Solar SME - DUPE

"Just not SMEs"

My experience with SolarSME was mediocre. My salesperson Jim was very personable and designed a system customized to my property’s needs. First and foremost, SolarSME is very, very (very!) expensive. Even with an 800+ credit score, SolarSME’s interest rate was more than 600% higher than others, but I purchased my system outright with cash so I missed that red flag. The reason I agreed to their price premium over Tesla and others was because I trusted that SolarSME would provide a significantly better installation and support experience for 25 years vs. Tesla’s 10—so far, they haven’t… at all. First, I got final engineering designs back from SolarSME for approval. The first (obviously) didn’t meet building code so I rejected it. The second and third designs used my neighbors’ roof/ property to reach the system size promised in my sales presentation. After that fiasco, permits and applications to complete the build were filed late and incorrectly leading to significant delays. I tried to cancel my contract with SolarSME, but the cancellation fee was so egregious that I settled for SolarSME’s promise to assign my account to a new PM with additional oversight of SolarSME’s operations manager through project completion. I was assigned a new PM, Emir, who was better than Reuben but I continued to have issues and SolarSME’s senior management could care less and were nowhere to be found until after I filed a BBB complaint against them. It took SolarSME’s installers 3 tries on different 3 days to get the system installed and working correctly. Neither of the inspections went well—the first city inspector was displeased with some of their work but SolarSME’s technician was able to fix the deficiencies while the inspector waited impatiently and eventually signed off. The second city inspector left after arriving for the appointment and leaving due to SolarSME being a no show. SolarSME’s technician was there—he had just fallen asleep, literally, on the job. SolarSME says their price premium is because they use higher quality materials and have a proactive Compliance Team actively monitoring and identifying issues before the homeowner is even aware for 25 years. I don’t know about material quality, but in the first 25 *days,* there were half of a dozen system alarms and SolarSME’s “Compliance Team” was unaware and absent. To be honest, I have serious doubt they even exist. It took me several follow up calls and e-mails to get these alarms cleared, access to my own system via the various (clunky at best, faulty at worst) apps. and portals, the Pearl Certification documentation, and for both my SREC and MEA rebate application to be completed and submitted. SolarSME ultimately did fulfill their requirements but necessity and frequency of following up is not what I bargained for and not what was sold. When I raised my concerns to SolarSME’s senior management, they were argumentative and unhelpful, actually making matters worse. At the end of the day, my PM Emir tried his best but SolarSME’s management had obviously tied his hands behind his back. I don’t regret my decision to go solar but I wouldn’t choose SolarSME again. The experience isn’t what’s promised/ sold, their solution—while customizable—is very expensive and not as aesthetically pleasing compared to competitors, and was generally not what I expected from “subject matter experts.” We’ll see how reliable my system is over the next 25 years and if SolarSME can be bothered to clean my panels, maintain, and monitor/ repair my system as agreed.

Leaking Roofs, Bad panel placement, No response.

We are group of 12 friends went with this company and at least 4 homes roof got damaged and leaking. No post install inspection done for roof condition. Plastic straps (atleast 100) left on my roof and clogged my rain drain pipe. Requested multiple time to inspect the roof and panel placement but 0 response. The panel placement is disaster. I have space to fit more panels on south, But, they installed most of the panels on East, which are less productive.

