Sunrun

Do not use Sunrun!!!
My experience seemed great at first. As the REC Solar sales rep, engineer, and project manager all seemed to know what they were talking about. So, we decided to sign with them for a cash up front paid 20 year leased system of 19Kw in September 2013. This option saves us the most money over time. They said this was one of the biggest they had installed residentially, but they said the knew what they were doing. At various stages the plans were sent to our utility (Xcel) provider for approval, and at all stages before we were approved for our system as is.
The product itself seemed very solid. The panels are very low profile, and the installed critter guard blends well and completely seals off the panels. The system looked superior to most in our neighborhood. Installation was quick and only took three days. Our panels were up on December 6^th, 2013. Then the waiting began. They told us six weeks before the utility provider would approve and install our solar meter.
Six weeks went by and nothing, so I began inquiring with REC, now Sunrun due to a recent buy out. No one would return my calls at first. When they finally did after repeated calls, they didn’t know what was going on. Meanwhile, we had cut them a check for the full amount since it was required upon installation. Three months later we were told we had to sign another request due to a clerical error, which Sunrun admitted. Then we waited another six weeks to no avail. I began calling again and finally got a hold the president, now branch manager (Kenny). He admitted finally that the utility had not approved us on our final inspection, saying our system was too big for our neighborhood transformer to handle. We either had to buy a new one, which would tear up ours and several back yards, or downsize our system to 13.8Kw. We chose the latter because we thought it would be the faster and less painful of the two. The Sunrun team came out and took the panels off our house to reduce our system size. They later sent a roofer to repair and replace the roof damage from the removed panels. Then the waiting began again.
After six more weeks I inquired to no avail with Sunrun. At this point no one would return my calls or emails ever at the local branch. Finally on June 1^st, 2015, I gave up and called friend who is an attorney who then referred me to an attorney specializing in solar. He advised my that legally the utility (Xcel) cannot deny you a system up to 125% of your power usage for the last year. They should have upgraded the transformer themselves. They had done a great job of bullying Sunrun, who should have advised us to stand our ground. However, regardless of fault, the project was still at a standstill. The attorney asked me if he could make a phone inquiry on my behalf at no charge. I eagerly accepted. In 48 hours an Xcel contractor had left a note on my front door. The note had a phone number to call to set up an appointment. I called and they scheduled a site visit two days later. On June 11^th, they installed our solar meter, enabling us to complete the circuit and produce solar generated power. We called Sunrun customer care to activate. Honestly, the customer care person was not very knowledgeable about my system. Luckily it wasn’t too difficult to push buttons and pull levers despite her not having the correct directions for our system. Our system is finally working.
Now, just one issue remained: Sunrun still had all my money from the original contract. Again, I made inquiry after inquiry regarding the difference and refund due to me by the new contract. Again, I had no answers from the local branch or corporate. Finally after seven calls, and even more emails, I again asked advice from our pro bono attorney, who told me the correct legal terms to use when calling. I asked that the director of customer care call me or I would be initiating legal action. Finally, someone called me back later that day, the director himself Chad. He explained that there had been a mix up with my credit on my account and accounts payable had failed to issue me my refund check. He promised to personally take care of it. In three days I received a FedEx notice that an envelope was on it’s way from Sunrun. They had held on to our money for over a year without explanation.
After starting this process in September of 2013, I finally received my refund check on July 8^th, 2015. How would I describe this process? Clumsy, unapologetic, haphazard, too difficult, and way too long and drawn out.
Sunrun had mostly incompetent employees with very little customer care or service. It was very evident once they had my money they had little care for my well being or satisfaction. I would never recommend Sunrun. Based on friends and neighbors other companies I would recommend Solar City or Go Solar, both have very positive experiences in our area.

Run from Sunrun!!! People DO NOT be fooled. REC Solar WAS an outstanding company that was bought out by Sunrun a couple of years ago. Do not be misled to think that a lot of the favorable reviews are attributed to Sunrun — they are not, they are from people that dealt with REC Solar prior to Sunrun taking over REC Solar. Sunrun wants you to think they are a great company by using reviews from the prior company REC Solar. And Sunrun plans to go public later this year. Oh by the way, Sunrun is based out of San Francisco, CA. not Westminster, CO.
Some of my biggest frustrations and aggravations have been provided courtesy of Sunrun.

The sales guy on the phone insisted that I could not get solar on my roof bc we have a couple of trees nearby. However, being that I live at my house, I know that our trees do not cast shadows on our roof or inhibit any sunlight during the day. I tried explaining this to him but he apparently knows better than I do bc he has been doing this a whopping 2 years. I’ve consulted with other companies who have confirmed that the few trees I have will not be a problem. It’s as if these people just didn’t want my business. He never even offered to have someone come take a look. Their loss, I guess.

We had a ~5.7KW system installed about 10 months ago. REC helped all the steps go smoothly. They got approval for rebates from Xcell energy, gave all the info to get Highlands Ranch HOA approval, they pulled all the permits, used meters to place the panels in best spots. We upgraded to TIGO to get more energy out of our panels… TIGO keeps your panels working when some are shaded by trees and you can moniter every panel in real time and up to several months backwards. It saves us about 60 — 80 bucks per month. This months electric/​gas bill was 23 bucks on our huge house and we received a 39 dollar check as a backend rebate from excell (you get that for 10 years)…NET we made 16 this month. Winter months we don’t make money… just save. I figure we’ll break even in 7 — 10 years… I like the idea of having bills prepaid for when we retire and money is not as plentyfull. I would recommend REC solar to anyone. They don’t play any games and there is not any surprises.

SIMPLY AMAZING! I was very impressed with the project from start to finish. Adolf (foreman) was very professional and the team was very respectful. They went above and beyond to ensure there was no damage to my property as I saw they removed a glass portion of my patio table and set it aside in case something happened and also replaced it before leaving. They had wrapped up a garden hose I had accidentally left out so they wouldn’t step on it and damage it. They were able to complete the install in the time they had stated (actually finished earlier than expected) and I have already received some comments from neighbors admiring the work. Please extend my sincere thanks to Adolf and his team.

We’ve had our solar system installed for a bit over a year now. It seemed like a slam dunk to go green and have no money down. The installation went well and we’re delighted to watch our meter running backwards now! The system has been trouble-​free and it’s great to know that they’re standing behind it if anything does come up. Strongly recommend them!

This was an absolute NO BRAINER!!! Nothing out of pocket and I save money as soon as the system turns on. As rates go up I will save even more. Solar was always something I wanted to do because it was «right». REC made amazingly easy to make a decision — there was NO reason to NOT get solar NOW. My system has not turned on yet, but everything has gone as I was told it would — I can’t wait to see my bill drop.

REC Solar has amazing service, installation and customer care!
They install solar electric systems and take care of everything from a free site evaluation, design, engineering, installation, service, and rebate processing! I would highly recommend them to anybody considering going solar!