Review for KW Solar (TX)

01/30/2019
Anonymous

16.82 KW PV Array grid tied system.

First the good. Let me begin by saying My wife and I absolutely love our Solar Array. We have a small farm in the country with a fairly large home. We elected to use KW Solar as our installer after speaking with several other companies and receiving quotes. We felt that the quote we received from KW Solar was fair, they offered more than their competitors for less money. The sales experience on the front end was excellent, questions answered, guidance offered in selecting the best product in our budget. <br /><br />We went with Solar Edge and Mission Solar panels. Our system is 2 SE7600hd inverters with 57 MS295 watt panels using optimizers at each panel which efficiently deliver the power from each panel individually to the inverters. The system itself is grid tied which is great when the power grid is working properly. Unfortunately when the grid goes down so does the inverters, because of UL1741 which basically states that inverters are not permitted to produce power to the grid when power is lost, which is completely understandable as it poses a life safety hazard to the linemen who work to get it back working. You can read about it in the link I left here. <br /><br />https://standardscatalog.ul.com/standards/en/standard_1741_2<br /><br />With this knowledge known to us upfront we asked for a battery back up solution that would allow us to still enjoy power while the grid is down. Our particular layout offered many challenges to make this work, such as distance between utilitie meter and PV Array placement and location of house loads that varied as we have a well in one location a small cabin and attached barn where the pv system is currently installed and our main house. We found a solution which was to use the TESLA powerwall. We paid up front for the entire system and installation of the PV Array and inverters went off without a hitch. The problem began with TESLA's inability to deliver their product we were grid tied for one year and still no battery back up delivery from TESLA. I don't blame KW for this, as they have no control over the supply of the battery. We kept fair communication between us and KW about the backlog and potential delivery date. I would like to say it was great communication but KW I believe as a growing company has some issues in timely follow up communication which is my one criticism of their company. It's a small irritant but worth a mention as I think they can improve in this area.<br /><br />What eventually happened was after a year of not having the battery and not knowing if it would ever happen, I proposed they refund the money to us and we would seek an alternative to battery back up in the use of a whole house propane generator. KW Solar honored this and sent us the refund and we just recently purchased our 32kw generac generator which will be on an automatic transfer Switch. <br /><br />This was not our first or preferred choice to make using a backup generator as we have to pay for propane to run our house. It was at this time however the best alternative prior to hurricane season. <br /><br />The idea of having a hybrid system with battery backup is our preference and we will revisit this at a later date when we can find an affordable battery system that we can use with our current setup. TESLA offers promises without any consistency in delivering on them. It's very disappointing. We hope this will change in the future.<br /><br />Despite the battery fiasco with TESLA, KW Solar and their staff of professional, knowledgeable, honest and hard working, people along with their competitive prices and exceptional, installed product we are very happy overall.<br /><br />We now have a $937.00 credit with our utility company Reliant energy, as of this writing on 1/30/19. With the federal program of 30% paid back for our cost, the fact that our power company does net metering on a one to one basis...meaning for every kw unit we use at a set price they purchase it back if we are producing above our consumption at an equal unit price has made Solar an affordable experience.<br /><br />I highly recommend folks who are interested in investing in their own electrical independence to do so while panels and inverters are affordable and the FEDs are offering 30% tax rebate and net metering is one for one sales. I also would suggest calling KW Solar and giving them the opportunity to provide their excellent affordable services for your project. One last thing, KWSolar offers very good rates on financing your project.

Sales process
Price charged as quoted
On schedule
Installation quality
After sales support