Three Ring Circus

1. Ryan Filo was my Project Coordinator, who was hard to communication with, disrespectful in calling me only by my last name and didn’t listen to what I was saying. 2. The only good thing I can say is they installed the panels on my four story house and Frank the installer was good. 3. Design called for 24 – 370V solar panels, to meet the household requirements. There was room for two more, so I decided to install them, no need to “install later”. On average, two months, I’m only receiving 43% of requirements. 4. Agreed upon the 370V Sibfab panels, which was specifically asked for when contract was signed, if available. They were not available and had to split the cost on the more expensive Panasonic panels. 5. Delivery, that was funny. I asked Ryan where the items were coming from, so that I could schedule to be off work, to put them into my garage. He stated they were traveling out of FW, Tx. Come to find out, they were delivered from Austin, Tx. 6. I asked Ryan how long it should take to install, 1-1/2 days, so I could schedule and take off work. We scheduled the days to perform the work, a week before, he calls me and “tells” me they will be there in two days. NOT, nobody will be home, shut that down and started work as planned. It took a total of 3+ days to perform the work. 7. Initial communication with Ryan Filo was they were going to put up scaffolding in my driveway to get the “multiple 10’ rails, 26 - 3’ x 5’ solar panels and materials” up to the third floor. Then the day before, that changed to moving ALL of the stuff through my house, “NOT!”. Found out and shut that down. Also, Frank had requested a manlift to move the items more efficiently to the third floor on the pre-inspection and one was not sent. I helped them rig up ropes to safely move the items up and along the outside of the house without breaking anything. 8. When the installation was complete, had to wait a couple more days to turn on the system, due to CenterPoint needing a phenolic label on the box by the meter. 9. While waiting on CenterPoint approval, I inquired about a backup battery with Ryan. Just questions of cost, availability and installation. Ryan wanted to holdup the CenterPoint inspection\approval until I decided what to do, which I had already told him not to do. 10. Turned on system, April 12, 2022, working fine. Received electric bill for April, DID NOT receive credit for the solar generation for the 18 days in April. 11. Sent email to Ryan on May 10, concerning the bill problem. I was referred to Basem on May 12, technical support, to fix problem. Come to find out, CenterPoint wasn’t contacted or they didn’t pass along to Pulse Power, about the installation of the solar panels. This was corrected with a new contract on May 17, 2022. I also received an email from Eddie Wilson, Sr Project Mngr, stating that CenterPoint would give me credit for April in the May billing. 12. I received my May billing and it ONLY had the solar credit for May. I attempted to call and email Eddie, no luck or response. I got a call from Ryan stating that CenterPoint would call me to fix the problem. Then he changed it to I would have to call CenterPoint, then he changed it back to they would call me, all the while telling me its not SME’s fault. SME handled ALL of the paperwork and approvals, go figure, where’s the QC. 13. On June 10, 2022, I emailed Jonathan with CenterPoint with questions, still waiting on a response.

Project Manager was excellent - the company itself needs work

UPDATED MAY 4, 2022: Nothing but problems with this company. First, draw "lost" in the mail a whole month. Then the local utility and county permits weren't put in concurrently, costing two more months. That's the whole of the contract right there - 3 months. I didn't get anything installed until 8 MONTHS after the contract was signed. Due to the Solar SME''s procrastination, the Silfab panels in the contract were unavailable, causing more delay as the County needed time to re-approve the permit with the new brand & number of panels. Then Southeastern Freight Lines couldn't deliver the panels and a local company had to step in - twice - because Southeastern couldn't be bothered to give them the steel rails I needed to put the panels on my roof. Turns out they stole a few, too. The panels & gear sat on my porch for a month due to weather (by then) and not having an installer available. The roofing company hired to put the panels on screwed up the local utility's panel, running conduit directly into it without their approval; plus without all the fancy connectors that was supposed to be part of the contract. Now I've had solar panels on my roof for 3 weeks that I can't use. We had to refinance our house with a cash-out to afford these darn things, and while I'm sure they work, the local electric company turned them off due to liability issues. We actually have locks on our utility panels, too - all because Solar SME couldn't be bothered to loop SVEC (local utility) when they should have.

SolarSME - mistakes, duplicitous, sloppy design/installation

I posted a shorter review on EnergySage, an online service to facilitate quotes. I was limited as to length of review. They work for the vendors, so I am not surprised. Here is an expanded version. This is my second Solar installation. We had one installed at our old home in Mass. by Nexamp and they were awesome and meticulous. We know how it is supposed to go. Initially technical questions about the install were met with a sales brochure response. I/we just wanted to ensure that the design would be acceptable to our HOA and meet functionality goals. Only when we (our neighbor and I) rescinded the initial contracts because we couldn't get clear answers, did SolarSME send a rep on site who actually knew what he was talking about. We also required a different project manager. We should have left them rescinded. Unfortunately, it seemed that very little of what the rep promised was communicated to the install team. Most importantly, the esthetics of not having silver conduit all over the roof. Also, the wiring on my house was to be through the roof via ample attic space - which the rep inspected. When we saw conduit being installed all over our roof, we told them to STOP and showed them where it was supposed to go. We (neighbor and I) purchased Black REC panels to minimize the visual impact to our neighbors. After 2 onsite visits to measure our houses and view the roofs, the layout of panels planned by SolarSME did not fit at installation time - on either house. They claimed it was the "satellite's fault". Agreed upon, on the fly alterations with the install team were not followed. Rails were installed and removed where panels were not to be installed - leaving black patches on the roof. Mine were not visible from the ground so I said leave it but they may leak later. Installers regularly threw scrap all over the yard (especially when removing conduit that wasn't supposed to be there) and some of it was dangerous - like cut off conduit and rail. We are still removing screws, tie wrap pieces, foot long pieces of wiring etc from the gutters. The electrician on the team incorrectly wired the Enphase Envoy (I had to diagnose and reverse a couple of wires). When the Enphase software wasn't reporting the system correctly, the project manager claimed the monitoring hardware was being given as a free good faith benefit when it is part of the std Envoy hardware package! Neighbor's install was much worse with damage to their roof, lots of silver conduit visible - that shouldn't have been, same miss-wired Envoy, and their panels did not fit as designed either. They had rails installed on a front roof where they weren't supposed to be - then removed, leaving roof repair work required. Both of our systems work very well thanks to Enphase Inverters and Rec Panels, not the installer. If you are looking for an installer, you can do better. Our biggest concern now is what if something breaks...

