Solar Bear

Extremely Disappointed With the Follow-Through

Our experience with Solar Bear has been extremely frustrating. An EV charger was included as part of our contract, but it was never installed. Admittedly, about a year passed before we realized the charger had never been installed and followed up with Solar Bear. However, the EV charger is clearly included in our contract, and once we contacted the company, we expected the issue to be handled promptly. Instead, I have now had to call Solar Bear three separate times over the course of more than two weeks just trying to get an update. Each time, I have been left waiting for someone to provide information or tell me when the charger will actually be installed. As of today, I still have no answer and no installation date. The most disappointing part isn’t simply that the EV charger was missed during the original installation. Mistakes happen. It’s the complete lack of urgency and follow-through after bringing the issue to their attention. A customer should not have to repeatedly call a company to get something that was already included in a signed contract. After investing this much money in a solar system, I expected much better customer service and accountability from Solar Bear. At this point, I just want the company to honor the contract, provide the EV charger we paid for, and get it installed without requiring another round of phone calls.

Report a problem and follow up

I noticed my panel not reporting it’s the microphone converter. I called about it. No call back. I text about it no response. I finally called and made an issue in the advise that they would get back with me still weeks later and no response. Very poor service. They say that the panels in the system has a 25 year warranty, but they’re very reluctant to work.

Scammer

They will tell you you qualify for tax breaks which is illegal advice because they do not work for the IRS or nor are they tax professionals. They will tell you you will save money yet the cost of solar panels will be greater than your savings.

Un ethical team

My experience with Solar Bear has been extremely frustrating and disappointing. The installation was poorly handled, and multiple issues remain unresolved. I have been following up consistently for over 5 months with little to no progress. The lack of accountability and the arrogant attitude from their team made the situation even worse. They have also failed to provide required documentation, which is unacceptable for a project of this nature. I would strongly advise others to think twice before choosing Solar Bear.

Poor customer service

If you have a problem with your system they will ghost you better than Casper. You cannot call anyone. No one picks up the phone. You leave a message and no one comes back to you. If by magic you actually speak to anyone in the office they use a list of excuses that are not believable. My system was installed in 2022 They have been out At least 10 times to change micro inverters that have failed . Every time they come. It is a 3-4 week process. Meanwhile the system is costing more money by not producing. I currently am dealing with a panel that is not producing and have been told by Solar Bear and silfab the panel manufacturer that the panel needs replacing and is covered by my warranty . Meanwhile no one contacts me or reaches back out to solve the issue . On top of this the production numbers that were originally promised and included in my contract do not live up to reality . I’m trying my best to not take legal action but at this point I don’t see any other option as this is blatant breach of contract and have given plenty of opportunities to make this right .

Sola Bear

Solar Bear promised me to have 0 dollars on my Duke Energy bill. A couple times my solar panels were not working but I did not say anything. However, on June 7, 2025, my inverter got damaged and Solar Bear has not been able to fix it. I called the office, and they said they have other houses that the inverter damaged too and that I have to wait for the company guaranty to send the inverter. It has been over 2 months since my inverter was not working, and I believe it is unfair for me to have 2 bills when Solar Bear promised me that I will save money with this company.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY

They scammed me that’s for sure, they caused over 1,500$ in damages to my yard and house installing the roof and solar. I found nails in all 4 of my lawn mower tires multiple times, found nails in my AC unit outside, they went in my attic and made a mess in my garage all over my motorcycles and didn’t clean up at all. Put the dumpster exactly where I asked them not to. Made huge ruts in my yard in 2 spots they didn’t even attempt to fix. I finally get ahold of someone because they hate answering the phones and helping customers and I was told I got the “owner” and he proceeded to curse me on the phone and yell at me because I asked for them to pay for the damages. Now I’m paying an outrageous solar bill and on top of that my power bill (which was supposed to go away if not be very little to pay) is almost 300$ a month so I’m paying over 600$ a month for power and I can’t get anyone on the phone to resolve the issues. They spend months “ processing“ and they don’t call for any updates. Absolutely worst company experience I’ve ever had and wish they’d take it off my house. They are a shit company and did shit work and continue to give shit customer service. Don’t let them scam you next for a 30 year loan as well. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY. YOU WILL REGRET IT QUICKLY

Incompetent employees, managers and company!

