Reviews by Kevin Boyce

Celestial Solar Innovations

I wanted to add solar to my home while it was under construction. Most companies wouldn't even bid, and several who did were unable to provide financing (the bank providing my construction loan was uninterested in including the solar system, because they "don't know how to value it"). That left me with four companies who were willing to work with me as I built the home, based on the plans. One of the four said they weren't able to determine the roof slope, despite it clearly being labeled as 8:12 in more than one place on the plans. Maybe they weren't able to find the "tangent" key on their calculator, I don't know.

So that left three companies. My goal was to put as much on the roof as I could afford, and would fit. I asked for multiple bids from each company and built a spreadsheet to compare yearly output, cost per watt, etc. Jim happily sent me proposal after proposal, based on my suggestions and his own. In the end, I got, hmm, let me go check... 3 bids from Company A, 2 from Company G, and (no foolin') 8 bids from Celestial.

Based on cost per watt (either including the tax rebates or not), the most expensive bid from Celestial was less than the cheapest bid from either other company. Getting the financing set up was a little tricky, because DCU/Sungage needed proof of residency, which is difficult when the house doesn't exist yet! While we were getting that worked out, I wanted the conduit installed in the wall before the drywall went on. Jim was able to send his crew out to do that even while the financing was still incomplete. As a result, plus their use of the SolaDeck hidden roof penetration, there are no wires or conduits visible on the outside of the house at all. I love it!

The crew that installed the panels and inverter were quick, professional, and friendly. And they cleaned up 100% of their mess when finished. Once BG&E got around to approving the connection, I started making power. That was at the end of last October, and so far every month except February I have produced significantly more than the expected amount. (February was heavily overcast nearly every day, you may recall.) Over the course of the year it looks like I'll overproduce by about 10% relative to the bid. With the 10.4 kW (DC) system I chose, I expect to end up with over 15,000 kWh, which ought to cover all my needs, including heating and cooling, all electric appliances, and ~7000 miles in my Bolt EV.

I couldn't be happier with the process and the results. I've had three friends ask about solar panels for their house, and immediately suggested to all of them that they use Celestial Solar Innovations. One lives in DC, where unfortunately Celestial doesn't work. One has his system up and running, and the third just got a proposal from Celestial.... read more

Type: Residential Electric

Reviewed: 03/17/2018