reroofed! Owner did as suggested but in 2023, less than a year after reroofing the owner had to call because of a leak. Kota came and claimed they found the problem and supposedly “fixed” it. I purchase the home late 2023 and for the 2024 storms I find the same location where the original “fixed” leak was, water was leaking but now it’s stronger and spreading. Called Kota and customer care basically said, your problem, we’ve fixed the original issue. I gave up and fixed it only to find out what a shotty work was done on the roof. Now I find out that back in 2022 when the work was originally done, it did not pass city inspection. I’ve called and emailed with no response. My advice, “DON’T USE THIS COMPANY!!!!!” You’ve been warned!!!!

Buyer Beware: Kota Solar Installation Nightmare

I'm writing this review to warn potential customers about my horrendous experience with Kota Energy Group. While the salesperson was friendly and persuasive, the problems began soon after the solar panel installation. Just three months after installation, heavy rain caused water to leak from the ceiling in our master bedroom. Kota supposedly sent their "top roofer" who claimed the leak wasn't caused by the solar panels but found another issue he "generously" fixed. Unfortunately, the problems worsened. A section of our ceiling collapsed, prompting us to hire an independent roofer. Their inspection revealed a disaster zone: broken and improperly replaced tiles by Kota's crew, with one even missing entirely! The independent roofer could not repair the damage because it required removing the solar panels which would void my warranty. Our insurance company's independent roofer confirmed our suspicions - Kota's shoddy work was to blame. Not putting tile back correctly and their "repair" attempt involved gluing broken tiles with the same sealant used on the solar system. Getting Kota to take responsibility was an ordeal. It took a month for them to send someone to assess the damage, and even then, they tried to cancel the appointment at the last minute. The Kota Roofer deemed the job too big for him and promised a team. Weeks of daily calls (8 hours a day, 5 days a week!) yielded no response. Finally, a team arrived, removed the panels, and shut down the system. Since then, silence. Four weeks of further calls have gone unanswered. This fiasco has cost us a significant sum: • Tarp: $800 • Removal of damaged materials: $3,000 • Bedroom repairs (drywall, roof, painting, carpet): $7,500 Beyond the financial strain, the stress and inconvenience have been immense. Our bedroom is unusable, and we're left with a non-functional solar system. Avoid Kota at All Costs!

Terrible communication, terrible timeline, impossible to contact

I highly advise anyone to NOT use Kota. We were charmed by their salesperson, and signed up with financing for a panel array in Feb 2023. Panels were up in April but not turned on until October. This means I was paying for the panels without them being any use to me. Kota continues to be impossible to get ahold of, non responsive and how I am needing new roofing work that they did not advise us of during their inspection. I cannot get ahold of anyone to help remove the panels. All around a terrible experience.

Incredibly Unresponsive and unprofessional

I live in Oakland, CA and Kota did my install 6 months ago-to date it has not been permitted by the city of Oakland. I have had numerous people from Kota come to my house to take pictures for their design team telling me the installer did not follow the plan so they had to come and take pictures. They did not call for an appointment just texted me in the morning that they were showing up. Since then I have had 5 separate Kota people people come out- one wrote which in sharpie what each of the switches on the panel were for, another came out and said the switches needed to all be the same brand, someone else came otu and changed them..inspectors from the city came 3 times and did not approve. The last person who came said that the panel would never pass inspection and would need to be changed. That was 3 weeks ago and despite contacting my "project manager" Travis Keller and writing to the Founder of the company on Linked-in I have heard nothing from them..they are absolutely unprofessional and now I am thinking they are crossing the line into being fraudulent...would never recommend them to anyone and am at the point where I am planning on contacting the Attorney Generals office to file a complaint. Anyone else have a similar experience?

Absolutely terrible

I signed a contract with Kota in February 2023 for the installation of solar panels at my duplex in Berkeley, CA. When the solar installation was scheduled for August 16th, a full six months after signing, Kota began but was unable to complete the work. My loan was initiated in August, interest began accumulating, and Kota received payment despite their unfinished work and inoperable system. This is an unethical business practice that left me paying for a system I could not use. I sent many emails and made many calls imploring the Kota team to finish the installation before the city inspection date they scheduled. This did not happen. On September 28, 2023, the scheduled city inspection could not be conducted because the job was still unfinished. When I reached out in frustration, I was again assured by Kota staff that the repairs would take place immediately. Another five weeks went by with no communication. On November 7, 2023, after informing Kota I would file a BBB complaint, I received contact information for Chance Bender, Senior Project Manager. I was promised that the job would be completed within a week. It took a month. On December 5, 2023, four months after installation began the solar system finally received permission to operate. Yet again, this was done incorrectly. Only half of the panels generated power and our monitoring accounts were not set up correctly. On December 18, a partial fix was completed. I have received no communication whatsoever from Chance Bender or anyone else at Kota since January 11, 2024. It has been 13 months since I signed a contract for my solar system, more than 6 months since I paid in full. I have spent many hours asking Kota to install the solar system I paid for, and then repair the work they failed to complete properly. I am left with a system I do not have faith in and no way to monitor its functioning or performance.

