Lumina

Worth the Wait

Man, this review was a long time coming, but the experience was definitely worth it. I'm not sure where to begin....I guess, at the beginning! I met Brian Buzzfeed (Buzz) on TikTok. He's The Solar Slayer. We bought a new house in December of 2021 that has no gas line and two HVAC units with heat pumps. So when my BGE bill for January was almost $600, I immediately started researching solar. We have a lot of roof space and the sun path over our house was ideal. Back to Buzz. I started following him on TikTok when I was in my research phase. He's an electrician/solar installer and his work is super clean and detailed. When I realized he was here in Maryland, I reached out to him and told him I'm in the market for solar. He told me he was an installer for Lumina and suggested I reach out to them and schedule an estimate. I had an estimate with one of the big national companies on Wednesday while my Lumina estimate was scheduled for Friday. When it came to knowledge, professionalism, and my confidence in their competence, it wasn't even close. Lumina was head and shoulders above them. I knew right away that they were the company I wanted to work with. I didn't know, however, that it would take 8 months for the project to be completed. Now, it definitely wasn't Lumina's fault. Through the inspection process we found out the previous owner (who was a contractor) cut several corners when building the addition and the roof wasn't structurally sound. So, we ended up having to replace the entire roof along with the trusses in an entire section and a ton of the plywood. Throughout the entire process, Lumina was communicative. I worked with Kurt Bradshaw and he was phenomenal. We talked at least weekly for 8 months and became friends in the process. Once everything was finally done, I discovered that the wait was worth it. I own a small business myself and Lumina operates the way that I strive to. They're informative, communicative, and professional. I absolutely cannot recommend them enough.

We researched multiple solar companies and received estimates on solar panel installations. We found that Lumina Solar is neither the cheapest nor the most expensive. Its cost estimate sits somewhere in the middle but with higher cost comes better quality. For example, Lumina Solar uses micro inverters instead of solaredge, and better equipment that attaches the solar panels to the roof. We spoke with several other well known solar installation companies beside Lumina Solar and chose it for a variety of reasons. We were highly impressed with Andrew Cimino's presentation and knowledge as compared to solar consultants from other companies. He was very transparent and upfront. Most importantly, at no point in our interactions did he come off as a "pushy" salesperson. He provided all the information and gave us plenty of time before following up with us about our decision. We had several technical questions about the panels, inverters and the installation process. If he didn't have all the answers, he made sure to find those out after consulting with his technical team and provided detailed documents for us to review. Unlike other solar companies, Lumina Solar has an in-house installation crew which makes it responsible for any install related issues even several years after the installation. We have read plenty of online reviews from people complaining about installations done by third party installation crews hired by solar companies. Elayna Birch-Smith was very professional and performed a thorough pre-installation survey of the roof and the attic space to ensure a proper design of the solar panel system. We found Lumina Solar's installation crew experienced and adept in completing the task. They completed our installation in under 4 hours. Andrew kept us well informed about the process and steps from signing the contract to installation. Everything happened as per the schedule and plan. Pre-installation, Lumina Solar took care of all the permits and scheduling appointments with the electric company and the county inspectors. Post installation, Lumina Solar's team took care of all the paperwork required to receive the incentives. We are very happy with the install and service provided by Lumina Solar. Our system performance is excellent.

Excellent Company / Excellent People

My solar journey started in October 2021. After interviewing several solar companies, I chose Lumina. The biggest reason for my choice was Philip Jordan. While interviewing other companies, I had a lot of questions for Phil. He was always a phone call away and he would take the time to explain why there may be differences between Lumina and another company I was interviewng. While going through the process of walking door-to-door in my neighborhood to gather signatures to update our by-laws, Phil came out one cold Saturday in January and walked with me. He was able to answer questions some of the homeowners had about solar. He has been by my side through this entire process. It took me 3 months of walking door-to-door to gather enough signatures for updating my HOA bylaws. It was a lot of work...but it has paid off. In late July, the HOA officially updated our bylaws for solar. Phil moved qickly to get the install scheduled. The install was completed in late August. The team that came out to do the install was an amazing group ...extremely knowledgable about their product, courteous, and easy to talk with. They were very efficient, instaling my panels in a little over four hours. They made sure I was comfortable with the work they completed and answered all of my questions before leaving my house. I cannot say enough about Phil, the team that completed my install and Lumina. The experience for me has been awesome! Great people...great team! Would definitely recommend Lumina to anyone looking to make the move to solar energy!

