Renu Energy Solutions

Disappointed :-(

Extremely disappointed with Renu Solar and its customer service We purchased our solar system from Renu Solar in 2020 for approximately $40,000, and we paid the system off this year. The system had been working well until the inverter stopped working more than a month ago. Since then, our electric bill has nearly tripled. We immediately contacted Renu Solar and were told that it would take approximately a week to obtain a replacement inverter, after which service would be scheduled. Three weeks passed with no update. We finally contacted Sun Service, the company Renu contracts with to handle these repairs. We were told that the replacement inverter had not yet arrived. Because we were getting nowhere, I asked to speak with a manager. When the manager finally returned my call, I was told that, amazingly, the replacement part had suddenly arrived at their office. However, I was then told that they could not schedule the repair until their service team had other repairs in our area. Another week has now passed. I also contacted Renu’s corporate office directly, yet the only communication we have received is a text message saying that we are still not scheduled. This is extremely disappointing. We spent a lot on this solar system, have now paid it off, and reasonably expect the company to stand behind the system and provide timely service when a major component fails. Instead we have a non functioning system and are being held hostage by a contracted repair company Sum Service - Renu needs to do better. Renu Solar promotes itself as a solar company that has remained in business while other solar companies have closed. Staying in business is not enough, though. Customers also deserve responsive communication and reasonable service when something goes wrong. More than a month without a functioning inverter, with our electric bill nearly tripling, and still no scheduled repair is unacceptable to us. Based on this experience, I cannot recommend Renu Solar

I hoped for more…

They were incredibly responsive when it came to making the big money on the install. It’s very lackluster after that. They damaged my home during the install. I fixed the water leak and the cracked cap shingles on the roof. I emailed them explaining what happened. I called it a teachable moment and asked them to talk to the install crew about how this could have been prevented. I never go a reply. I called and spoke to someone about my email and they promised to pass along my message. Never heard a word. Two times my system has failed and needed repair. Each time the repair process took over 30 days. Never because of parts, they just always seem overwhelmed in the service department. To be fair, the repair prices were very reasonable.

Bait and switch

When we got a quote for solar we made it clear that we did not want our power bill to be more than we were currently paying, because if it wasn’t going to save any money then what was the point after all. I understand that there is a cost with the panels but if we are generating our own power then our actual energy costs should be minimal or nonexistent. When the Renu rep came to the house to discuss the options (because there are several ways you can use the panels), he explained that some power companies will allow you to stay on their grid for a “facility fee” of $3.00/ kWp/month. For our home our system is 8.03 kWp, so I was thinking ok not too bad, roughly $24-$25/ month to stay on the grid and be able to still pull off the grid if we need to. This option was in leu of being strictly off the grid with batteries. The way it was explained is that we would sell our power we made to the power company (Energy United) for the same rate we would buy back the power we used. In essence if we made more than we used, it would go back as a credit on our account. This is how it was explained to us. We had this option or we could get the battery packs and disconnect from the grid. For us, this sounded like the best option. We agreed and actually had a second house installed with panels as well. It did take a while (like 3 months or so) to get all the paperwork and approvals before they actually scheduled an install date. The install was quick. They did both houses on the same day (one is across the road from the other) and were done shortly after lunch. It then took another month or so before we got the okay to actually activate the panels. (This was apparently due to something on Energy United’s end). When we finally got our first bill after activating the panels, it was a lot higher than we expected. It did not show where we had been given a credit for what we had made but there was that new facility charge. When I contacted Renu they said it was an Energy United problem. I spoke with the Energy United rep and they said they have 2 different options for solar with them (this had not been explained). The scenario I was sold on by the Renu rep was not what they signed me up for. I had never even been told about this other option. I was able to get Energy United to switch me to the option I had initially agreed to, but was told I could only change it once. So, the next bill comes after the corrections, and now there are all these extra fees. I am now being charged not only the “facility charge”, but also a “standby charge”. These fees for one property are $56.20 every month, regardless. The. There is tax and a renewable energy mandate. Before solar my power bills were usually around $70-$80 or less in the spring and fall and $130 a month in the summer (costs more to cool). Now, they also advertise a 26% tax credit and sell it like you’ll be getting 26% back of the purchase price in tax refund. They even discount the payments for 18 months to allow you to get that tax money back. You can then apply that to the loan to keep the payments the same or keep it and the payments go up. Well, you do not get 26% tax credit on solar. That is a flat out lie. We got like $1,300 credit for this system, which costs about $30,000 (without batteries!). I am now paying 2-3 times more with solar than I would if I had just stayed on the grid. I have even reached back out to Renu to see about adding the battery packs and getting off of Energy United’s grid (because if I’m going to be paying that much I might as well apply it to payments that may one day be paid off). I cannot get anyone to talk with me about just adding packs. They keep calling me to discuss adding a solar power system even after I’ve explained that I have ready been duped into but not one but TWO systems from them already. I was just looking at my power bill from this time last year with solar and even though I generated $65.97 worth of power and only used $24.13 worth, I still had to pay an additional $25.98 thanks to the fees Energy United added on. I very much was hoping this would be an economical and sustainable energy source, but it is not. Please make sure you contact the power company you are with first before you agree to staying on the grid. Do NOT rely on a Renu Energy representative to give you all the facts and details. If you’re power bill is <$150/ month on average, you are better off to stay where you are. Solar is NOT for you. At least not now anyways.

Miscommunication

I worked with Jeremy Pitts and when we went over what I was looking for I was told included in my pricing was a temporary battery backup in case power outage, etc. I found out after the first power outage that wasn’t the case. Shame on me because I should have caught it wasn’t in the contract but I didn’t know what I was looking for. Now to add it I have to spend another $8500. The Solar has mostly covered me, but I still get small power bills, pay $198 for Solar and $180 in winter for gas bc my heat wasn’t on electric. It wasn’t worth it at the end of the day and is still costing me money to do what I wanted to begin with that I was told was included.

Consistent Poor communications among RENU Team

From the first time we began this project until today, it’s spanned several months to get everything done and close the loop. One thing I can share is this company does not communicate well with eachother. They pull the customer through their ineffective communications with some pain. The people I’ve talked to in engineering, service and sales are very nice people who genuinely want to help, but the information either does not get translated to the installers or is ignored. So they will show up and get right to work unaware of arrangements that were made with someone else at their company. Poor communication across the organization, I’m sad to say. I’d rather report something great on their overall performance because the service people on the phone are so helpful, but I can’t because they dont act as a coordinated team.

Disappointed with Renu in making sure job was completed on time!

I am sorry to say that so far Renu has not lived up to expectations that they raised! I was told that we would be producing power within 4 weeks of agreeing to start the process. Well, the installation was complete and the county inspector checked it on October 4th and we finally started producing power on December 2nd! That is at least 10 weeks from start to finish when they promised 4! It would not have been touched if I had not called repeatedly and then finally called Duke on two occasions to followup on getting my "special" meter. Neither Renu nor Duke were willing to take responsibility of the lost production. I blame Renu since they should have been on top of this to be sure it was completed. Now it is producing only about 15 KW on the best days when we were expecting somewhere around 25 KW. Not sure if that is due to angle of the sun or whether something is wrong, but no one is willing to take responsibility and come check it out.