I hired Solar Bear for new roof, new HVAC with spray foam insulation in the attic and solar. Quote based on FPL bill I provided which determined the system size. They attempted the spray foam 1st which was found impossible bc no attic space even though they came back 3 separate times. Told them I don't want HVAC if it's not insulated. We agreed they would return $5000 to me for blown insulation since they don't provide. Ductwork now has to be inside apartments and boxed in neatly which they promised to do. After 6-8 weeks of my tenants not having ac in the hot FL heat, manager asked my husband to build boxes for the ductwork and they agreed on price. He sent the invoice but manager "Erin" never signed or returned. He had no choice but to complete it on a Sunday so HVAC guy could come finish on Tues, but he never showed as promised. Tenants went another 3 weeks with no ac. AC is on now but not cooling apartments as it should (even after I paid out of my own pocket to insulate) so portable ac plus HVAC currently in use which defeats the whole purpose. Made several calls and texts with no response from salesman "Gabe" or "Erin" to me or my husband. Job still incomplete that began 4/17, today is 7/15. I discovered they wired new HVAC to my tenant's panel. I bought HVAC so my Energy in the owners panel is offset. When confronted, Erins answer was we put it in whichever one it would fit. WRONG ANSWER ERIN!!! My tenant downstairs pays her own electric and her panel had zero to do with this job. Why would they do that? Bc They looked at the job 3 times before the contract was signed and never determined that my panel couldn't hold the HVAC OR THE SOLAR I hired them to do, to save on my electric bill. I hired them for HVAC and Solar only on MY 2nd floor panel which I pay for! Early into this I added and extra install of 1 minisplit in each of the downstairs apartments. Each have their owner panel and pay their own electric bill. Once complete, I discovered they wired both to one panel and my tenants bill has doubled. Finally the solar panels were put up and again wired it to my tenants panel. Roof misquoted bc pitch never measured, which lead to no AC ducts or foam in attic. Spoke to owner who was to price out subpanel so all will fit in my panel. Never heard back. they will pay tenants bills and for anybody I have to hire to fix what they did wrong. Incompetent company. Stay far far away!

Horrible to work with

We had Solar Bear out here in February because twp panels aren't functioning properly, they took pictures and said they would submit for warranty replacement. Here it is June and still no replacements have called several times and keep getting a run around. They were to send a tech out again yesterday but NEVER showed up, now can't even get someone to answer the phone. I will be contacting an attorney next and/or visiting the office. This will get fixed or they can remove everything and put my roof back in original condition!!

Terrible Service

I have had them on my house for 5 years. This is the worst customer service and company ever. Do NOT go for the upsell on spray foam it is not worth the headache. They also treat the spray foam employees like garbage. They say they will come out and clean your panels yearly… it took them till year 5 before they had to be contacted to come out. Do NOT give this company your money.

Total dissatisfaction

I have reached out to you through the roofing department about my Roof dipping and you sent someone out and said that is normal, which is crap!! And the Foam insulation that you put in my ceiling has been nothing but a nightmare. This is the worst thing I could’ve ever done to my house. I would really like for that crap to be ripped out of my attic. this mess crush my ductwork. As I have been re-modeling my house what I am finding up in the attic is just such an embarrassment with quality of work. And what makes me even more sad,I paid you to do this to my house. I was told that someone would clean my panels every year. That was another lie to add to the disappointment. Solarbear should be ashamed of how my job was done, but to have someone text me to refer you to my friends, clients and family. WOW!!! I have many clients that have ask me about my solar panels. I told them to not go with Solar bear, do their research better than I did, And absolutely do not believe that you will not pay any electric bill. This was another bald faced lie. Should I continue? I don’t think you want me to. So please take me off any list to refer you out.