Nice salesmen, terrible installation, horrible experience!

I have vaulted ceilings and when Kota came to install my panels in early 2023, they used too long screws that came through my ceiling. They removed the crews and reinstalled them with shorter screws. Now with all the rain we've had the holes where the screw penetrated my ceiling are leaking water. Flex Seal has become my best friend to stop the leaks but where does water go when you stop it from flowing? I have called Kota, texted, and emailed with no answer. I had the number for one of their Techs and he claimed he no longer works for Kota and said they have gone out of business. Now what do I do!!!

Resulted in lien threats to our house

Working with kota has been a disaster that nearly resulted in a lien being placed on our house before we ever had functional solar panels. They went to great lengths to avoid speaking to us throughout the entire process - for 2 weeks we called everyone from their head of sales downward multiple times a day and were never responded to - and it was only after I got the cantact info for the COO that I was able to speak to anyone. This was all days before a a lien was nearly placed on our property because Kota had not paid their contractors. Kota convinced us to replace our roof in order to get solar. They offered us a deal to pay for 2k of our roof and then have the rest financed through the same financing mechanism as our solar. 2 weeks after our roof was installed, the roofing company reached out to us informing us that they were never paid, that they planned to place a lien on our house, and encouraging us to speak with Kota immediately. For the next month we called Kota incessantly, even calling the director of sales repeatedly, who even texted and emailed us that he would help, but did nothing and never called us back. When there was less than a week left for the lien to be removed, we spoke to the financier and roofing company, both of whom said that Kota had received the funds and must had misallocated them. Finally, we obtained the COO’s email, and after emailing him repeatedly and sending formal complaints through the financier, we were able to have the roof lien removed with one day to spare. This was hell, required so much time and stress to deal with, and truly made me lose faith in the solar industry entirely. Kota also never paid for the 2k of our roof they committed to. They have a flashy sales process and then quite literally disappear entirely the moment you sign the contract. In the end, their misallocation of the funds and failure to pay their portion of the roof was criminal. They are an awful company run by morally corrupt people feeding off of naive, well-intentioned home owners. Do everything you can to avoid them.

I wish there were negative Stars to give!

The whole process was a sh-t show! let's start with the fact that the installation occurred in 2022 and we were told the house needed re-roofing. It was an unexpected cost but let's be honest in a few years the solar panel would pay itself off along with the new roof. One of their people turned my backyard sprinklers off and did not share that information with us. Here I was putting grass fertilizers and the like till i figured out what happened. The piece de resistance was when the first heavy rains in 2023 came and I had leaks in my garage and indoor patio. they came in and claimed they fixed it. the rest of the year rains were mild, and we did not see anything. Now the recent storms from 2024 brought back the same (F--ING) leak in the indoor patio. Koda has graciously reminded me that they've already fix the problem and it's been two years since the installation. although it is the same issue and same location, they are no longer responsible! Pieces of sh-t!

Eorst Solar Energy Company

We were approached in 2020 by a Kota representative who promised to provide us with a hassle free installation of a Solar system by the spring of 2021. The installer he arranged for us went bankrupt but he kept assuring us over and over again it would be done with new installers. Inspection after inspection it failed to pass the City inspection. When it had not passed inspection by 2023 he told us there was nothing he or Kota could do for us. We learned in 2023 after they dumped us that he and Kota had failed to contact an inspector who had obtained approved engineering plans in 2021 that were never used in the process. We provided them to a new installer and we finally had our system operational just before NEM2 expired this year.

Misrepresentation of timelines and failure to reimburse

Beware. I signed with KOTA in January 2023. System was not fully operational until September, which forced me to make payments both to the Solar Financing Company and my normal electric utility payments. KOTA has blown past every timeline with excuse after excuse. KOTA promised to reimburse me the payments made to the finance company for the time the system was not operational, and have yet to do so. They have been unresponsive and has showed no signs of good faith. Terrible experience trying to work with them.

Worst company I have ever dealt with

Kota is probably the worst company that I have ever worked with. Every single employee that I have interacted with including, Sales representative, design team, project managers, and electricians, all have managed to make consistent mistakes. Every step of this process has had to be repeated multiple times. We started the process in April, it is now October and we still have not passed inspection. We now have two payments every month, our electric bill and the financing for the solar. I really hope we can get Kota to reimburse us for what we owe, but some how I doubt we will get anything from them.