Wonderful Experience - Great Service

We were referred to Lumina by a neighbor who was very happy with their experience having solar panels installed and we can echo their sentiments. Philip was our first contact person with Lumina and he was incredibly helpful and super responsive throughout the whole process. He answered every question we had and offered info in a way that was very genuine and caring… often times responding within seconds! The install day was also extremely pleasant with the 5 workers who were here to install the system. They were all very friendly and we were able to chat and ask any questions we had throughout the day. I highly recommend Lumina if you’re looking for a trustworthy partner for installing solar!!

Lumina Solar: Only company to purchase solar from

Lumina Solar was absolutely amazing from the very beginning throughout the waiting period and after install. The sales rep, Peter Hayes, was very through and kept us informed throughout the entire process. Every few weeks he would let me know of any updates while we waited for our township to approve everything. Even after installation, Peter has continued to reach out to make sure that everything is operating as expected, if there are any issues and of any updates that I should be aware of. Once everything was approved and ready for installation a day was scheduled that worked with my schedule. The installation team (Ryan, Nate, Josh, Cameron, and Titus) arrived promptly and were incredibly professional and courteous. Even my neighbors commented on how incredible they were. Besides the sound of everything being installed, you would not know that they were even working and nothing was left behind. If you are seriously thinking getting solar installed, which I would recommend, I would look at no other company than Lumina Solar. They know solar!

Excellent Overall Experience

Everyone we encountered from sales to scheduling to installation to support was very professional, reliable, helpful, and friendly. They were very patient answering our many questions and providing insightful suggestions to design the project we wanted. They delivered everything we contracted for with minimal delay and disruption at the agreed to price. We compared four offers and their cost was the most competitive for comparable systems. As home improvement projects go this went very well.

We had a great experience from sale through installation. Our representative, Philip, was very professional and easy to work with. He allowed us to move at our own pace with no pressure. Answered all our questions as they came up. Installation went very smooth, the workers were quick, professional and did a wonderful job. Very good experience with Lumina!

Very pleased with all aspects of our solar experience.

All of our steps to getting our solar with Lumina went very well. Our customer representative, Sufi, has been exceptional. He has answered all of our questions promptly and well. Our install went very well. All the employees who called and came to our home were very professional and friendly. We are very pleased with how the system is working.

Excellent from top to bottom!

We looked at several installers before choosing to do solar and Lumina was by far the one with its act most together. They’ve got great software to model your production, use really quality products, and our sales person was great. Throughout the process, they completely maintained that quality. They kept us fully informed, managed everything with Pepco, and executed on a solid timetable. The install team was also great and really knew their stuff. System is up and running now and zero issues thus far. We’ve been recommending Lumina to all our friends! Really top-notch.

Going Green Saves Some Green.

I have been looking at solar for several years and finally had it installed. Peter Hayes was excellent and very professional thru the entire process. The whole process took about 3 months from sale until the system powered on. The first month my electric bill went from $195 to $21. The savings covered the electric bill, the loan and gave me almost $70 profit. Looking forward for a full year for the total savings.

After doing my homework and meeting with several solar companies we chose Lumina Solar. The panels outlast majority of everyone else's and are completely offsetting my electric bill!! Simple process and fantastic job. Thank you to Christopher Richardson for making everything go so smoothly.

Lumina is an Honest & Professional Solar company

Lumina is a very honest, professional, and quality solar company. See details below. Lumina was one of is not the only solar company that gave me a realistic estimate of how many panels I could get on my roof and still meet code. The software for this was very good. Other companies would exaggerate how much solar capacity they could put on my roof. My expectation is that they would let me know later and blame the county inspector for not letting them put as many panels as was in their quote. Lumina inspected my roof prior to installing the system and they identified damage to the roof that I didn't know about. I was successful in negotiating with my insurance company to get the damage repaired. I also worked with Lumina to get fasteners for my solar system that had flashing to prevent the possibility of leaks in the future. Finally, Lumina's installation crew was very professional and had my 16.4 KW system installed in two days. My Lumina Rep., Allison, walked me through this process, answered all my questions, and kept me informed of any activities related to getting the solar system installed and let me know of any actions I needed to perform.

