Review for AMECO Solar & Roofing

Office location: 4705 Laurel Canyon Blvd. Suite 205, Valley Village CA, 91607

05/11/2022
Albert from Ojai Ojai, CA

AMECO Solar and Roofing Project Evaluation in Ojai, CA

My experience with AMECO Solar began January 28, 2022. Happy to say that we are now generating electricity effective, May 10, 2022 - 102 days in total. The needs for our 60 year-old home included repairing and replacing the roof as well as installing a solar array with enough capacity to cover our power needs for the next 20-30 years. We had just secured a Reverse Mortgage, having decided we are living in our "forever home". Our goal included locking in the lowest fixed costs that match our projected fixed income over the long-range planning horizon. The combined solar and roofing solution provided by AMECO satisfied this goal perfectly. I began speaking with AMECO as I neared the end of my initial data collection phase. (See detailed explanation of my overall experience further below). I initially worked with a gentleman named Tash, who guided me through the initial project engagement phase, answering all my questions in a timely and professional manner. The AMECO process was very straightforward and easy -aided by Tash’s support. He was able to answer all my questions regarding the roofing project as well as the solar array. If he didn’t know something real-time, he followed up very quickly. The initial engagement phase included scoping out the details of what would be included in each project contract (one for roof and one for the solar array) as well as the financing agreement. Once the contracts were signed and the loan arranged, I was handed over to the Project Coordination Team at AMECO. They guided me through the construction and inspection phases for both the roofing project and the solar project. I thought that Yazmina was really effective in this role for AMECO. She was very proactive in her communications and responded very quickly to every question/concern I raised along the way. She communicated via email, phone and text in a very pleasant, professional manner throughout. She helped to make the process problem-free and moved quickly to conclusion. I think the key to Yazmina’s role was that she was proactive in anticipating the next step and prepared me very well for key decisions and inspections along the way. As a point of background, I had located AMECO through a fairly extensive research process including: 1. Collecting information, insights and recommendations from my son and son-in-law who had each just completed solar-only projects in Camarillo, CA and San Diego, CA respectively. 2. Using their insights, I identified a couple of prospective candidate companies from the internet and conducted a couple of "fact-finding" zoom calls to collect information. (AMECO was not one of these initial companies). Here is what I learned from that initial research: 1) Our projected electricity costs could be 100% covered by a solar array on our roof. We had enough roof square footage to hold the required number of solar panels needed. 2) Our existing roof would need to be replaced. Because of its age, solar could not be installed before bringing the roof up to code and new shingles installed. 3) A solar battery/storage option is available if we chose to install along with our solar array. (We chose to wait before adding to our system). 4) Government-backed financing is available to cover all of the solar panel installation along with some of the roofing costs: • Our rate ended up being 1.45% • No money down up front • Payments don’t start until the system is up and running • Extended pay-off period. Our loan payments will last 40 years or at time of sale of our property. This timeframe works well for us as we do not intend to move. We are both retired and have no family or work ties that will pull us away from our home. • No prepayment penalties • AMECO did all the heavy lifting – they provided the finance company options along with the financial terms options. All we had to do was select the options we wanted and sign the e-documents sent to us. Truly hassle free. 5) The internet is an amazing tool and should be leveraged by prospective solar and roofing buyers!  Solar and Roofing providers can do their initial estimates/assessments by using publicly available satellite maps. They can turn around estimates in a few hours and in some cases provide real time feedback on your property while speaking with them.  Using your favorite browser, you can sign-up with “Finder Sites” that broadcast your request for quotes out to candidate Solar providers who contact you - versus you having to contact multiple companies on your own. This is a HUGE TIMESAVER – recommend using these sites!  Solar and roofing projects involve unique technologies with terminology not commonly understood by most of us. I personally follow the rule of “Trust, but verify.” I want to believe what each professional I speak with has to say, but I also want to have a solid reference point to ensure I both understand what is being said and to also verify that it based in fact. I used these sites to help accomplish this goal for me. • My “Finder Site” experience yielded 10 companies who each provided comprehensive bids that were easily comparable. • I used these bids to build a spreadsheet to help select the best providers. Some of the relevant criteria I was able to glean from this analysis included: o The type of panels and inverters each company uses. Some companies use only one brand of panel while others, such as AMECO, offer multiple manufacturer options. There are different variables such as “25 year degradation curves” that are worth comparing between manufacturers. o What size system each company would recommend, using my SCE (Southern California Edison) billing history. Recommendations for us ranged from 6200 KW to 8800 KW. We ended up going with a 7200 KW system installed by AMECO. o Cost data that I used to compare all bids. AMECO’s proposal was amongst the top 3 companies when comparing solar quotes. o In addition to costs, it is important to consider other “soft” factors such as:  Customer Service and support capabilities – AMECO scored high on this front.  Warranties offered on the equipment as well as the installation. Again, AMECO ranked amongst the highest firms in these areas. For example, if we get a leak in our roof where the solar panels are installed 20 years from now, AMECO will stand behind the products and the workmanship involved.  And because we are talking about a 20-40 year time horizon, it is important to select partners that will be around awhile. AMECO has been around for nearly 50 years and I am confident they will succeed over many recent start-ups who do not offer the full package of services they do. In summary, I highly recommend AMECO as your Solar and Roofing project partner. You will be very pleased with the results. I will feedback later as needed on satisfaction with the system and the support from AMECO in future posts. Al from Ojai May 11, 2022