How to Spot a Bad Solar Installer so You Can Avoid Them like the Plague
15 Questions to Ask Before Investing in 25 Years of Energy Production
If you want to recover your investment in solar power, you only get one shot at finding the right installer.
Lately, we’ve been called by an increasing number of people who’ve had problems with their solar installations and have asked us to come in and fix them. In most cases, we’re forced to turn them down. Why are they asking us and not the original company? Clay Sikes, owner of Coastal Solar, gives two reasons:
“We receive calls every week from people needing repairs or maintenance on poorly built systems. Most of the time, the company who did the installation has disappeared or did such a poor job that the customer no longer wants to work with them.”
To make sure we’re all clear, here are the two reasons:
1) The original installer has disappeared
2) The customer wants nothing to do with them
Neither of these situations is good for anyone. What’s happening these days as solar energy becomes increasingly appealing and economically viable, is that bad actors and get-rich-quick installers are popping up, trying to win quick business, make some cash, and then bolt before anyone finds out they have little idea what they’re doing.
Sometimes, the same owner will actually launch a new company after closing the old one. They’ll just use a different name. An Australian article about this problem calls this ‘phoenixing,’ a reference to the second X-Men film. With that strategy, they can avoid liability or having to honor repair warranties and can leave their customers holding the bag when their solar systems don’t perform as promised.
Bad Solar Installations Blow Your Chance to Save Big on Energy
Saving money with solar power depends entirely on having the right system that lasts for many years. Coastal Solar offers a 25-year warranty on our panels and installation. We want you insure that get a good return on your investment.
So, when a person decides to “save” a little money up front by taking the lowest offer on the table, what often ends up happening is, their system underperforms or stops working entirely after just a few years. At that point, their investment has gone up in smoke.
With solar power, the goal isn’t to save a little money on the front end. The goal is to save money for the next 25 or more years. That means getting every detail right in the installation. The only way to do that is to work with a reputable installer.
Otherwise, you end up with this.
Learn how much solar power installation costs.
How Can a Bad Solar Installation Cost You?
A poorly done solar installation can affect you in many ways.
Aesthetically, it might just look bad and an eyesore can degrade your home’s value.
A poorly done installation can also cause roof leaks if the panels aren’t secured and sealed properly. It can have exposed wires, which jeopardize the long-term performance of the system in addition to just looking bad. It can fail to meet code. It can fail to qualify for the warranty because it’s not done according to the manufacturer’s specifications. his all applies to the inverter as well as the solar panels.
In short, a bad solar installation can look bad, damage your house, underperform, stop working early, and fail to qualify for the warranty. Bad installers may fail to explain how a solar power battery can best benefit your situation.
As Clay puts it when explaining why Coastal Solar has to turn down most repair jobs when other companies installed them:
“Unfortunately, we can rarely service these customers because the liabilities are too great, and the manufacturer’s warranties will not cover the repairs done to improperly installed systems or through a company other than the original installer. That’s why we highly recommend thoroughly vetting your potential solar installer. Simply going with the cheapest bid could cost you thousands in the long run.”
So how do you vet your potential solar installers, as Clay suggests? Here’s how:
15 Questions: How to Sniff Out a Poor-Quality Solar Installer
Ask them these questions and then do some follow up research:
1. Do they have all the necessary business license, and insurance policies for your state and locality?
If they don’t, then don’t work with them. Pretty simple.
2. What is their license number (so that you can you validate their credentials)?
Don’t take their word for it. Get their license number, and then go verify its authenticity.
Here’s a clickable map, by state, where you can see your state’s licensing requirements, if any.
If your state has no solar licensing requirement, there are still solar certifications and other quality-control processes you can ask about. For example:
3. Will there be a licensed electrician on-site when the system is installed?
Don’t settle for anything less. Sadly, in most states, you don’t have to be a licensed electrician for the electrical interconnection, you can be working under someone else’s or none in most agriculture cases. If you want your solar installation done right, you need much more assurance and skill than that from your installer. For starters, you want a licensed electrician, and you want them on site during the installation, not just to see their name on the company website.
Ideally, you also want to work with a company that has at least one NABCEP certified PV installer on their staff. Keith Freeman is Coastal Solar’s NABCEP installer.
Keith has also been called “The Pioneer of Solar in the Southeast” because he’s led so many big solar projects and installations in multiple Southeastern states, as well as islands in the Caribbean.
4. Do they design and install the systems themselves or do they subcontract to local companies?
If they do use subcontractors, are the subcontractors licensed and have they undergone background checks? There’s nothing wrong with subcontracting, if those companies are as legitimate as the solar company you’re working with. Again, check licenses.
5. How long have they been in business?
Obviously, every company must start somewhere. But if you want to be safe, you should go with a company with many years of experience and stability, with multiple projects they can show you today that are still operating and producing.
6. Will they let you contact current clients for unbiased reviews?
Your potential installer should also let you contact some of those clients, especially ones whose solar panels they installed several years ago, not last week. Happy customers with solar energy systems still operating as promised five or ten years later are a great indicator that your installer knows what they’re doing and can be trusted.
7. How big is their service area? Are they operating in multiple states or are they a local company?
Just local isn’t good enough. Though you may think of us as a Savannah solar power company, Coastal Solar has installed solar power systems in numerous states, and we’ve received a generous amount of press coverage because of the quality of our service and work.
8. How many solar systems have they installed?
While more is not necessarily better, this will give you some idea of their experience.
9. How much experience do they have working with your utility company? How familiar are they with the permitting process?
This is one area where your installation can cause major problems. You need an installer who knows how to work with the government and the utilities, so everything is done to code.