Texas Solar Outfitters

My solar was installed by Texas Solar Outfitters, and worked great for two years, then stopped working two months ago to an inverter problem. Texas Solar Outfitters won't even answer the phone anymore, and they don't respond to voicemails. So I haven't had working solar panels for two months now. The 25 year warranty is a joke if you can't get service on the panels. Edit: after getting back in contact with TSO they successfully resolved my issues and brought my monitoring equipment back online.

Rough Start, Good Finish.

1) Initial quote/proposal was via Google Maps and solely over the phone. The initial design did not take into account the actual site considerations (i.e. young trees that will eventually grow considerably, etc.). Was going to go with another outfit, but they decided to change their business model to commercial only in the Houston area. 2) TSO "hired" Marshall from the "other" outfit. His proposal was more "accurate" and he was much more attuned to my/our needs. We went with TSO solely b/c Marshall went there. 3) Installation: Took several days (longer than expected) because the crew(s) were working on other projects. Not a problem for us, but may be for others. No problems with city inspections. Crew(s) were professional and seemingly very competent. 4) Electrical production (predicted vs. actual). So far, better than predicted. Less than 1 years production, but the numbers seem to be meeting (if not bettering) predicted estimates of proposal.

Overall a good job, but some learnings along the way.

This is a short review of my experience with Texas Solar Outfitters (TSO) and my journey to solar energy. Three years ago I was inspired by Elon Musk's dedication to clean energy and his efforts to manufacture a desirable electric car. As a result, I decided to start my investigation into solar power. As someone who is retired, I wanted to migrate to a reasonable, cost predictable energy source for my house. In addition, I thought, how cool would it be to be "fossil fuel free" - ironic as I made my career with "big oil". I began my engagement with TSO three years ago, with Cal Morton coming out to give me an overview of the system, cost, and generation options. The good news was my house was a great candidate for a solar system. The bad news was that my roof was almost 15 years old. I decided that it made no sense to install a new solar system only to have to take it off a few years later. So I made the decision to install a new roof and delayed the system installation a year. Roofs are expensive! The following year I got back in touch with Cal and we proceeded to spec out a system. My goal was to have a system big enough to cover most of my energy needs and provide the energy for future electric vehicles. I decided to go "deep" and cover the south facing roof with panels. After signing the initial contract, due travel, order time, and schedule delays, installation began about four months later. I was impressed with the design and engineering work, which was comprehensive and detailed (although there was one significant item missed. On installation day Cal's team showed up bright and early to begin the two day effort. The following is a summary of what went right, wrong, and what I would do different. Although the text of "what went wrong" takes up most of the review, I want to share this to help future buyers with their installations. Overall, it has been a good experience and I would recommend TSO to prospective customers. What went right: Prompt and polite installation staff Cleaned up after their work. Quick installation Good hand over to CenterPoint Willingness to assist with problems and issues What didn't go so well: First let me say, that mistakes happen in life and sometimes "who is at fault" is not clear or is shared between the customer and installer. So I think that it is more important how a vendor recovers from a mistake, than if one is made. In this respect, TSO did a good job of responding and addressing all the issues. I have put some detail around each issue to help future customers. Panel Placement & Cosmetics Panel placement on the room was different from the reviewed engineering drawings. The design called for the panels to be placed in a continuous rectangle - but crew put gaps to accommodate vent pipes in the roof. This had no functional impact but was a bit disappointing. There had been a miscommunication between the design and install teams. Bottom line - if having vent pipes interrupt the panel placement, you should get them adjusted prior to installation. To achieve a great looking system, the goal was to have all the mounting hardware in black. Unfortunately, one of the splicing bars was silver and a couple end-caps were missing. This took a second visit to correct. Electrical Provider Activation After installation, Cal recommend a solar buy back program from Reliant Electric that could be used with the now generating solar system. To connect up the to the grid a "DRG" agreement between the homeowner and CenterPoint (grid provider) is required. This outlines each parties responsibilities and obligations. This was done quickly, with Cal's help, and the system went online producing energy within a week of installation. I then signed up with Reliant Energy for their "solar buyback" plan and then left the country for two months. While gone, I was able to remotely monitor the system and saw a significant reduction in my bill. However, it wasn't until I returned home, that I thought I should be seeing a much smaller bill given the size of my solar system. After some discussion with Reliant, I discovered they require a second "DRG" agreement before they will begin any credit for energy put back on the grid. As a result for several months, although my bill was lower, I was not getting the credit I expected. Cal helped me identify the issue and with some "wrangling" with Reliant, everything got straightened out. So far during the winter months, I have been running a credit balance with them. Yeah! Just remember to check your first / second bill closely to ensure you are being billed correctly. Breaker Box Cleanup As part of my installation, we specified the installation of the "Ted Pro Home Energy Monitor" system which would allow me to see real time my electrical usage and generation. With this system you can monitor both overall and specific targeted device electrical consumption (e.g. air conditioning). This system was installed with connections to the main breaker box. A few months after installation, I needed to turn some breakers off. I could hardly open the breaker panel door. It turns out that the electricians had done a poor job with the wire management and installation, resulting in some panel miss-alignment. Given this is the heart of my electrical wiring, I was quite unhappy with this. I contact Cal and after a few weeks of scheduling mis-fires, he was able to get a qualified electrical to come out and straighten things up. My learning is to inspect every aspect of the system before signing off. CenterPoint Connecting Sizing The most significant issue was that the engineering design failed to catch that the existing connection from the main breaker box to the CenterPoint junction box was undersized for the new application. Although the system could be activated after installation, the addition of two additional 240V circuits in the garage (future electric cars) could not be activated. When the house was constructed (yr.2000), the builder had put in a "minimum spec" aluminum cable to the CenterPoint junction box. The additional load of the 240v outlets exceeded it's average rating. This resulted in a long discussion and search for an electrical contractor to trench and lay new cable to the junction box. Cal was very helpful and found a local electrical contractor that would retrench and install the cable. This required two days and a disconnection / reconnection order with CenterPoint. In addition, the areas of the yard where the trenching was done required new sod the be laid. The learning was to be sure your contractor inspects all aspects of your electrical system before signing off on the engineering. Now that the system is fully operational, it has been great getting "free" electricity. The system to date has been trouble and maintenance free. Purchasing a solar system system is a long term investment, but one that provides a lot of personal satisfaction, good for the environment and will save you money over time. If you are purchasing a new home or have one under construction, solar should be part of your plan. I also believe that electric cars will be the answer for the majority of urban drivers. Bloomberg News has just recently written an opinion article where they predict another "oil crash" in part due to the conversion to electric transportation. This article can be viewed at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2016-02-26/bloomberg-advantage-electric-cars-to-take-off-within-10-years . I believe renewable energy such as solar will continue to help make the USA self-sustaining for it's energy needs and contribute to better environment. All the best to Cal and his team at Texas Solar Outfitters.

