Top Hat Energy

Top Hat Solar in Redding CA. is an outstanding company. From start to finish they have been professional and attentive. Unfortunately the inverters I bought have had problems. All of them have had to be replaced, but the good news is that I bought them from Top Hat Solar and fortunately for us, all their customers, they honor their warranties. All 3 inverters have needed to be replaced ( I was offered an upgrade for pennies on the dollar from the manufacturer ) after 7 and a half years and Top Hat has handled every aspect of the exchange. My inverters were a fluke problem. Unusual and I'm lucky that I'm a Top Hat customer. They won't ignore you after the install. They treat you as a valued customer. All I had to do was let Jeremy at Top Hat know I had a problem and they handled it from that moment until completion. The panels look great, the inverters look great and the employees are all great to deal with. This system is incredible. If I had to do it all over again I would definitely deal exclusively with Top Hat Solar of Redding. Also, on a side note, the value of my house rose by the cost of the installed system so If I were to sell my house I would get every dollar of the cost of the system back plus the money I've saved over the past 7 years of not having an electric bill.... AT ALL.... AND I've done my part to lower my carbon foot print. Win win win win!!!! I wanted the system oversized so when my gas water heater goes out I can install an on demand electric. I can supplement the gas space heating with electric and lower my propane bill. Oversizing my system was the right choice for me. I've never had an electric bill in the past 7 years. Thanks Top Hat Solar for your 5 star service.

Top Hat was the company I really expected and wanted to love--I chose them over a less expensive competitor. The people are very friendly, and it's a local business, which I try to support. However, if I had to do it all over again, I would not choose Top Hat and cannot recommend them to anyone. CONS: - Communication was lacking from Top Hat to me and between Top Hat employees. The crew disappeared from my project for a month without ever telling me they'd be gone or why they weren't coming back. I told one member numerous things I wanted done, but that wasn't communicated to the work crew, so many things were done opposite of what I asked. They also don't keep their word--I discovered a problem at the end of August. Twice they've told me someone would come out to fix it, and nobody ever came. It's been over a month and the problem still exists. - The crew is genuinely horrible at cleaning up. They left construction debris and drinking bottles all around, which I repeatedly cleaned up throughout the duration of the project. - Attention to detail is lacking, overall. This was evident in wires left not zip tied in my solar array, mounting locations of boxes (my generator plug box was wiggly), and the overall condition they left the site in (debris, trash, and ruts). - Every time I mow my property, I am reminded of how Top Hat left my yard in worse condition than they found it as my lawn tractor slams into the ruts and channels they left behind from their trailers and trucks being driven all over the front of my yard. This could have been mitigated by laying plywood on the ground before driving and parking on the dirt or parking at the top of the driveway. They only smoothed out their trench in one part of the yard, leaving me to do the rest of the yard by hand. - The company was verbally responsive when I raised my complaints, but, ultimately, the actions did not improve in the subsequent months they were on my property doing work. PROS: - They installed a solid system that produces many kilowatts of energy each day. I love feeling free from PG&E bill-shock! - The solar array just looks cool. BOTTOM LINE: When all is said and done, Top Hat installed a system that delivers the power they said it would. However, I feel that ANY solar company can accomplish this. The process of getting solar installed by Top Hat was sub-par and very frustrating for me, and now it seems they aren't standing behind their installation. If I had to do it over again, I would not have chosen Top Hat and cannot recommend them to anyone.