Not standing behind their product

I have solar panels that's solar bear installed. I have it seems to be one solar panel that uplifted off the roof. I've been trying to reach out to celebrate now for 2 to 3 weeks. Has somebody call me 2 days before Milton Florida. I was told someone would be at my house to fix the solar panel the next business day which was one day before Milton hit. No one ever came. Thank God the wind came from the other side of the house that did not have the solar panels on it. So I called today 10/15/24 to try to get somebody to come out here and screw down the solar panel plate. I'm being told that I have to pay $400 oops I mean $450.. to have someone come out here and screw down the solar panel plate. I asked why do I have to pay and I was told because it was an act of God. We don't cover the act of God. So I continue to ask what is in my warranty? I spoke to two different people no one really knew what was in my warranty all they can tell me was service that was in my warranty. But this $400 oops once again I mean $450. Will cover for the solo bear team to come out to my house screw down the 1 solar panel plate and they will inspect the roof to make sure there's no damage and they will also inspect the solar panel to make sure the solar panel is not damaged. With that being said I do not have any kind of copy of any kind of warranty or any kind of paperwork from solar bear at all. What I do have is the bank that solar bear finance me through and I have all that paperwork. But I have nothing for solar beer because it wasn't given to me. We are all grown and we all make mistakes. This right here was one of my biggest mistakes. I would recommend to do some deep research on the company before you have any work done. Keep in mind just because they move fast and get it done quickly doesn't mean that they do a good job in the long run. Also keep in mind majority of the people that leave reviews they usually leave it before the job is completed because the company is asking them to do a review. If I can turn back the hands of time I think I would have went with a different company. I should have knew something like this was coming for all the times they failed inspection with my solar panels. But just know once you get these solar panels they will nickel and dime you to death.

Not What We Expected

The sales reps and service providers where friendly and tried their best to meet our needs within their parameters. The company as a whole is unorganized when it comes to communicating with homeowners in advance schedules, inspections, and what the homeowners needs to know for next steps. We often would find out last minute (the day before) when things where going to occur which can be frusterating if you have to be there. In addition, they tried to install prior to our HOA approval-because according to them "HOA can not legally tell them no." Inspections failed twice and the third time they passed with stipulations. During our final check in, the person looked at the amount of panels and was confused on why our size of home had the amount of panels it did. They thought we needed more, and they were correct! Our Teco bill the few months prior was a little over $600 and our current bill that had a full cycle with solar was $340. With all the headache and hassel, this did not meet our expectations and what we were sold.

After the install

Solar Bear sales team was great. Communicated well, answered all questions. The install vendor did a great job and completed the job in a timely manner. Now the problems start. Something caused 17 of the 31 micro inverters to fail. Or, a breaker failed causing those micro inverters to fail. When I realized all 31 panels were not producing, I checked the breaker box. Some breakers tripped, others did not. I called customer support and it took a week to send out a tech, not too bad. Tech said he fixed everything, but the 17 panels were still not producing. I called customer service again, they said to give it a couple of days to work, which didn’t make sense. After a few days, nothing. Called back, sent tech back out, discovered a line of 17 failed micro inverters. He put in for the warranty replacement. Because we were all told, every one of that bought with SB, that everything is covered under a 25 year warranty. Two weeks later, no micro inverters. Called the same customer support lady, who is extremely nice by the way, and she said it could take 2 to 4 weeks. So, I gave it 3 more weeks still nothing. Called back, no answers. The nice lady said her manager would call. No call. It’s been 3.5 months and I still have no micro inverters, no answers and a power bill again.

HORRIBLE FOLLOW UP

This company has horrible follow-up for customers in Marion County. After receiving an almost $200 electric bill, we checked the app only to find our panels have not been working for over a month. We immediately called solar bear and were told we would be put on the schedule within 5 to 7 business days. At least three phone calls later and 20 days later, we still haven't heard anything back from solar bear. No technician has called us, nobody from the office has contacted us and our panels still aren't working! I'm sure we'll have another $200 electric bill in July even though this is the time of year when we should be producing the most energy! I truly wish we had purchased from a company that values their clients even after they've been paid. We were assured by our salesperson after examining our last year's worth of electric bills that we would have plenty of panels to cover our electric needs. However, we have always had at least a $60 monthly electric bill. Initial installation was adequate; however, the wiring would not pass Marion County Code Enforcement and had to be redone in order to pass.