Friendly, punctual, and competent

Lumina were great all the way through. Philip Jordan was great as the guy who explained it all to me and helped figure out the design. He made it easy to understand and kept in touch with me throughout the process and after. The office staff handled the paperwork wonderfully, and were very quick to respond to questions. The inspection and installation people were friendly and great. They really know what they are doing. When it came time to have the installation inspected, the inspector told me he'd inspected 8 or 9 other installations from other companies that week and mine was the only one that he approved. Overall, I have only positive things to say about my experience and would recommend Lumina to anyone.

Working with Lumina solar was great experience from the beginning to end. All the necessary approval process starting from HOA, County, Utility , Project designs and installation was handled very smoothly. Overall the process was very professional and knowledgeable . My special thanks to Project Manager Kurt Bradshaw and installation team ' Modsters' led by Jay & other members are Anthony, Devan , Chris and Devin.

Professional Company, Great Follow-Through

We just had our solar system turned on today and we are very pleased with how it is working so far. We've found Lumina to be a great company to work with, and throughout the process they have been responsive to our questions and concerns. From start to finish took longer than anticipated due to unrelated issues with our electrical system that needed to be resolved before install could happen, but Lumina was understanding and provided guidance as we worked to get those issues taken care of. From sales staff, to surveyors, to the install team, everyone we've interacted with has been professional yet friendly.

I'm a couple months in to the installation of my 8.16kW solar system with back up batteries. My rep, Pete Hayes, was excellent: he did a great job answering questions, was quick to respond to any questions or concerns, and explained everything very well. I have absolutely zero regrets about getting my system, especially the back up batteries as I loose power often where I live out in the country. Already seeing massive savings on my power bill and I really appreciate having a back up source of power--have lost power about 5 times since getting system two months ago, longest being 12 hours, but battery has never come below 50%. I have two 10 kw-hr batteries that can run my house for 24hrs with a portable AC unit running, so that's awesome! The cost of the system was $71,072.61, which includes the back up batteries. I was able to finance at 1.00% interest over 25 years. The pros about this company: -Great customer service -Phenomenal financing options -Enphase battery and panels, which based on my research is a really good brand -SolarInsure for warranty...it's really important to have a good warranty for your system, please look into this before moving forward with any company, thankfully, SolarInsure seems to be a great company -Willing to work with you to customize your build -Never felt like I was being pushed into anything, and felt like the sales rep was being totally transparent at all times The Cons: -Had to wait about 6 months for installation due to backorder on back up batteries, although this seems to be getting better, and I think just about every other company was in the same boat at the time I was ordering my system

Super smooth process

Everything from the first phone call, the project manager, the roofers upgrading the roof supports, and to the electrician installing and explaining the system to me was such a pleasure to deal with. It could not have gone any better. I would definitely go with Lumina Solar again.

Before and after the installation

Until they install the panels everything seemed good. When we had the first problem everything went bad. First of all they have some confusion about whom to contact. Omnidia, them, and enphase? They say they check your system all the time. THEY DONT. You have to be checking your system all the time as we figured out there was not data uploading for the last 2 days. They do not respond to phones and emails on the weekends. You contact enphase, they give you different answers which conflict each other. You contact omnidia they let you schedule a call for trouble shooting. meanwhile it has been 5 days already. Then Lumina emails you to schedule a site visit 13 days later. No response, no responsibility, no customer care

Great company to install solar

Very professional company to deal with, from our salesperson, Andrew to the crew that put the panels on our roof. The process was easy and everyone was very knowledgeable. Can't wait to start seeing the results!

