Solar-Ray, Inc.

Absolutely thrilled!

It will be a year this autumn since my system was installed and I am absolutely thrilled. The past five months my electric bill has been $10.48 per month in taxes and fees.The system was installed by Solar Ray in a timely and professional manner and it has been working flawlessly to date.

Are you ready to go solar?

We had a 8.000 kWp system installed in December 2015. I waited until now (5/27/2015) to write a review so I could give an accurate account of how the system works. We are a middle income family. I mention this because many believe solar is very expensive and not a viable option. Solar does save money that is realized monthly. The whole process for us started in October 2015. I had four estimates (one was Solar Ray) and spoke with many people about solar before making my final decision. I compared products online and read everything I could get my hands on about string inverters vs micro inverters. Different types of panels and equipment used. I researched every system that was proposed and got even more confused and frustrated along the way. We decided to go with company X, even signed a contract, when confusion sat in again. I called Kevin Richter, salesman for Solar Ray, and asked more questions. That is when Kevin gave much more information and caused me to dig deeper and, ask company X some tough questions. This was the point I started seeing how unprofessional company X was. Everything with them was done over the phone or email. They seemed very laid back even telling us when they realized they were losing us that they decided they did not want our business. WHAT? What kind of company does this? This was a 25,000.00 decision for us and because we asked questions, they didn't want our business? Needless to say, The Lord works in mysterious ways. Kevin was willing to fight for us. He was willing to do whatever it took to get our business. Whatever it took to make us happy and feel good about our choices with a clear understanding of all the details. Solar Ray was amazing to work with from conception of the idea until months after installation. Mike Brown, owner, was always available to answer any questions we had before and after installation. No matter how many or how silly the question was. The equipment they installed was all top notch and it was installed very professionally. We live in Lake county where many other competitors are installing systems and our inspector told us he had not seen a better installation or set up, he was VERY impressed how clean everything looked and mentioned how down to the last nut the workmanship and design of the system was amazing. Our home is and older home so the guys who installed the system had to think on their feet. David and his crew did a bang up job while in our home. The crew worked as long as it took, which was ALL day and part of the next because nothing that is ever done to our older home goes as planned. We have four small dogs and they were always mindful of the dogs. Closing doors tightly when exiting, making sure no one escaped, trying to carry things in and out without stepping on four moving targets. The installation experience was a very exciting and a pleasurable process. They left our home as clean as it was upon their arrival. Our system could be turned on and used immediately because we had an old spinning meter. The first month we saw savings. Around a month after installation the net meter was installed by the electric company. Our February bill was the litmus test. We saw an 80.00 savings, which was a bit disappointing considering our loan payment is around 160.00 This put our bill up over what a normal electric bill would cost us for that month. Again in March. It was not until April we started saving money. After loan and electric payment we saved $50.00 that month. This month, May brought a 90.00 saving. We saw the numbers the system was putting out rising the closer we have got to summer. My final opinion on Solar and Solar Ray. SOLAR - If you are thinking of going solar to save a ton of money every month. Forget it. If you are thinking of our planet and reducing your carbon foot print while saving a little money, solar is definitely worth the investment. For our family, it is about doing our part AND saving a little money. We feel better knowing we are working towards doing our part and the solar is a means to an end for us. One day, after the solar loan is paid, our electric payments will drastically reduce. In a world where everything is getting more and more expensive, our electric payment will always be very comfortable. Not to mention there is a certain comfort feeling knowing those panels are on our roof in case of a catastrophic event. SOLAR RAY- is the best in the business in Florida. They care about solar and their customers. They genuinely care about our planet and creating a world where everyone will have the opportunity to go solar. With such a huge purchase it is natural to feel a bit of buyers remorse. During the process we prayed we were making the right decision. After the process we have never looked back and never felt a single second of buyers remorse. Now I see looking back, going with Solar Ray saved our project. I can see where there could have been MANY problems. Solar Ray took care of everything. Every single little detail. We did not have to worry about a thing except watching that electric meter turn backwards once the solar was hooked up. When you are spending such a large amount of money, you need to feel confident that the people you are using are professional. Many nice people came to our home and spent lots of time with us explaining solar and giving their bids. We liked them all. Very nice people who I felt comfortable and friendly with. Sometimes it is hard to take the emotional element out of decision making. In the end we did not pick the lowest or the most expensive bid, we did not pick the company we had the best personal connection with, we picked the professionals.