***DO NOT USE KOTA ENERGY***

I have given Kota Energy Group a lot of time to make things right with the recent lack of professional service I have received from them. I want to share my experience with anyone that maybe considering business with KOTA. I have emails, text messages, call logs, and USPS certified letter receipts to validate the below mentioned. I believe that it is important to share my experience. I will start off by saying all the field technicians and installers that came out to my house were very professional and courteous. Now, to briefly explain the horrible experiences with this company. For starters I was in the solar process for six (6) months. The experience included errors on paperwork submitted to “Southern California Edison” (SCE), three (3) “no-call, no-shows,” lies told by project managers, several calls and text messages to project managers left unanswered/not replied too, over 60-80 broken tiles on my roof were (replaced after I reached out), and a drive down to the Newbury Park office only to be told there was no one there for me to speak with. I conducted A LOT of follow-ups between Edison and KOTA on my end to get the project completed, including getting my “permission to operate (PTO)” pushed through. On Kota’s website they state “HOW WE DO IT, we care from your initial contact with KOTA, all the way through installation and system activation, we are hyper focused on making sure you know we care. You’ll see it in the details of our everyday operations. We care about your experience going solar, and we care about our planet.” This is not upheld at all by the administration of KOTA. I have sent approximately 4-5 rounds of emails to management teams at KOTA and have not received any responses. I have sent three (3) rounds of USPS certified letters to project managers and executives which include the CEO of the company and have received ZERO responses. I was told by two (2) project managers that the CEO would call me, but I am still waiting for that call today. All the correspondence was regarding my poor customer experience with KOTA. Again, I am sharing my six months of adventures so that if you are considering this company, you won’t have to experience the level of incompetence for a service that you are paying a lot of money for. SPEND YOUR MONEY WITH A WORTHY COMPANY.

8 months of delays and frustration

I would suggest one read the Yelp reviews to see how horrible they are in communication and delays...expecting the customer to make financing payments on projects that were not completed in a timely manner; nor confirmed and tested that the systems were operational. I find it a complete failure ethically to have this loan funded, monies tranferred, and the 60 day payment clock kicked off...yet it shows on multiple occasions in the Yelp reviews that we were not alone. We got off easy with just a couple loan payments...and lost solar credits...because we found that our system was not operational once PG&E granted our PTO (coincidentally during the longest days of the year). A customer service manager indicated that he would seek refunds for the 2 payments and 2 months later (and 11 months after signing our initial agreement) the KOTA failures and empty promises continue. We were even told that their accounting group concluded our situation did not "merit a refund"! WTF. Our install was not properly connected in multiple places...from the panel wiring leading to the inverter as well as the inverter itself. Once finally fixed we were told by the tech that there was no way this system was operational when first installed...with 2 opportunities to test prior to PTO...yet we lost hundreds of dollars in solar credits and made 2 payments on our loan before it became operational. Appears there has been a negative cultural shift within the organization placing quanity and sales over quality of service...with this accounting group hammering that fact home. Again, KOTA also did not on 2 occasions confirm the system was operational before the PTO was granted. Going forward, our system is now functioning but i wonder what a response will be if a warranty need arises. The 25 year warranty on roof and panels we all enjoy could be just a wasted piece of paper as this market saturates and KOTA's service continues to erode...and possibly they fold as a company. As one of their employees said...this industry is nicknamed the SOLAR-COASTER...and he felt pretty good with 3 years completed with this company - alot of ups and downs and no real deep feeling of security. Good luck...read some Yelp reviews.

Worse experience ever

So it’s been 5 months since we signed our contract and we don’t even have a date to start our job yet. We were ignored for months and finally started asking what the hold up is. We would be ignored for days and days at a time , get a text or call then nothing. It’s difficult to get email correspondence, they want to text which is less than professional.They say they have no roofing contractors. In trying to find a new one , the cost was more (6k more) and they wanted to pass the cost to us. No thanks! Our salesperson, Jared is no help, they have added two other people, one to manage the roof and one for solar. Roof mgr (Ryan) is essentially non responsive aside from an occasional call or text but no solution. The supervisor, Chance , does not respond to emails either. We got in under the rebate in California and now I’m not sure what to do. I don’t want to continue with this horrible experience but to try to go with another company now would cost SO much more. Summer is almost over and we are still spending the money we planned to out towards our solar on electric bills. Now after reading the reviews about trying to solve issues after the install has me even more stressed.

Worst Solar Company ever!

