Solar Bear

Eight months and the verdict is still out

Solar Bear sold us a system last year which was finally installed in August. I had the good fortune of buying the system from Gabe Pimental, who said he would be available every step of the way - and he has. One thing I particularly like about SB is that they include installation of foam insulation over all living areas, so the house needs less energy to begin with. That way you can get by with less panels. Everyone I have been in contact with at SB has been communicative and helpful when they come to provide service. However, besides Gabe, I have a difficult time reaching their office or getting any response, so Gabe has had to intervene. Of note, the insulation missed a portion of our house and another team had to come out finish the job. What I am still not clear about is whether the panels are a good deal. You take out a solar loan, and part of that is signing the solar tax credit you receive from the government over to the lender. The value proposition with solar is that you still pay the power company during the summer months when A/C is through the roof, but you "bank" credits with Duke Power during the Winter and Spring when it is sunnier and you are using less power. My experience so far is that I have banked nothing, and still have a bill. That begs the question of whether I will "break even" with the system. I am told that I am running into the best producing months - Spring to early Summer, but I am still waiting for the results. I will update this review when that happens.

Competent but unimpressive delivery

I paid about $3 per watt. This was a fair price for the products that I selected compared to the competitors. I chose Solar Bear over the competitors because of the promise of a "kids glove" concierge service. Solar Bear was quickly able to switch from Silfab panels to Solaria panels, which I preferred, when the Silfab panels were not readily available through CED. For that, I give kudos. I assumed that the concierge would help me navigate the solar installation process from start to finish and he would keep on top of things. However, after the initial introduction meeting with the sales man and the concierge, I had little to no contact. I had to initiate contact with the concierge more times than not. There were some unfortunate delays that kept Duke from finalizing their approval in a timely manner. This resulted in about a month or two of lost energy production with the system installed, but unable to produce. It fell on me to work with Duke directly to get the issues resolved. The concierge should have done a better job of keeping up with the approval process. After Duke finalized the approval, my system had a bad micro-inverter. Solar Bear is just a sales and installation company. They do not provide pro-active monitoring. I had to inform them of the bad micro-inverter. The process to get the micro-inverter replaced was unnecessarily arduous. I also specifically asked for no conduit to appear on my roof. I expected everything to be routed in the attic. I communicated my concern verbally to the concierge and the installer. This was never resolved and the is a visible eye sore on my roof. The insulation and electric panel were performed adequately. The solar installation was performed in a timely manner. However, they failed to follow through with Duke and to keep me informed and up-to-date with the progress. All in all, I would not recommend Solar Bear nor rely on their "kids glove" concierge service.