Stay away from Solar bear

There owner will treat you like dirt and not hold up to his word. I have many text messages and phone calls to back it. They have irresponsible installers. Flooded my house and left front door unlocked. Brand new construction home never lived in. Left me to deal with it all after the owner giving me his word to help cover the deductible over 30k in damages

Person who did the presentation Manny is phenomenal. How everything else played out has not been great. 1. They explained to me they submit all documents to HOA and they take care of the process with the HOA MY MISTAKE IT BELIEVING THIS. January 3rd I email Courtney Smith with my credentials. They submitted the forms required by HOA which should have included the most important part of the project Solar panels. My HOA approved it within days however the person in charge of my project was fired or changed whatever the case. The HOA approved everything within days however project was to start sometime in March like I mentioned to Manny because I needed to wait until my insurance company sent my roof replacement check which is what I mentioned to him since the beginning nothing will be started until then and he said it was ok. We decided to change the roof color and they submitted paperwork and was approved within days. They installed the roof and everything went smoothly then we scheduled the solar and that was another smooth installation. Of course within days of the solar installation my HOA sent a notice that the project was never approved aka whoever submitted the forms never submitted anything in regards to solar of course I contacted them and Erin Fishburne contacted me and insinuated that I made the mistake and that their company rules are the customer contacts them once they received approval which I never contacted them to notify them of any approval. Erin proceeded to say in other words that it was my fault which of course I told her it wasn’t and if it was her company fault and that it is ok we are human and make mistake but what is not ok to blame me and say it was my fault. I emailed her all the proof of everything from the HOA and how the forms didn’t have the request for solar. Erin didn’t bother to apologize for blaming me Manny did. 2. Exit survey Patricia emailed me the person number who was going to do the exit survey she mentioned he would contact me 3 days passed and he didn’t which is ok. I contacted him no response maybe it could have been because I have a NY are code. I finally got ahold of him we scheduled an appointment for Friday. I took the day off because of course I had to be home. Friday came hours went by no phone call or message from the person who was supposed to the exit survey. I called the guy and he said hey I’m no longer working with solar bear. I called Patricia and mentioned what he told me he was no longer working for solar bear and I asked why couldn’t no one contact me to let me know so I wouldn’t waste my time . She proceeded to tell me she didn’t see me on the scheduled and she didn’t know we left it at that. She said they will contact me as soon as they get someone . Let’s not forget the solar were up for one month roughly not on which of course I ended up with 2 teco bills and the solar payment . hopefully next month it is on track . 3. Despite my explicit communication with Kiara about my availability and the arrangements I made with a friend to accommodate the Friday, June 14th appointment, your team failed to show up today, June 15th, as promised.I had specifically mentioned my out-of-town schedule and the inconvenience it would cause me if the appointment was not kept. Moreover, my friend took time off work and drove two hours to be present for the appointment, only to be left waiting unnecessarily.The lack of communication and reliability from your team is unacceptable. I expect a higher level of professionalism and respect for customers' time.

Very poor Services

I got Solar panels installed in my house two years ago and with it there was a once a year panels cleanings, at the 1st year I'd call them to set an appointment and they never came to clean the panels and never called me to cancel or to update me, I called them with no luck of getting them to get my Solar panels cleaned. Two and half month ago I called for service again and they gave me an appointment for 3 weeks they called me 2 days before to cancel the appointment and gave me an appointment for 3 weeks later, they never came or called me to update me. Today May 21 2024 I called them again and they scheduled an appointment for the 29th, I'd let them know that if service is not done by then I will file a Lawsuit on the 30th. I've been very patient with SOLAR BEAR but not any more.