I had nothing but issues getting my solar panels installed but the worst part is getting a service call 5 months later when half my solar panels stopped working. They went out on March 25th and after several calls they could not get me in until April 12th. April 12th came and I made 11 calls to the Customer Service dept confirming they were coming and Guess what? Nobody showed up. No call nothing. I contacted Cole the CEO and he told me they were working on it but I got crickets. I am in the roofing business and this is the worst service I have ever dealt with. Do not get your solar panels from KOTA they may seem good in the beginning but their service is terrible.

Bad Customer Service

So a little background first, we purchased our home in 2018 and it sits on a corner lot. This makes the home a natural attractant for solicitors of all kinds from my favorite Girl Scouts (we all love those cookies) to my least favorite Jehovah's Witnesses. Almost immediately after we moved into the home we started to get a lot of different solar companies coming to our door and we always said no to them. Last year Donna who is also our neighbor came to the door and was selling solar. She was so nice and polite so much so that when we got COVID she even offered to go to the store and get us medications. The best neighbor ever right? She talked to me about solar and answered a lot of questions for us. For 9 months I did a lot of homework on what seemed like an endless amount of solar companies in San Diego. I finally decided on KOTA because it was one of the better companies when it came to current customers and a few neighbors that I talked and allowed me to see their installations in their homes. I had a good feeling and was convinced KOTA was the best choice for my family's needs when it came to solar. Today is March 18, 2023 why the date? Well we had the system installed early February 2023 and finally went live on February 29th. Right off the start I noticed problems with the monitoring app. It kept saying the system was not producing power or if it was it was at the extreme low equivalent to what a solar calculator would produce 0.01kWh. I called, texted and emailed the Project Manager various times to no avail. It seems I got every excuse possible from "I was out sick" to "I'm overloaded with customers", "NEM 3.0" and so on. Finally on Monday March 6th a tech came over and looked at the system and found that One panel was installed incorrectly and had a cut wire which burnt out the micro inverter to the panel. The panel was decommissioned and the micro inverter removed. He reported the findings to KOTA management and he told me someone would be in touch during the week, well it's been two weeks and I have not heard anything from KOTA. I finally got a text from the PM which said he had elevated the issue to customer service and above (whatever that means) but 2 weeks have passed since that and not one single person has gotten in touch with me or even attempted to reach out. Mind you KOTA has my email addresses and my cell number, so no texts, emails or phone calls or even US mail would work (desperate by now). At this point I feel I purchased a lemon and I have no way out of this situation. This is a last ditch attempt at getting something done by KOTA before exhausting all my avenues for action. I have already contacted my attorney for advice on what my legal choices are here but I don't want to go to that extreme "YET". Honestly I just want to get what I paid for, a working solar system that produces 6 kWh of electricity because right now the daily 0.01 kWh is not what I paid $25,000 for. If KOTA needs to replace the Enphase panel, the shorted micro inverter and the solar panel or any other component(s) then they should just let me know what course of action they are taking to remedy the issue or issues and if there is any warranty paperwork I need to fill out. If you are wondering where Donna is in all of this, well Donna has been working extremely hard at getting something done about this but even she has hit 12 inch concrete walls with KOTA. If I was to be asked today by a potential KOTA customer if I recommend them my answer would be a resounding "NO", I wouldn't even recommend them to the ex-wife and this says a lot. Honestly if you put value in customer service this is not the company to go with. Semper Solaris may penetrate a cross beam incorrectly but that can be fixed easily and their customer service is a 100 times better. I regret going with KOTA every time I look at the app.

If you like to be Ignored, then go with Kota Energy Group

I had solar panel's installed last year, and on one of the panels is uneven. I have called Koda 7 times, and every time they would apologies to me and tell me that they will send someone to align the panels for me, but they keep ghosting me hoping that I forget. They are very responsive to get your money and get the panels installed on your roof, but when it comes to repair and adjustment good luck. I don't recommend them to anyone, save yourself from the headache and don't select them for your solar needs. thanks,

Horrible

Kota installed solar panels right next to an old hot water heater vent that prevents 2 of our panels from performing at full capacity. At first Kota refused to address the issue and basically said the pipe is the problem. That is exactly my point. They are the experts so why would they propose putting the panels so close to the vent in the first place. After dozens of attempts to get them to address the issue they finally scheduled a day to come out and look at the issue. An hour before the appointment they texted a cancellation message saying they’d get back with me with a new day. They didn’t do so. After another call they had me on hold once again. They then proposed charging me to remove the panels while I paid another company to remove the vent and then Kota would charge me to reinstall the panels. It has been maddening trying to deal with this company after they received payment for the panels and installation. I expect them to take responsibility for their error and make this right in order for us to get 100% out of our panels. We specifically went through all of our future electrical needs when deciding on the number of panels to install and now we are not getting what we paid for. We are extremely disappointed and expect this matter to be rectified.