Exactly what I was looking for.

I have always wanted a 5 kw grid tie system. With lots of research and dedication I tried to do this myself and ran into hurdle after hurdle. If your looking for a grid tie system and want the easiest way possible Solar-Ray is the company you are looking for. From layout to pulling the permits to installation it went as smooth as you would want. I enjoy cold A/C and have reduced my bill by as much as 70%. I'm sure I could get it lower but am very satisfied with the outcome. Solar-Ray was straight forward with everything, no beating around the bush or exaggerated production. Thank you to Michael, Carl, and all of the crew. Very professional and courteous. Solar-Ray is the way to go.

Well Done Solar-Ray, Inc. Beyond my expectations

I wanted to wait a full month to make my review so I could present reliable valid data. The entire process from start to finish with Solar-Ray, Inc. could not have been any smoother, more professional, or better. I first heard about Solar-Ray when the owner, Michael Brown, was on a local radio station. I was impressed that he did not seem to want to sell a solar product to everyone who wanted one, but only to those best suited to have productive returns. I called Solar-Ray the next day and spoke to a technician who was extremely knowledgeable. He did not give any sales pitch to me, just cogent answers to my questions. On the visit of the representatives from Solar-Ray to my home, they already knew my house structure from their roof inspection from orbital based observations. Again, there was no hard sell, and after the team advised me of what they thought I needed, I made the decision to increase the capacity by 2kV. As I was awaiting the final engineering diagrams from Solar-Ray, I was contacted by Mr. Michael Brown, owner. He was carefully reviewing the photographs from orbit to compare with the photographs and measurements taken but the preliminary on-site team. Mr. Brown informed me there would be a problem. I was very worried. I hoped that he had not disqualified my property. Mr. Brown was looking at the pictures from orbit that had been taken months before some tall pines had been removed from shading the roof. The fact that this owner/entrepreneur/just man cared so much about the success of this venture and would have scrubbed the plan, meant a lot to me. Michael Brown then re-engineered the solar arrays to be most efficient, at an additional cost. I was never charged another cent even though it was an increased expense to Solar-Ray. The installation was flawless. The team was professional, technically competent, and just a great group of people I was happy to invite into my home. As far as the inspection by the city/county; the representative from Solar-Ray was here on site hours before the permit inspector was. During this time, the Solar-Ray engineer taught me about the free online monitoring apps. When the inspector came, he was provided a great knowledge about solar systems. As far as the values of the corporation; the end product deliverables and benefits to their growing population of customers are more important to Michael Brown and Solar-Ray than the incremental profit from each sale. Michael Brown is an ethical intellectual leader, has a team of scholarly and moral professionals, and a just organization based in the best practices of long term customer satisfaction and support. I would trust no other company with the investment of a long term PV system. As far as what the Solar-Ray system is producing; so far this month, we are returning 300% back to the grid compared to what we are consuming from the grid. The system that Michael Brown of Solar-Ray crafted far betters his estimates; and most importantly, Michal Brown and Solar-Ray far exceeded my desires and expectations. If I were considering an investment into a PV system, there is only one that I would trust with my investment. Good show Michael Brown and Solar-Ray Inc.

