07/09/2018
Anonymous
clover, SC
This company called me and said I qualified for the government incentives. I told them I was not interested unless the solar panels would cover 100% of my power bill. They said my power bill would be no more than $88 which would have been 1/3 of what I was currently paying. After the panels were up and running, we have not seen but maybe a $20 reduction in our power bill. An official from our power company said that the amount of panels we got would never be enough to make a difference in our power bill. The solar company said I would get at least $14,000 of the amount that the Solar Company charged from the tax incentives from the government. After looking into this claim, I don't think I will qualify for any money from the government even though Clear Solar assured me many times that I would. The first month after the panels were in, I knew something was wrong and so I called Clear Solar many times. They said they needed 30 days to check it. I found out that they installed too small of a system. After I questioned them, they said they made a mistake. They said they would give me a break and add more panels to bring it up to 100 % power production. (Of course it was going to cost me more money) I trusted them, and as long as I was willing to pay the extra sum they talked to me and returned my calls. When I received the documents this time I noticed things on the document that were incorrect, but they assured me that it was right. So I signed the documents up until I got to the loan papers. The loan was for $2000 more than what I agreed to and when I questioned them I was told that the actual loan was a lesser amount. So I did not sign the loan papers. But I sent a message with the document that I had to have proof that this would cover the old loan and the additional panels. After that, Clear Solar would not answer anymore calls from me nor answer any emails. So I called Solcius, Manufacturer of the panels and they said that they would contact Clear Solar. I told Solcius to tell Clear Solar to call me and they never did. Solcius came back with a proposal to fix the problem, but it was going to cost me a fortune or they would remove the panels at my expense and I would still be stuck with paying for the panels even though I would no longer have the product. Solcius also claimed that our panels are in shade and so they cannot produce but this is not true. I have lots of sunshine on my panels for the majority of the day because the trees are 30 feet away. <br />If you are thinking about solar panels, first call your electric supplier and talk to the project manager. Not all power companies will buy the power back like the solar companies claim. The power company will tell you exactly what size system you need based on your average usage. For the size system that they installed, they charged me way too much. Once you sign the loan papers, the solar sales people say they are not responsible so you cannot get a refund. You are locked in to paying a loan for a system that is useless. So ask yourself the question, is this what you want to do? If you would like to look into Solar, talk to a local solar dealer that you can see face to face and talk to your tax accountant. Since I cannot get through to Clear Solar, if everyone that has had a problem with them would complain to the manufacturers, Solcius then maybe something would be done. If you feel you have been mistreated, call your State Bureau of Consumer Protection Agency or search for that at www.usa.gov.