Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  06/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Solar company hired to complete a $94,000 solar installation. During installation process, sheet metal roof was destroyed. Holes and crimping leading to leaks. Daylight visible through holes inn roof. Owner of company Doug ******* agreed to repair fully, now is only agreeing to repair certain panels he deems in need of repair. It is a roof. Any slight imperfection will lead to a leak. The building is brand new. He must replace all panels to ensure it will not leak, especially since it will have 2000 pounds of solar panels sitting on top of it. Any slight imperfection now that goes unnoticed will lead to a larger imperfection and a leak in time. His stance, to save a very minimal amount of money, is absurd and unacceptable. He has also refused to provide me with the contact information of his insurance company, stating that they have been contacted and will contact me. No contact as of yet.

  

  Business response

  07/12/2023

  Dear Mr. ******,  

  We take full responsibility for the damage done to your roof and have been diligently working on a solution with you and our insurance provider over the past few weeks. As we continue to grow in the clean energy field, we have encountered many unique projects that require special care. We do our very best to ensure our team is trained to navigate these challenges and we fully admit that we fell short of this goal with your project.  

  
  In order to provide a solution that meets the industry standard and your needs, we have worked with our insurance company to provide an assessment of the damage. Based on this assessment, our insurance company will provide a full replacement of your roof at no cost to you. We will ensure that your solar power system undergoes all the necessary inspections required for Permission to Operate (PTO) and do our very best to ensure a smooth closeout of your project.   
  

  We appreciate your patience as we navigate this issue, and we look forward to assisting with the final stages of your project. Our leadership team will keep you informed on the progress of the roof repair. Please do not hesitate to reach out to our team with any questions or concerns during this process.  
  
  Sincerely,    
  Doug ******* 
  CEO, SunFarm Energy  

• Initial Complaint

  06/14/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Background: In February and March 2019, we paid over $29,250 cash to have our Solar System installed by a reputable company, SunFarm Energy, which included a roof inspection (all was deemed suitable). In December 2022, we needed to replace our roof (asphalt shingles) since the house and roof were over 16 years old. Removing and reinstalling the solar panels cost us around $5000. Around March 2023, we updated our Google review from a 5-star review to a 3-star review because of the circumstances above and to alert people in Florida to count the hidden cost associated with Solar, especially since power companies can legally charge (more like punish) solar owners with a substantial solar recovery fee every month. Since technology has changed, coupled with the response to our updated Google review, we asked SunFarm Energy if they have the technology so that we, as the homeowner, can monitor and reprogram our LG battery in preparation for incoming storms and in April 2023, one of their managers quoted that it would cost us over $7,700 to change out the inverters and all 20 something optimizers. We verified that if we paid for this, we would have the advantage of reprogramming and monitoring the battery from either my PC or mobile APP. The company for the new inverter is SolarEdge. In May of 2023, we paid cash for the upgrade. To date, we can monitor our battery. However, we cannot reprogram the battery. SunFarm Energy said they could change our battery's programming for us, but that would be a great inconvenience if storms arrived after working hours and on weekends and holidays. SunFarm has been helpful, but we think there was fraud involved. From the beginning, either appease us due to our Google review or entice us with inaccurate information to spend an additional $7700. The individual who gave us the quote for the upgrade was replaced on 9 June 2023. We now think we were frauded or appeased to spend money due to our revised Google review.

  Customer response

  06/14/2023

  We want the product we paid $7700 for, which is for us to not only monitor our solar battery, but to allow us to reprogram our battery. For instance, if a storm is coming, we can reprogram to remain charged throughout the period, in case we lose power, then it can provide power to critical loads within the house. Additionally, if the weather is going to be good for several days or weeks, we can reprogram the battery to provide power to some of the loads in the house when the sun sets to offset the electric costs from EREC.

  

  Business response

  06/27/2023

  Good Afternoon Mr. *********,
  
  Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We absolutely hear your concerns and we have been working with you over the past few weeks on a solution that will allow you to program your battery for self-consumption and backup. Myself and another member of our Service Department have found a solution with the SolarEdge program that will allow you to make the necessary changes that you requested. We look forward to speaking with you this week and going over the process for how this solution will work.
  
  We apologize if you feel there was fraud in this case, but we respectfully deny these allegations. Our team was as up front as possible in the face of changing technology, and we apologize that the battery’s capabilities were not initially communicated clearly. We appreciate you sharing your thoughts with us via your initial Google review, and we did our best to accommodate your needs and requests at the time. In addition, we experienced a natural staff turnover at this time and did not intend to give you the impression that we were appeasing you to spend more money because of your response. We do our very best to respond accordingly to negative experiences and strive to provide the best customer service possible.
  
  We hope that the solution that we have established will be satisfactory and we look forward to working with you again should any additional issues arise.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