Spectacular Example of what American Business should be

I waited a year to write this review. I'm a bit of a skeptic... But this company and its people have won me over. The sales process went smoothly. Demonstration, reference call with a current customer, and as I am a bit of an engineer myself, a deep discussion on how to build our system and the deviations that I wanted and why/why not. Michael and team talked me out of the latest craze, and showed me about the efficiencies of the systems they offer and use and why they recommend it. the inverters they use are super efficient and offer a single NEMA15 emergency outlet per inverter. (BTW, one of my panels was damaged just after install and it continued to work for a year, before it gave up the ghost, and sent off alerts before it quit working. a true testament to the quality and resiliency of the product they use. Later that morning, a few email exchanges later, and Dave and his crew were at the house, on the roof, panel exchanged and I was at full production again. No hassles, No, you pay for it and then if it is deemed our issue we will reimburse you.) Customer service was spectacular. I can't say enough about the service. They answer my emails promptly when I have a question. Obviously, when something goes wrong, they replace it promptly. and they are kind enough to explain what is happening and why. Our reasons for going solar were that we wanted to remove all, if possible, of our monthly electricity bill. The ROI @ $400/mo for a 10k system if it removes all of your bill is fairly straight forward especially considering the government encouraged solar last year with a stellar reimbursement plan.

Fast, Easy, Affordable

Solar-Ray promptly answered all my questions and provided all information that I needed. They provided a written quotation the same day that I met with them...and it was affordable. They were prompt, efficient, courteous, and clean. I was amazed at how quickly they had my system installed and operating! I've already recommended them to my neighbor and my married daughter.

Proof is in the details...

First week of operation gave 53-54 kWh's per day, these were sunny February days. Even during an overcast day, still pulled 20 kWh's. Needless to say, my house doesn't use 50kwh in one day, so we're looking great! !!!

This is the one....

...you've been looking for. I researched a few solar companies and decided to have Solar-Ray come onsite and discuss a 10Kw setup. Everything was simple, easy to understand & no hidden BS. It's easy to be confused about a technology most people don't know anything about - the truth is in the details & Solar-Ray has it covered. They installed a finely tuned 10Kw system and wow does it perform. In the first 2 hours it generated almost 6Kw - in January! We are super satisfied with our investment and feel like we couldn't have made a better choice. If you're thinking about doing Solar.....this is the one your looking for.

Looking forward

I am looking forward to the savings I'll realize because of my new solar panels. The whole process of working with Solar-Ray was a good one. From the initial contact to the last communication with the office, I was completely satisfied.

Love the Sun

This is the 3rd installation of solar I've had. The first two were just for hot water. I'm very excited that this one is for overall electricity. The first contact I had was with a young man who explained the whole idea of PV to me. I was given information that was interesting and relevant. I had asked a question that he was not 100% sure of the answer and he called Michael Brown, the owner, and was given the answer. Knowing that the owner was so readily available to answer questions was comforting. The installation of 12 panels took about 6 hours. Carl, the field engineer, showed me the panel that displays the information about the current and explained what it did and how it shows it. He told me to call the office if I had any questions and they would be happy to help. I am very happy with my decision to have Solar Ray install my PV system and am happy to recommend them.

David W.

Solar-Ray installed our current PV system in 2007 and we have been very happy with it. I have recommended Solar-Ray to many people over the years, and will continue to do so.

Happy Customer

We had a whole house 9 K grid tied system installed by Solar-Ray and we couldn't be happier! Before making our decision, we interviewed several other area solar companies and were quoted prices for installation. We chose Solar-Ray because we were impressed by their commitment and knowledge in the solar industry. They didn't try to sell us hot water or other add ons like some of the other companies we contacted. We simply got the best equipment and guarantees at the best price on the market from the most knowledgeable company we could find, and that was Solar-Ray. We found their staff pleasant, helpful, neat and knowledgeable. Every interaction with the staff went above and beyond our expectations and made our purchase and installation experiences seamless and pleasant. They did what they said they would do when they said they would do it. Any issues or problems that occurred during installation were solved without protest, requests for additional money or involving us. (i.e. the need to add an additional fuse box, wiring and plugs). All inspections were passed with flying colors and we love our new equipment!! I highly recommend Solar Ray to anyone that is interested in going solar. I rejoice on every sunny day knowing that our system is quickly paying us back and will continue to do so for the next 30 years!

