Review for Solar Tech Elec LLC

Office location: 1390 Gulf To Bay Blvd, Clearwater FL, 33755

06/21/2025
Ben F Seminole, FL

Very Happy with Solar Tech Elec

I wanted to convert to solar and looked at all my options. I knew I wanted to have it done to take advantage of the 30% solar tax credit but I also knew solar had changed a lot since I first looked at it twenty years ago on a different home. I started my research by contacting a couple solar brokers (online entities that take your info then "sell" the lead to a local installer), poking around on various solar information sites (private and governmental), looking at solar panel manufacturer's offerings and also reading up on the various tax laws and my local power company's solar info. I also did my local business due diligence by looking for highly regarded installers and looking for horror stories so I would know what to try and avoid. The solar brokers were very helpful in explaining the differences in panels, power demand, utility offerings and solar lingo. I also talked to about 20 different companies, local, regional and national. I had about a dozen salesman come out to the home so I could educate myself on their different offerings and business models. I let each of them know this was a multiple month process for me and that I would narrow my choice down to three companies, ask them to compare their offerings and then would make my decision. I also let them know it was critical that the project be completed by year end. Despite telling some of the companies that I would not sign anything for at least 90 days I still got the high pressure "today only" offer. That disqualified those businesses from my search. After meeting with a dozen salesmen (one company even sent out two separate salesmen) I quickly decided that I did not want to lease, and I did not want to enter into a power purchase agreement. I wanted to own the entire system. I also decided I was not going to have the installer finance the sale. I will note that the solar leasing companies were BY FAR the most aggressive, and simultaneously the least likely to listen to what I wanted. The installer financing groups were somewhat aggressive as well. The local installers were more forthcoming about the product, getting the right sized system and listening to what I wanted. A couple had salesman, only a couple were the company owner telling me what they could do. Ross at Solar Tech Elec was the latter. He listened to what I wanted, quickly got me a proposal and said he would stand by for my decision. I liked his presentation, flexibility and his offering. I also valued his patience to let me know"do my thing." He knew he had a fair price and just needed to let me find out on my own. Based on my discussions with the salespeople, my projected energy needs and past two years of bills I decided I needed a 12-15kWh system (Tier 2 Solar), using REC panels and no batteries. ( I was not looking for blackout avoidance as my power has only gone out once for 48 hours during Milton). In short, I wanted to produce about 2.2MWh/month. I also wanted to plan ahead for an electric car, poolheater, new air conditioner, and hot water heater. Critical note to anyone doing this the games played with the production numbers will drive you batty. get an understanding of how solar production is calculated and make sure you compare apples to apples. I asked each of my top 10 contenders to give me their best proposal. The bids came back between $30k-$60k. The lower bids were on the lower end of the power production, played games with the number of panels or ability to produce power, while the higher bids were for more robust equipment and production capability. There were some minor variances in the equipment (panels, inverters, batteries) and financing offers. I took the three installers that were the most responsive and shared the bids amongst them. This is where Ross won me over. He immeadiately called me back, scheduled an appointment, came out to the house to talk to me and told me what he could do, couldn't do, and why he would do what he promised. He also understood my hard deadline of December 31, even though I started the process in July. Solar Tech Elec's price was the best, Ross was local, his reviews were impeccable (if you do any online research you know there are plenty of abandonment stories out there) and his installers were employees. He even arranged for me to talk to the last person for which he did an installation. I called and spoke to the gentlemen and knew I was going to take the leap with Ross. Ross broke the deal into 3 payments, 1/3 to purchase the equipment, 1/3 upon installation and 1/3 at completion. Signed his agreement on-line and made my payments. Ross' office let me know when the gear arrived, when his team would be out to install and when the work was complete. We had a last second change of the installation plan when my wife suggested that she would rather not see the panels on the front (east facing) roof. Ross got his engineer to re-draw the plan and produce the same power. I was sure we would have to sacrifice something for that aesthetic. He was able to take that request, make it work and even more impressively he did not change his bid for the change. A note here on his installers. Hardest working team I have seen. Small, mighty and efficient. They arrived on a cold December morning and did not stop until the work was done. I had my electrical panel upgraded and they came back a bit later to do that work. They were very well mannered delightful young men. From my research I knew there were going to be some delays in getting my system properly permitted by the county/city and hooked up to Duke. The red tape did not disappoint. I will not ding Ross for this since he warned me it was out of his control and would happen but I was not fully prepared for the delays by Duke. My system was installed and operational by December 31, as Ross promised, but not connected to Duke until mid-May. Some of that delay was the city inspection and permitting process (took longer than usual due to the damage done by Milton - they only have so many inspectors and Pinellas got walloped) but most of the delay was getting Duke's approval. I knew that having a Tier 2 system required some extra insurance requirements but I did not count on needing to re-submit my insurance paperwork because the processing of my interconnection request straddled two policy years. To Ross' credit his office kept me informed and let me know that some of the delays were unusual. They got it done and held my hand through the Byzantine process. I have been producing power since January (1MWh), Feb (1.6MWh), Mar (2.2MWh), Apr (2.5MWh) and May (2.4MWh). Right in line with my planned 2.2+MWh production. Also, as promised, my power bill dropped to the Duke connection fee, about $35/month. My average power bill over the last two years averaged $250/month with half the year being $300+. It should be $35/month from here on out. A solid $200+/month savings. $200/month x 12 months = $2,400/year x 20 years = $48,000. With the tax credit I will not need the whole 20 years to pay off this investment, not even considering future energy cost increases. I also get to feel good about my reduced carbon footprint. Bottom line. Ross and Solar Tech Elec do what they say, when they say, for the price they say. Ross has checked in on me to make sure everything is working and that I was satisfied. I am very satisfied and glad I chose Solar tech Elec. Thank you Ross.