Solgen Power

Solgen was well organized and responsive. I asked for and received a pre-visit with the job foreman and electrician to work through some important details prior to the install.

Overall positive experience

In early December 2021 a Solgen associate knocked on our door and asked if we were interested in solar. We had been for a while but never had the kickstart to actually pursue it, so we said that we'd like some more information. We signed up for EnergySage to get a few quotes to understand what the ballpark pricing and proposed installed system size might be. When we met with our sales person Jackson, he was super low pressure and able to answer all of the questions we had at the time. We liked what he had to say and thought the initial design sounded good. The price was significantly higher than some of the other quotes that we received through EnergySage, but we liked that part of the cost involved a warranty even if Solgen happened to go out of business, which was a big consideration for us. We also liked that they have their own construction and roofing teams to handle any issues that might arise on that front, so it seemed pretty efficient from a subcontracting front should the need arise there. We signed the paperwork and got the financing started just before Christmas. We had a slight hiccup with our initial site survey due to some holiday related travel issues on our end, and it was a little frustrating that our only recourse was to call the main 1-800 number and leave an after-hours voicemail. It ended up being not a huge deal for us as our site survey was eventually rescheduled, but I felt bad that the site surveyor came to our house when we weren't home because we were stranded at an airport. After the site survey we started getting regular text updates on the progress of some of the permitting. Then I started getting some emails from PGE about a meter swap, which I hadn't expected but was able to stay on top of. Once I started responding to those it seemed like if I had ignored them or not been on top of them I might have been responsible for slowing down the whole process, but I didn't really get a heads up from Solgen about that. Our actual installation happened in half a day near the end of February and things went really quickly. I was amazed how fast it happened, to be honest. From there we waited a couple weeks, the inspection and meter swap went smoothly, and by mid March we were generating power. The only hiccup there was there was some confusion around how to operate some of the equipment since the electrician hadn't shown me anything during the install, and the power company said I would have to know how to operate my equipment during the meter swap. I didn't have any way to get in touch with anybody except calling the 1-800 number, and I again left a message that was returned a few days later with all the information I needed. After the system I was live, I was disappointed that my only access to power information is through the Sense device that was installed in my breaker panel, and NOT to the direct Hoymiles microinverter data. I did some digging online and I saw that the system I have is specifically setup for a solar installer to be able to provide an interface to customers so they can see per-panel production, but I was explicitly told via phone support that the information was for "Solgen only" and the Sense device was the highest fidelity information I would receive (which is a single kWh generation value from the entire system). As an engineer and data nerd, I would love to be able to see this data, and I have friends and family who live elsewhere with solar installations who have access to this info for their own system. It seems like a really weird line in the sand, but I guess it is what it is. I only knew I had Hoymiles microinverters because I read the construction plans I received during the installation that pointed it out, and then I went digging online to learn more about them. Maybe most customers don't care that much. Also, this was all information that I didn't really know about on the front end to even ask my initial salesperson about. If I could go back, I would 100% have asked what sort of data that I as a customer would have access to once the panels were up and running. So, in summary, I was mostly pleased with how smoothly things went, but I sometimes felt like there was no dedicated line of communication or prioritization of my business once I had "signed up" and secured the financing except to call the 1-800 number to see when they got back to me. They always DID get back to me, but it made me think that I would have probably gotten very upset if things had NOT gone so smoothly due to that level of communication. And I wish I could get access to higher fidelity data, but I guess it is what it is. I can't speak to the efficacy of the system over time as it's only been running for a couple weeks now, but I look forward to seeing what my power bills look like once we get out of the gloomy/rainy early spring season. I would definitely go with Solgen if I had to do it all over again, but I also wish I had known a couple more questions to have asked on the front end.

Very pleased

After getting over the rough bumps of installation and inspections I am pleased with the system. The only thing that concerns me is I have an 8kw system but when I monitor the output, it only produces 4 to 6 even on these clear sunny days.

Good Solar Company

The salesman was very responsive and patient in answering my questions.

We are thriilled with our solar array!

Solgen was very professional, and easy and responsive to work with.

Great little company

They answered my questions during the sales presentation and what they couldn't answer, they found out and got back to me with the answers. NO BS given like I've had with other companies.

Great

works for me!