Michael G

From day 1, Salesman, Office staff, the owner Mike, the Install crew and final meeting with supervisor could not have gone better. Being in the construction business, I'm very impressed and pleased! To top it all, a great price. I highly recommend this company to anyone considering Solar. Very Professional.

Exceptional Installer/Contractor!

We bumped into Solar Ray's owner Mike Brown purely by chance at the Hurricane Expo earlier this year and after just a few minutes discussing options I realized just how knowledgeable this person was and ended up finding it hard to leave their booth. But we did get a rough quote that seemed manageable and helped us start to give serious consideration to doing a project. I had been thinking about installing a solar pv system but not giving it serious consideration until my wife and ultimately my desire to be good citizens of our green planet forced me to find Mike's card and get one of his sales staff to stop by and formalize a quote. I hadn't done much research, but after Kevin our salesman came well prepared with satellite photos of our home and recommended configuration along with what sounded like a very fair price, we signed a contract. After committing to doing the project, I felt obligated to do some due diligence, although I felt very comfortable after our meeting Kevin that these guys were focused on providing the very best in Solar Power systems and had significant installation history with both commercial and residential installs, and some very large ones to support our decision. Plus, and I will emphasize this, their only business is solar, unlike the many electrical or plumbing or pool contractors who do water heaters/pool heaters regularly but power as a sideline. I did several quotes after researching the most reputable firms and Solar Ray was the most competitive of them all! The project was done on time, all paperwork, permits, communication with Utilities,etc. handled by Solar Ray. Crew was absolutely the "BEST"!!!! They were on time, got my feedback to options for the installation location and answered every question I had and more. I am a very detail oriented individual and can be very critical of others work, but the Solar Ray crew exceeded my expectations! They clearly were extremely critical of their own work and I felt my project was in good hands and indeed the finished product was top notch! The city electrical inspector visited and was extremely impressed, commented several times how great the job had been done, and that this is the way they all should be installed. He even took photos. So... we were up and running online 9/12/15 and anxiously waiting for our first electric bill... September wasn't the best month weather wise and we were online for just a part of the month... But our bill came and we owed only $84 for a month that would have cost us $191 and was a "peak" month for usage. Expect to owe close to nothing for October when total usage starts to drop with cooler temps and better weather. I am very pleased with the results without even seeing a full month of production. If you are considering installing Solar Power, based on my experience, your best choice for sales and installation is clearly Solar Ray!

Residential 8kw pv installation

Shopped around for a 8 kw pv system and Solar Ray were by far the lowest quotation They were very helpful throughout the entire installation process with very helpful and polite installers They were always very prompt with any questions and responded very quickly by phone and e-mail I have absolutely no problem in recommending this company and rate them as a 5 star company

Super Solar!

We shopped several solar companies and Solar-Ray stood out with excellent communication, professionalism and service! We are so happy we chose them for our Solar panels. Everyone we dealt with made the process educational and effortless. From the initial sales, to the office scheduling, to the installers and the owner! They were all committed to making sure we are completely satisfied with our system. The price and quality were competitive with the other companies, but the communication and workmanship rises above! They worked with our schedule to get us up and running and saving energy as fast as possible. We couldn't be happier!

Residential PV Installation

I highly recommend this company. After checking out at least 2 other companies I decided to go with these folks. The sales presentation was very non-threatening and highly informative. I spend at least one month researching on this topic. I must have emailed and texted them countless times and they responded promptly to all my inquiries. They recommended a lending bank that approved me much sooner than my local credit union. The paperwork was quick and easy to understand. I requested and got phone contact info for several satisfied customers. The price included everything - there were no 'hidden fees' . That installation crew arrived in a timely manner. They completed the installation of my roof-based 10K system in less than a day. I had numerous questions about the system after the project completion. The sales and technical staff continued to respond promptly and courteously.

PV and solar hot water

I investigated three companies before choosing Solar Ray. Solar rays reviews were good, and others had commented on the value they got in their system. I thought Solar Ray's quotes were the best and were reflective of the positive reviews they had previously received. I was pleased with their installation and I am very pleased with the system and would recommend strongly to anyone considering it PV solar system.

