The house I live in now has rooftop solar. This is great. We're being green, my electric car runs on sunshine, and over the long run, this will save money, especially as it seems PG&E is likely to continue raising electricity prices. Plus we have a backup battery, so when the power goes out (and it does that multiple times a year around here) we have 4 circuits still working including the one the fridge is on. I could even (slowly) recharge my electric car directly from the solar system if the power was out during the daytime.

However the solar provider we chose was definitely not a good choice:

In October, 2019, we paid Sunrun the full price for a home solar system with a backup battery. We assumed this installation would happen during 2019 so we could obtain the tax credit for 2019 before it was reduced. The installation did not happen until 2 January, 2020. So the first mistake was paying the full price up front - Sunrun had no incentive to install our system. I don't know this, but I'm betting they were busy installing leased systems so they could get the full 2019 credit for themselves - but this is just speculation on my part. But given how poorly they have treated us, I would not be surprised at all if this were the case. As it has turned out, this was only the beginning of our troubles and disappointments with Sunrun.

We were told that there would be a PG&E inspection 2 to 4 weeks after the installation and then our system would be turned on. We failed the inspection. How could we fail the inspection?!? Sunrun came and checked out our location before the installation. Why were problems not caught on the front end? We were told we needed to obtain a permit and do the required work ourselves. The homeowner obtained and paid for the permit. The instructions given from Sunrun were extremely vague and coming from people in different departments. It was like everyone was passing the buck. Solar had been installed and paid for up front but was sitting idle. PG&E said the box was too close to the meter.

It was about this time that Covid-19 exploded in the US and everything slowed down. It took until mid summer before Sunrun returned to do the actual work required to pass inspection. The permit that the homeowner obtained and paid for was never needed - Sunrun was supposed to take care of all that in the beginning, but did not make that clear until so long afterward that a full refund for the permit was no longer possible.

We failed the next inspection too.

This pattern of Sunrun coming and doing some work, followed by a failed inspection persisted. We actually lost count of how many times this reoccurred. After alerting the Sunrun salesman a few times and asking why this project was stalled, he finally admitted that the experienced people who should have been on the team initially were not there. He asked us, "What do you want me to do, I will do it." HELLO! Why should we be telling him what to do? We did of course. Eventually he got a boatload of managers involved. Sunrun was responsible for getting the permit and doing the needed upgrades from the git-go. We had no idea and feel totally ripped off in this experience.

Finally in late December 2020 everything was approved and our solar system was turned on 30 December, 2020. Instead of 2 to 4 weeks after installation, it was a year (364 days to be exact) to get the system working. At least we assume it is working - the MySunrun app is quite pathetic and unreliable. It frequently gives incomplete or bogus information for the previous day. And when it is actually working, the information provided is quite inadequate.

On 15 January, 2021, Sunrun sent the homeowner a check for $400. This is woefully inadequate. Investing the same amount as the solar system cost in a 2% CD (yes, they were available in Oct 2019) would yield considerably more than $400 in a year. Investing the same amount in an S&P index fund would have netted many thousands of dollars. Not only that we lost a whole year of solar electricity on our PGE bill!

We wrote a letter to the CEO of Sunrun about this matter and requested they make good on all the problems and losses we experienced. Here's their reply (in italics) to what we requested for them to make good on our experience; my additional comment are in bold:

Thank you for providing time to review your account. We apologize for the delays you experienced between installation and activation. We look forward to improving your experience moving forward.

Our experience is unchanged, no improvement since the system got turned on. And their web based statistics system is a joke. At least the system does seem to be working just fine so far.

To touch on your requests.

1) Pay our PG&E electric bills for February thru December 2020. This will come to around $1200 - $1500. We can get you the exact figure when you agree to reimburse us that amount.

We are unable to pay a full year's pre-solar utility bill. Electricity does come at a cost regardless of the supplier. However, we would be happy to review it to determine the difference between your Utility rate and Sunrun rate and the total amount of energy used as we may possibly be able to provide some appeasement in reference to the difference in charges. Please note, the Sunrun rate is the implied rate that is calculated by purchase price/kWh production. You may respond directly to this email with the bills.

In other words, Sunrun says they're not going to take any financial responsibility for their year long screwup.

2) Pay the difference between the tax credit for 2019 and the tax credit for 2020 on full price of the system.

The tax credit is offered on a Federal level and is not provided by Sunrun. The tax credit as described in your agreement is not guaranteed. Actual tax credits and eligibility are based on many variables. Sunrun is not liable for any loss of tax credits.

Sunrun once again dodges any responsibility.

3) Pay the amount wasted on the unneeded permit.

Please provide the documentation regarding the Permit paid for that was never used as I would love to look into this further for you.

We have sent the receipt to Sunrun and they indicate they will pay be sending a check.

4) Extend the warranty for ALL the equipment by 1 year.

Due to the warranties being provided by the Manufacturers directly, changes cannot be made to the length of the warranty period.

Sunrun once again dodges any responsibility. They may not be efficient at installing a solar system, but they are highly skilled at dodging responsibility.

I look forward to assisting further so we may come to an appropriate resolution

Sincerely,

[person's name]
Sunrun Inc.

Bottom line: Do get home solar; don't use Sunrun as your provider.

Also, if you plan to pay the full amount for a solar system, do not pay the full amount up front. Only pay half initially, with the agreement to pay the full remaining amount once the system is install and working.

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Leigh Brasington / / Revised 13 July 21