Overall great experieince

I cannot say enough good things about Lumina. I compared 5 solar companies and Lumina outshined the rest. I work in the environmental field so I already had a pretty good idea about solar, the regulations behind it, and the benefits. I could not believe how much misinformation some of these companies tried to sell me. Kurt Bradshaw at Lumina was polite, straight forward, and made the process from estimate to installation to payment super simple. Furthermore, Lumina did not badger me after my initial estimate. My phone would be ringing constantly and I would have a bunch of emails from the others. Lumina gave me the time and space to weigh my options and was open to answering any questions I did have. The inspections and installation was quick and simple. The technicians were punctual and left no mess behind. There was great communication leading up to the install.

Lumina Solar is the Best!

Lumina Solar is the best! They had the best proposal and the most flexibility and transparency of any of the solar energy companies I have dealt with. Their installation was first-rate and they were immensely helpful every step of the way. Last, but definitely not least, Catie Meck, my Solar Consultant, was wonderful: knowledgeable, helpful, cheerful and a joy to work with. So, to summarize again, Lumina Solar is the best!

Bowled over by Lumina Solar

After researching several solar companies, we settled on having Lumina Solar come talk with us about their solar product and what Lumina Solar could do for us. The representative that we had the pleasure of having talk with us was Peter Hayes. From the moment Peter entered our home he impressed us with his presentation. He asked us what "we' want to accomplish by adding solar panels to our home. We explained what we were hoping to achieve, and Peter explained how we could make that happen. Peter answered all our questions with easy-to-understand explanations and even showed us our home with a rough look at what we would need to have installed. He ran the numbers and we asked, "a lot" and I mean a lot of questions. He then excused himself to allow my husband and I to talk it over. We decided to sign on. Peter then explained each step going forward. Peter made himself available to answer every question we had, no matter what time of the day and night I would contact him. One such time, was a Sunday evening at 9pm! Peter's response was almost instant and if he didn't have the answer at that moment, (which was rare} He would reach out to the appropriate party and get back to me timely. Peter set the tone for our entire experience. The gentleman that came to our home to take photos and measurements to return to the engineers and electricians was another employee of Lumina that the company should consider an asset. He was very respectful while in our home. He too answered any question that was thrown at him. Lumina handled contacting our power company, our municipality to obtain permits and also to get the approve to operate. They handled it all and keep us informed every step of the way. The day came to install, the 4 installers arrived on time and also were very professional while on our property. These men worked nonstop like a well-oiled machine. Once they were finished, they asked if they could fly a drone over our roof for photos. We were happy to agree. While doing this one of the gentlemen saw a piece of debris left on the roof. Let me tell you, he immediately unloaded his ladder from the truck and removed the debris. It was a twist tie that the wind easily would have blown off! Again, we are blown away with the service Lumina Solar provides. Although we are only a few weeks into having "gone solar" we can't say enough about the team we dealt with. They are outstanding and have made this endeavor so simple. We feel like we made the best choice for us by choosing Lumina Solar. Thank you, Peter and thanks to your entire team. By the way my husband watches our solar panels produce electricity like he watches his favorite sports teams! Bob and Donna P

It was a great experience from the initial meeting to review the quote through the installation. Philip Jordan was my main point of contact and he was excellent at answering my questions or concerns in a timely manner. I chose Lumina over other companies due to a combination of competitive pricing and great service contract.

Smooth experience and great support

I had been looking into solar for a while and I finally went forward with it. Looking back, I wish I would have started earlier after realizing how smooth and easy it was to get the process started. I realized this after starting conversations with Lumina (and experiencing the challenges with other solar companies). They presented all the information, benefits, costs, warranties, etc in a clear and concise manner . Lumina is truly a 'one stop shop' from beginning to end. The Salesman to the back office support were all extremely professional and timely with all responses. Wish I would have done this sooner.

Great experience, very happy

Peter Hayes, my Lumina rep, did a great job on this project. I talked to several companies and a couple of quotes, my experience with Peter was by far the best. He took a lot of time before we signed anything to answer all my questions and discuss options. He was extremely kind, patient, and never came off as the “sales guy”. Even after the agreement he’s been there to answer questions and guide me through the install and inspections. Now I can sit back and geek out on the data I get from the app.