horrible customer service, poor follow up

poor customer service, fake panels, always changing phone numbers, not reliable. Erin, states she is the manager, always TAKING your information, and does nothing with it. We have had our panels installed since 2020, and STILL NOT CONNECTED PROPERLY!!!!! AND EVERYTIME YOU ATTEMPT TO CALL THE COMPANY, THE NUMBERS MYSTERIOUSLY CHANGE.......THE EXCUSE IS, OH, WE ARE GOING THROUGH CHANGES. WHAT?!! I AM STILL PAYING MY ELECTRIC COMPANY FULL RATES, AS MY PANELS SIT THERE, ROTTING IN THE SUN GO WITH ANOTHER COMPANY

DO NOT Use Solar Bear if You Don't Live in Central Florida

We went with this company over local companies because they get such great reviews. Our experience was very different from most other companies. The salesperson, Michael, was great. That's it. Everything fell apart after we signed the contract in October 2022. We were told we would have solar panels within two months, and we ended up waiting more than 6 months for our solar panels to be installed and another 6 weeks to be hooked up to the grid. As soon as our project was handed to Patricia, we were in the dark. She basically ghosted us for 2 months and when she did respond to our requests for updates, she did not take ownership of her failure to keep us informed, sent us information about other projects, or provided inaccurate information. When I attempted to reach out to the company via the phone number and chatbot on the website, I could not directly access representatives. I left messages, only to never get calls back. We finally received a call from one of the owners, in February of 2023, within 2 hours of me writing an email threatening to cancel our contract for not completing the work, after more than 3 months of waiting in the dark. I had to contact our city department to get updates about our permits because we weren't getting info from Solar Bear. On multiple occasions, when I called the city's permitting department, they informed me that they were waiting for something to be corrected or submitted by Solar Bear. On the day we were finally getting the panels installed in April 2023, a team drove 4 hours to Tallahassee, only to find they didn't have the materials they needed to complete the installation on a metal roof. They had to wait to start the job until someone brought them materials from Tampa. The inspection failed and we had to wait another several weeks for Solar Bear to send a tech to Tallahassee from Tampa to fix all the mistakes. In the meantime, we were making payments for 2 months on solar panels we couldn't use. We signed a contract October 11, 2022, and started using our solar panels on June 29, 2023.

Aaron the Goniff

Promised free no $ down installation..then went behind my back and pressured my wife to give him $2,500.00 in order to do the "free install" for such a nobel industry..why are all the salesmen resorting to all the used car salesman dirtbag tactics?? I am giddy still waiting for a call back from the company...2 months later...AND FPL IS STILL SENDING ME THE SAME OVERPRICED BILLING... WHAT GIVES??

Terrible Customer Service no follow through costs a fortune

Still paying over $245 for KWH through the electric company $271 month for Solar financing and the company does not respond to my calls, or emails to find out if they figured out the number of panels wrong. No customer service signed with them in June of 2022 couldn't turn on the system until the end of Sept repeated calls they dont care once they get their money.

Unhappy Customer

Totally unresponsive to service calls! Can’t get anyone to answer the phone! Took months to get panels cleaned. Have been trying for months to get a warranty replacement for a panel that has gone bad and NO RESPONSE! Recommend avoiding this company at all costs.

Sales

Salesman said the person who referred us would get $500.00. Not received yet and we have been running almost 2 months. We were also told we would receive 6 months of payments for what we were put through. Older people do not get a tax credit unless you have millions of assets to claim. There is no discount for older disabled American Veterans. Do not purchase unless you plan to live to 100.

Don't sign a contract!

I'm in Arlington, Texas. This is a total scam. The special financing they offer, is for the panels, not the system. When I complained that they were expecting me to start payments but my system (after 8 month) was still not up and running, they told me the loan was for the panels, not the system. I have to pay even if they never connect me. There no incentive for them to finish the job. There is no communication. When they do answer their phone, they tell you they don't know what's going on but they'll get back with you, except they don't. Seven months in, they pulled a surprise inspection on a Tuesday morning at ten. Guess what, I was at work. They took the permit off the door and LOST it. Since they lost the permit they had to reapply for a permit to finish the job. Magically after getting another permit, they were able to pass and inspection with no one being home. Thank goodness, because they may have failed to pass if the inspector had seen the gaping hole they left in my wall! Nine months and two payments in and I still don't know if my system is even working. This has been an absolute nightmare.