07/14/2016
Anonymous
We recently had solar installed on our vacation home in Palm Springs, CA. We had shopped around among the many other providers in the Coachella Valley and ended up choosing Renova. We are glad we did and are very satisfied customers. They went above and beyond our expectations, as will be explained later.<br /><br />From the outset we got a good feeling for the company and their staff. Information was delivered in a language that was both informative and easy to understand. When you start to hear all the sales pitches it can be hard to wade through some of the terminology, but Jesse K made it easy to follow, without making it feel like a hard sales pitch. We decided to go with Renova for two main factors-- the product they sold (Sunpower panels) and the professionalism of their staff.<br /><br />We also decided to take advantage of the HERO program, which attaches the cost of energy efficiency upgrades to your property taxes-- spreading the cost of the system out over time. As Canadians, we couldn't take advantage of the 30% tax allowance US citizens are entitled to and combined with the slump of the Canadian dollar in recent months, we wanted to hedge our bets and pay out the loan once the CDN$ rose again. The amount of funds available through the HERO program depends on the equity of your home. This also meant that there was no initial outlay of cash. Renova has designated staff that takes care of this process for you and it takes about 20 minutes to get you approved.<br /><br />The installation process was a snap. Once a date was scheduled, the installation crew showed up right when expected. They were a friendly group of guys who walked me through the process of what was about to happen to our house. There were three Renova employees and two roofing specialists. The install went smoothly and finished almost one day ahead of its three day schedule. The third day was just a bit of tweaking to the control panel.<br /><br />The system went "live" on day three and the energy output was exactly what was to be expected if not a bit more. We were also able to obtain an app that allows us to monitor our system from our smart devices, which is extremely handy when we are at home 1000 miles away.<br /><br />The real reason I am writing this ringing endorsement of Renova is what they have done for us after the fact. We are the homeowners unlucky enough to live beside a complaining neighbor. Our home is in a gated community of stylized new mid-century modern homes. In order to proceed with our solar system (one of the many in our little community) we had to receive approval from our HOA and an Architectural Review Committee. The design/layout was approved with flying colors. Once the install was completed, a neighbor complained about the unsightliness of our panels and how two small triangles just above our roof line 'ruined' his view.<br /><br />It is solar in Palm Springs people!... <br /><br />Our system was designed to be minimally invasive to sight lines, with minimum tilt and angle and met or exceeded all guidelines and regulations... Our neighbor didn't believe in any of this and wanted four panels moved from the back of the house that he found offensive. We had no legal or moral obligation to appease his bullying and we are protected by the Solar Act of California. <br /><br />After numerous nasty emails from the neighbor and many conversations with Renova about appropriate solutions that the neighbor deemed unacceptable, it appeared there would be no resolution but for bad blood on one side of a concrete wall. Renova reached out and made us an offer we couldn't refuse and one that they didn't need to make. They offered, at no charge, to remove four panels and relocate them to another roof on our home.<br /><br />We took a moment to think this generous offer over. Part of me didn't want to give into the bully, but the better part of me didn't want to see a neighbor (also a prominent Palm Springs realtor/developer) bad mouth a company that has done everything right by us. We accepted the offer and have had the panels moved. <br /><br />I have never seen a company so willing to go out of their way to make a tough situation right. And we could not be more grateful to have chosen Renova as our solar provider. We would wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone looking for solar.