Astrawatt Solar

Awful overall experience, don't trust them

Astrawatt of Mahopac, NY (which is somehow related to or part of County Comfort, or maybe vice versa) performed an install of my solar panels in 2023. I've been waiting to write this review until I got through the full process. (I'm writing this in paragraphs, but in case it gets compressed I'm putting in "~~~" to indicate breaks.) ~~~ They were nice enough to deal with, but the job took far longer than it should have. The contract specified 2 months from signature to completion, with install taking 3 days, but in reality this wasn't even close to correct. Promised completion date in the contract was Nov 8, 2023, but the system wasn't installed and functional until mid-December and wasn't switched on until January 2024. ~~~ The original design had some major mistakes that I flagged to the designer – panels facing west were put in the system as facing north, which significantly reduced their estimated output. (I'm not a solar engineer. Why was I the one to find their errors?) I assumed this was just a simple mistake, but given the production guarantee I'll talk about at the end, I now wonder whether this was intentional. ~~~ The initial measurements of my roof and joists were wrong, resulting in delivery of the materials on schedule but inability to install them. I lost use of my garage for 4 weeks while I waited for them to correct the designs and start the installation. ~~~ Communications throughout were terrible. I continually had to follow up to find out whether people were coming as scheduled, and had to rearrange my schedule multiple times to accommodate when they showed up without notice. There was one Saturday well after the promised completion date when a single electrician showed up to work on the circuit panel, and I needed to help him for two hours by calling out which circuits he was turning off and on. (Yes, I could have said just come back with another worker another day, but I wanted to get the damn project done.) ~~~ Installation looks good overall, but I keep finding little pieces of the install on my grass – plastic caps, the wires that hold the critter guards in place. I've started to wonder when I'll start finding larger pieces, and whether their 25 year guarantee will actually be a reality. ~~~ To their credit, Joe did agree to a price reduction given all the problems I listed above, and they installed an extra (older) panel for free to try to increase production. Joe also sent me a car charger extension cable for the time I couldn't use my garage. And their workers were pleasant and professional. ~~~ But finally, estimated production was 14% higher than what their panels actually produced last year – a difference of about 2300 kWh, which is pretty significant. The Astrawatt contract specifies a production guarantee: if production falls below 90% of the estimate in any given year, they will reimburse the value of energy below 90%. Production the first year was about 86% of estimated, so I asked for the reimbursement and calculated the amount they should reimburse at $241. They acknowledged they'd failed to meet the estimate, but then stopped responding and have not sent a check. I had to take this to the BBB and the state Attorney General. Still no resolution and today the BBB told me they've not replied to the complaint. It's been months since Keith or Joe have replied to my messages. ~~~ I am happy to have a solar panel system in place, but I am massively dissatisfied with the experience of working with County Comfort / Astrawatt. I assume I'll need to make a claim yearly to collect their contractual obligation, and I assume they'll be equally defiant every year, and I assume I'll have to continue wasting my time to collect. ~~~ So: I would STRONGLY recommend against trusting this company with your solar install.