We're so happy

We hired Solar Ray to install our solar system last October (2014). The installation team was very professional. They were finished ahead of schedule and the workmanship was high quality and their material were of the highest quality. I have no doubt that my installation will last a long time. But the great news is my average electric bill was $267.00 ($3,204/year). In the month of January - April my bill was $8.34, which I was told was a minimum bill to maintain my account at FPL. In April we received a credit for excess power generated from FPL and we have not had any bill since then. We are now in September and we will use up the remainder of our credit so we may actually have to pay something. Our projected bill at this point is $42.00, ( a far cry from $267!). We are very happy with Solar Ray as a company. They are responsive to our questions and needs. I feel that they are one of the best companies I have ever hired because they delivered on their promise to practically eliminate my electric bill. I had to admit I was skeptical in the beginning but not anymore. Good job, Solar-Ray!

Saving more than expected!

Solar Ray installed a 5kw pv array for me in July of 2014. I'm not one for reviews so I waited a year to see actual production and savings vs what their sales specialist, Jeff, had proposed. Not only was he thorough and accurate, my system has outperformed his estimates! If you're in the market for solar do yourself a favor and call Solar-Ray. I got at least 5 estimates and they offered the best price from the start and didn't give me a pushy used car sales approach. And the installers? Professional, courteous, and non smokers. I couldn't have had a better experience.

Forever Customer

I have been a customer of Solar Ray "Mike Brown" sence 2005 My first system was a 1500 watt. I was the first home owner to have solar in Windermere. Well this year on 6/9/2015 I upgraded to a 7650 watt system. "I love it" this baby makes a lot of power! I love looking at it all the time. It looks so nice on my roof. And whats cool is Mike has a web monitoring system on it so I can look what my system is doing anytime I want. "REAL LIVE TIME" It shows me how many KWH I have made through the day. If your thinking about Solar, And you want the best price, with the best products and the best installation.and you want a Quality honest company with the best customer service, You need to call Solar Ray Inc at 407-443-4404. There is a lot of companies that tell you they have been doing solar for many years, But they forget to tell you its been for hot water "ONLY" Solar Ray knows solar energy inside and out, thats what they do and they are the best. From my family to your family Mike Brown "Solar Ray Inc" We thank you and all your staff for all you do for helping my family and many others for going "Green" God Bless You

Great Company

I spent a lot of time researching solar energy. When I found this company, it was everything I had been hoping for. From the introduction and explanation of how it would work specifically on my house, the installation and to the follow-up, I was very pleased.

Worth the wait

For a number of years I've been following the development of PV hoping to tap in the future. With our new home finally finished we started researching potential companies. We narrowed it down to 3 and arranged for them to visit and tell us their best points. Solar Ray went so far as to invite me to come by their warehouse/office. The visit sealed the deal. This operation is pristine, professional and totally immersed in solar.

Solar System Repair

Solar-Ray, and its owner Mike Brown in particular, did an excellent job fixing my existing PV solar system. I was one of the unfortunate ones that bought into Blue Chip's marketing a few years back and had them install a 10 kW system. Most folks are aware of that company's demise, so I was dreading the day when my system would need service. That day finally came about a month ago when my inverters started faulting out. Most companies would have been hesitant to touch a system from a bankrupt company, but Mike was very supportive and extremely responsive to see what he could do to get my system back up and running. Within a few weeks, Solar-Ray had diagnosed the system, designed a fix and had the new inverters installed. Bottom line, the new inverters are a huge upgrade over the old Blue Chip equipment and moreover give me real time insight into the overall production of the system.

10 Kw System

Solar-Ray not only talks the talk, they walk the walk. Sales, installation, office, and employees really care about their customers. From my first contact with Ellsworth, who designed our system, to the warehouse, to the scheduling, and the crew that installed my 10 Kw system (in ONE day)everyone was knowledgeable, friendly, courteous, and above all Professional. If you are even thinking about a solar PV system, look no farther than Solar-Ray.