It was a mistake to hire Solar SME

I really don't know where to begin as my bad experience with this company is so similar to the one and two-star ratings from other users who had hired this company to install their solar array system. I hired them back in late 2020 and dealt with numerous staff members of this company. When they do return my e-mails/calls, they have been really polite and professional, so I will give them kudos for that. However, as time goes on, it's becoming more difficult to get anyone to return my emails for assistance. I've experienced the same horror issues that others have mentioned in their reviews during and after installation of the solar panels. I reside in Houston/Sugar Land area and their office is in Duncanville/Dallas area so I understand sometimes there's a bit of a delay logistically. The installation process overall went smoothly. I did experience an issue with several microInverters after my solar arrays had been installed for 6 months. I had several microinverters failed so I contacted Solar SME and they sent someone out to look into it. They said the wrong parts were sent to them during the initial installation, yet, they went ahead and installed the microinverters anyway? I guess they figured they could get away with it without any issues. Well, that lasted about 6 months until I reported the issue. About half of the microInverters were IQ7 and the other half were IQ7x. All of the failed microinverters were IQ7. They ordered some new IQ7x and then sent some technicians to replace and wrong IQ7 and my system once again seems to be fully functional again. My complaint is why did they install the wrong microinverters in the first place??? With their technicians' field experience, you would think they know there's a difference between the IQ7 and IQ7x? Once again, this is just one of many annoyances that I've had when dealing with this company. The lack of communication is probably the worst part though. This is my main complaint about Solar SME. Back in 2020 when I first signed up with them to have solar panels installed, I also purchased a back up battery, the Tesla Power Wall 2. After paying them a partial of the money for the Power Wall 2, they said they do not have any in stock and said Tesla was short on supplies. They said they would contact me when they have the Power Wall in stock and then they can install it. Well, fast forward to more than one and a half year later, I am still without the Tesla Power Wall 2. That means when the power grid is out, I'm left sitting in the dark with no electricity! The main reason I wanted solar panel + battery back up is to avoid being left in the dark with no electricity during a power outage. I tried to be patient with them and have contacted them 4-5 times during the past 2 years asking for an update on my Power Wall 2. I've been dealing with Brian and each and every time he would tell me the same thing over and over that they still don't have any of the Power Walls in stock. Recently, I e-mailed him twice but he has stopped responding to my e-mail. I'm at the point where I'm so over the Power Wall and would like a replacement of a different brand. I can't get anyone from Solar SME to return my e-mails so we can figure out a solution. Hopefully whoever is reading this review from Solar SME will contact me back. I am not changing my rating until they deliver what's owed to me.

