Solar SME - DUPE

Bad Panel

One panel began going bad in December. Faris oversaw the process for getting a RMD approved by Panasonic and then getting a local electrician to install. While it took many months for Panasonic to authorize replacement, Faris stayed in touch to get the job done.

good, but

System is working well, energy bill went down over 90%, current customer rep, Henry, is great, still promptly answers emails even months after work is done. But, it took 8 months from signing to installing, and the first customer rep was horrible, and that is putting it mildly. I had to struggle with him for months until the company fired him, even if the problems were evident and occasionally someone higher up was looped in the (miss)communication.

Overall satisfied

The system itself is working great, the design and permiting process went smoothly, and everyone at Solar SME that I interacted with is responsive and professional. The install work was completed by a subcontractor, and due to local inspection requirements they needed to be onsite a total of three times - once for initial install, and twice for code compliance issues. Occasionally the communication during this period was a little vague. The compliance issues and final approval took several weeks to resolve, but I'm overall satisfied with the result.

SolarSME eventually delivered on what was promised. It was a difficult journey to get there as my project manager had difficulty following through with what he promised. Other staff had to step in and finish the job. Ultimately I was delivered what I was sold but it took some unnecessary struggle.

System works great and cost what we were quoted. Post-install support from Akil has been good for the limited problems we've experienced (mostly failing optimizers). Most other problems were with our local energy provider, or coordination with local electricians.

Residential Solar

SolarSME was very efficient on installing the panels. They did it in one day. Very impressive! The project manager was great, very responsive with answering any queries.

Overall Positive Experience

From start to finish, the process was positive. I was provided with a single contact representative who handled all aspects of the sale and installation including design, building permits, installation, electrical works, and coordination with the power company. He was very accessible and quickly addressed all my concerns and issues.

Great experience

Great company helped me out every step of the way would recommend them to others

Happy with Solar

I want to thank Raffy Sha and the team at Solar SME for the solar system on my house. The process was smooth and they delivered on all promises - from power being generated, to quoted price, to tax breaks. I recommend Solar SME.

Excellent Customer Service

I worked with Michael Lewis as my project manager and Michael was very helpful to get my system start and running. However, my installation exceeded expected project timeline due to excessive SolarEdge hardware failures. I guess COVID-19 pandemic may have contributed to the delay. You have to be a very engaging customer to get them do their job. Overall, they're very knowledge on residential solar installations. Basem Yani provided excellent customer service to provision my system for optimal performance. I'll recommend Solar SME to other customers.

All good in the end

Our original bidding/research period was definitely good with Solar SME, but our install took a very long time to complete in large part due to a lack of local install professionals in the Austin area who work with SME. I don't know if that has changed in the last 3 years since our project. Regardless, it seems there was very little monitoring of our system from their end. It seemed that not long after our install, we lost a lot of production. I'm not clear when it started, but it looks like we may have lost 2 years of production, and thus ROI. When I finally reached out to Solar SME, it took weeks to get a technician out (I had a 3rd party who actually came out first and verified one of our inverters needed to be replaced). At any rate, a new project lead, Basem Yani, took over our account and got our issues solved and our production back up. It is a vast improvement and we are back on schedule for our ROI, just 2 years later.

Quick/effective/competitive/warranty, but thirsty for reviews

Quite aggressive sales/very competitive pricing. They met their timeline for installation, getting things turned on did take a bit longer than expected 50/50 on them (not paying for the new meter), and the power company (taking a long time to install the meter after I paid for it). You'd be hardpressed to find a cheaper supplier, and the 25-year parts AND labor warranty are FANTASTIC! My reason for the 4 star was due to the "used car salesmen" level of pushiness for the sale and reviews and that I had to pay the meter fee which held up turning things on.

Good Product

The system installed is good and the installers were excellent. The only drawback was dealing with the contract manager. He was able to get the install done when he said He would but did not know much about the monitoring software. Asked several times if the monitoring software would show me my usage and he said it would. Needless to say it does not but does show me how much it’s making. Good product and it’s working great so far.