Review for Big Dog Solar Energy

Office location: 1190 W Taylor Ave, Meridian ID, 83642

05/16/2023
Alan Oyama Caldwell, ID

Cannot recommend this company.

Where to start in my review of Big Dog Solar? First, I signed the installation agreement on 9/23/22 and they were supposed to completed the installation by 10/28/22. The installation was complete and online around 1/2/23, so roughly 2 months late. Unfortunately, Big Dog Solar requested payment before the installation was complete and the loan company, EnerBankUSA paid them and hence started my repayment schedule. So, I ended up making two months of payments before the system was operational. The second issue I had with Big Dog Solar is the way they left my property when they were done. I have a large gravel area next to the shop where the solar panel were installed, they asked if they could turn around their trucks in the gravel lot, which I allowed, however I explained to them not to drive on the area next to the fence where the septic drain field was located. Not only did they drive on it, but they left huge ruts in the gravel. The soil underneath the gravel is soft in that area, especially when it’s wet, which is the reason I asked them not to drive on it. No mention of the huge ruts left in the gravel. Fortunately for me, I have a great neighbor who knew I was gone and fixed the ruts for me. They were so bad, he had to bring in farm equipment to level them. The third issue I had with Big Dog Solar is the quality of some of their workmanship. On the inside of the shop ceiling is an electrical connection form the solar panels to the inverters. This connection has a metal housing around it. It is approximately 9 or 10 inches square. There are over 20 screws in that housing, to me it looks like since the metal housing is attached to the steel roof, there should be at least a wood backing instead of screwing into just the metal roof, see picture below. When I inquired about the installation, I was told that is the way they do it and since they agreed it didn’t look good, they would be happy to install a cosmetic cover. I declined the offer, since installing a cosmetic cover would also hide any potential water leaks. Finally, their customer service is awful. I’ve called the customer service line multiple times and at least 75% of the time nobody answers the phone. You are asked to leave a message and a number and they will get back to you. They have never returned my call. My current method of getting customer service is to email the individual that sent me their installation warranty and request a warranty issue be initiated for my installation. Then and only then I have received a call from the customer service department.