This review was originally shared on Energy Sage, but I wanted to leave it here also since I used Solar Reviews during my search for a solar company. Solar SME will eventually get your system installed, but be prepared for a number of headaches along the way. I gave them 2 stars, largely being generous. In fairness to Solar SME, my situation seems to be uncommon based on their reviews, but it is worth noting that most of the positive reviews are in the Texas area or are left before people have their system installed. I would be interested to see if people have the same view after the installation of their system. I think they are reaching beyond their capability trying to do work in Virginia when they are based in Texas. Solar SME has a contractor/ sub-contractor model. I.E. you will write checks to Solar SME, but they are going to sub EVERYTHING out, at least they did in my case in Virginia. Maybe if you are closer to their headquarters in Texas it might be different. There is nothing wrong with a company sub-contracting everything. If fact the first few steps in the process after I signed my contract were very good. However, after that it all went downhill. First, don’t expect this process to go quickly. I signed my final contact on May 28. The company was fairly quick to get the site inspection and engineering products completed. I received final plans on June 8. However, once the project moved from the paperwork stage to the get stuff done stage it started to crawl. My utility finalized my interconnection and net metering agreement on July 13, to the fairness of Solar SME I believe much of the delay was caused by the utility company. However, the material for my installation was not shipped out to my house until August 27 and arrived on September 1, and the installers didn’t arrive on site to install it until September 20. One of my biggest complaints about Solar SME is that they DO NOT communicate. During the waiting process between me signing the contact and the installers arriving at my house there was often weeks in which I did not hear anything from the company. ALL of the updates that I received during the process were because I emailed and asked what the status was. Also, several of the emails basically just told me what I wanted to hear, and ended up being false. For example, I was told that the material would only need to be in my garage for 3-5 days, and from the time I gave you can see that was not true even accounting for normal and reasonable delays. Additionally, I was told that the installers would be showing up to my house on Sept 20 in the morning. Naturally, I took the day off of work so I could ensure that they got started correctly and had everything that they needed. They didn’t show up until 4pm, and I could have easily been home from work by then, so I effectively wasted a vacation day. As far as the installers, I would give them 1 star if I was being generous. Keep in mind that Solar SME subcontracts their work, so your installers might be amazing, my were not. They got my system installed, but that is about all that I can say nice about them. My system took over a week to install, with one day that was raining during the week. The rest of the week was mid to upper 70s with clear skies and a slight breeze. Even though the install spread out, the installers only averaged working at my house for about 4 hours a day. They would start work around 9am, work for a couple of hours, take a long lunch then work for a couple of more hours. I am sure they could have knocked my simple 25 panel install out in a matter of 2 to 3 days if they would have actually worked for a solid day and not disappeared for multiple hour lunch breaks. Also they NEVER showed up when they said they would. On both Saturday and Sunday they said they would be at my house “in the morning” on both days they showed up after 2:30pm. The professionalism of the installers leaves a lot to be desired also. First, my garage looked like a bomb went off in it. There was packing material, trade debris, tools, empty water bottles, etc. all throughout my garage every day when the installers were done. Also, not once did the installers walk my yard to cleaning up all of the trash that they left behind. After there were done I walked around and found a couple dozen bolts and other hardware as well as plastic and cardboard packaging material and water bottles. It would appear that they just assumed that if it fell off the roof it disappeared forever. Most concerning to me was that one of the installers smelled like cannabis when he would show up. Granted, the wonderful Commonwealth of Virginia says that recreational use is legal. However, I look at it as the same as showing up to work smelling of alcohol. It seriously makes me question the quality of the work that was done. I am sure that most people who have a job could agree with me that showing up to work smelling of the devils lettuce or alcohol is not acceptable. Keep in mind that Solar SME does warranty their work. Given the trouble in working with them thus far I really hope that I don’t ever have to use their warranty. On a positive note, after living through the nightmare of the installation team, Austin came out and immediately got things on the right track and finished the install. Austin hands down, saved the day when it came to my solar installation. I am glad that Austin came to my house and finished my install. He deserves a medal in my eyes for the fantastic job that he did. The equipment that SolarSME chose to use on my house is very good. The inverter is one of the top rated inverters on Energy Sage and has a ton of great features. The panels are also very good, and again one of the top rated panels on Energy Sage. Assuming that there weren’t any defects with the installation, I think I will be very happy with my system for a long time to come. Overall, Solar SME got a solar system installed on my house, which is what I contracted them to do. However, it was far from a quick or easy process. In many ways I felt like they were my subcontractor and I was having to manage them. I do project management professionally and really don’t want to have to do it if I am paying a company to manage a project. The solar industry has hundreds if not thousands of companies now that solar is becoming more main stream. Based on my experience, I would recommend that you find a company that does not subcontract their work and is perhaps locally based where you live or at least in the same state as you.

System Still Not Done, iffy responsiveness, fire hazard?

I was originally reasonably happy with Solar SME. They were kind of slow getting started, but when they showed up, the install team was professional and quick. The battery was defective, but they said they'd return it and I'd get a replacement in a week. Then the pandemic shut everything down, so ok, I understand, no battery for a while, no inspections allowed. And I have an expensive solar system on my roof that doesn't yet work and can't be turned on, but ok, pandemic, fine, I'll wait. However, we then started having electrical problems that we thought were unrelated to the solar. I called a local electrician, and they said the solar wiring had been installed unsafely, there was water leaking into the electrical conduit, there was un-shielded wiring installed in my walls, and it was a fire hazard. I contacted Solar SME, who said they'd send someone to look at it. This was over a month ago. I've called and emailed Solar SME over and over, and I keep getting back responses that they aren't yet open in our area, that they'll send someone soon. Meanwhile, it's not because of the pandemic, because our county is open again, and I've had no issue getting other electricians and service providers to come and do work. I'm starting to really worry if I will ever get my working battery, if Solar SME will ever send anyone to fix what they messed up. And meanwhile my un-usable expensive solar system is sitting on my roof doing nothing. The county is doing inspections again, but my system won't pass because Solar SME hasn't fixed the problems in their work. I'm still paying my electric bill every month, and Solar SME has my money in their bank. I'm trying to be understanding and optimistic that this will still get fixed soon and it's just due to the challenging times, but I'm really concerned and getting more concerned every week that goes by with nothing...