Home PV install review

Texas Solar Outfitters did a great job installing our 32-panel home PV system. I'd use them again and recommend their work.

Update from my installation

I chose the LG panels and the Enphase inverters because I wanted to be able to monitor the output of each panel. TSO did a fine job of the installation. We had a weather delay at one point but other than that they showed up when they said they would and did a very professional job. I was adamant about not running exposed wiring and they managed to accommodate me with some extra effort. One thing I highly recommend is running a full network cable to your home router. Those power line network adapters are pretty close to useless. Once I ran the network cable all the communication problems went away. If you can't run your own cable have TSO put it in their bid for your installation. So far (only 7 months) the system is performing pretty close to the per month averages that TSO supplied during the sales process. April beat the average and March was lower. That is why they are called averages. Getting and electric bill for $19 in April was fun. I have learned one thing that prospective buyers need to be very aware of - shadows on even a small part of a panel just clobber the output. My neighbor two houses away has a magnificent, giant pine tree. In February when the sun is setting one of the limbs from his tree shade about half of one of my panels and the output of the panel drops like a rock. It is a shame that I am going to have to cut that tree down one night :) Partly cloudy days are a much bigger problem than I anticipated. All in all I would do the deal again and would use TSO as the vendor.

Home installation

Very excited to have my new system in place. Have already had days when I am not using energy! Panels look great on my roof. Can not even tell they are there. All employees very personable and helpful.