Not reccomended

4 months no solar they fail inspections but u will have a solar bill and still be paying pg&e who knows when or if itll ever pass so meantime i have 2 bills

Very Angry with KOTA

We have been wanting solar for awhile now, and finally chose KOTA for its reviews. The sales process went smoothly. We indicated that our roof was tar and gravel, and the representative said that was no problem. They ran our credit, and everything was fine. During the permitting process (which took six weeks), we needed a new roof due to leaks. I reached out to KOTA to tell them that we were getting a new tar and gravel roof - and they said no issue. My roofer indicated that the warranty would be forfeited if we installed solar after the new roof. I reached out to the sales rep and indicated that KOTA would need to install the pegs (or whatever they're called) first. The rep said not to worry - that KOTA would cover the warranty after install. Come the day of installation, the crew said they couldn't install the solar because we had tar and gravel, despite the fact that I CLEARLY INDICATED to the rep that we had tar and gravel. Despite the fact that they dropped the ball, they wouldn't change their policy (the president sounds like an inflexible a-hole). Now we aren't getting our tax incentive this year, they ran our credit, and now we need to find another solar company. KOTA is an incredibly unprofessional disappointment and we regret ever starting to work with them.

Do not use KOTA for solar installation

Do not use KOTA for solar! The company does not follow through with what they say they will do unless you constantly hound them. The internal communication and business process is a mess. It seems they have too many projects and their staff is stretched too thin. They tried to process an unauthorized ACH from my checking account for $24k before the installation was complete (breach of contract). They installed a new roof on my house and then damaged it just two weeks later when installing the solar. They were unaware of the roof damaged until I pointed out that I could see sunlight in my attic through the holes in my roof. They also damaged numerous shingles. KOTA is demanding final payment, but they will not provide me with the conditional lien release. There are many, many other items where KOTA misled me during the process (untruthful), provided inadequately trained staff to work on my project (the solar installation PM was fired because of his inadequate mgmt of my project) and damaged my home during the solar installation. I am self-employed. My home is my office and I need to be able to work to bill my clients. I was told 4-5 times that a generator would be provided during the time my power was out which did not happen. I have requested a discount for the lost revenue I have experienced over the past 1.5 months. I was notified that management required payment in full without any consideration. As of yesterday, KOTA remotely disabled my solar system until final payment is made but they will not provide the conditional lien release prior to making the payment. I am in the process of filing a solar complaint with the Contractors State License Board. I hope this will help protect others from experiencing the same situation that I have been dealing with.

Solar Nightmare, steer clear!

KOTA claim to offer "highest level of installation quality in the industry" "Transparency and communication every step of the way" "staff who care" "reliability you can count on" "always work harder to achieve perfection", all of that was from the mission statement in the contract you signed. The quality of the installation was substandard, the installer didn't care to measure, they kept screwing in studs until they hit a rafter, some studs blown out the side of the rafter, and the studs that missed the rafters they just removed the stud and patched it with silicone. Trash, nails, and electrical equipment were left on the roof. One of the tiles was crack (but was repaired during inspection). When I brought up the poor workmanship and showed the photos to the project manager (Justus Berg), I ask if I could recoup a portion of the installation cost due to the poor workmanship, he promised to make things right and would get back to me. While I wait for the project manager to get back to me in regards to the poor workmanship. I asked when would they install critter guard and paint the conduits, which was promised to me by the salesman and also the installation team and their inspector confirm that they'll have someone take care of it before everything is finalized. When I asked the project manager told me they would paint the conduits only and the critter guards was not a default with KOTA's installation and he refused to authorize them. I was shocked; you would think the project manager would attempt to show some good will by following through with the critter guard. He said, I was either confused or misunderstood the salesman, installation team, and the inspector in regards to critter guards. A week later, I ask the project manager when the conduits will get painted; he then told me they would be happy to paint it if I buy the paint. At this point the project management is being difficult to work with and just vindictive. I gave up; it was impossible dealing with this kind of a human being. A few weeks goes by, I got a call from the project manager, he inform me that they finalized everything and I was going online and will be connected to PG&E. He apologized for the poor quality installation, and now he is willing to install the critter guard and paint the conduit. At that point I already had the critter guard installed and just needed the conduits painted. It was a nightmare dealing with the project manager and this company. I hope others can learn from my mistake and steer clear of this company. If you're brave enough to do business with this company make sure you have everything in writing.