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Greetings,
We are desperately hoping someone here can point us to a solution to the solar quagmire we find ourselves in. The story will be a familiar one, and I will truncate it as much as possible. And, for the record, we live in the northern part of Santa Barbara County, in California, USA.
A few yrs ago, “Company A" put in our solar panels. Then, about a year ago, we got solar batteries and a new Solaredge inverter from "Company B."
Two months ago, our system completely crashed, and is still dead. The inverter has a persistently flashing red light. When we contacted Company B, their terse response was that they had spoken to Solaredge and that they confirmed that the "issue is on the solar side, specifically on the panels leading to the inverter." So I take that to mean they regard this not as a problem with the inverter that Company B installed when they installed our batteries, but rather is Company A’s responsibility.
So we contacted Company A, and apart from informing us that they are booked up until April, they refused explicitly in two separate communications to investigate the situation any further on our behalf. In fact their exact words were as follows:
"I have looked at the site and it appears that there is a ground fault. This fault can be anywhere within the system. To detect a more precise location of the fault, a special setup within the inverter has to be used. I don't want to touch the inverter from [Company B] because they can put any future fault on me. My recommendations: Ask them to find out where the issue is exactly.”
So we are stuck between two companies who emphatically refuse to take responsibility for or investigate the situation and help us resolve it. By the way, we also contacted Solaredge directly and their response was basically the useless "contact your installer." We were hoping they might exercise a little influence on our behalf, but unfortunately they chose not to do so. There has been only a tiny amount of additional communication regarding this matter because what we have started to get when we contact the installers is “that is not my department, but I will forward your query to someone who will contact you,” but of course they never do.
So what do we do now? We plan to file a complaint with CALSSA, but we wonder if CALSSA might basically be a “do nothing” solar power industry public relations agency that is more geared towards advancing industry interests as opposed to consumer interests (though, yes, you’d think the best way to improve an industry’s customer service reputation would be to make sure disgruntled customers like us don’t share their horrible solar experience to absolutely everyone who will listen, whether they want to or not).
My questions: Are there any other solar power consumer interest agencies (i.e., conspicuously aimed at advancing consumer interests and resolving consumer complaints) that we should also file our complaint with? We have spoken to a lawyer about our situation, but for now tend to regard legal action as a “last resort” kind of option, and are so far reluctant to pull the trigger on that. Our lawyer is, however, willing to send a “request for information/action” letter on his law firm’s letterhead, as several people have told us that the mere whiff of attorney can produce a response in these solar power situations. Are there any class action suits against installers we should be aware of? As I said, we live between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo in Southern/Central California, USA, so if anyone in this forum happens to know of any technicians, activists, agencies, or lawyers (with experience in this arena) in our vicinity who can help us (they will certainly be aware of Company B's reputation, by the way), thank you SO MUCH for letting us know about them!
It is a horrible testament to the appalling customer service practices of the solar installation industry that after spending thousands of dollars trying to do the right thing for the environment, we are still “grid people,” and a very cautionary tale.
Otherchuck
We are desperately hoping someone here can point us to a solution to the solar quagmire we find ourselves in. The story will be a familiar one, and I will truncate it as much as possible. And, for the record, we live in the northern part of Santa Barbara County, in California, USA.
A few yrs ago, “Company A" put in our solar panels. Then, about a year ago, we got solar batteries and a new Solaredge inverter from "Company B."
Two months ago, our system completely crashed, and is still dead. The inverter has a persistently flashing red light. When we contacted Company B, their terse response was that they had spoken to Solaredge and that they confirmed that the "issue is on the solar side, specifically on the panels leading to the inverter." So I take that to mean they regard this not as a problem with the inverter that Company B installed when they installed our batteries, but rather is Company A’s responsibility.
So we contacted Company A, and apart from informing us that they are booked up until April, they refused explicitly in two separate communications to investigate the situation any further on our behalf. In fact their exact words were as follows:
"I have looked at the site and it appears that there is a ground fault. This fault can be anywhere within the system. To detect a more precise location of the fault, a special setup within the inverter has to be used. I don't want to touch the inverter from [Company B] because they can put any future fault on me. My recommendations: Ask them to find out where the issue is exactly.”
So we are stuck between two companies who emphatically refuse to take responsibility for or investigate the situation and help us resolve it. By the way, we also contacted Solaredge directly and their response was basically the useless "contact your installer." We were hoping they might exercise a little influence on our behalf, but unfortunately they chose not to do so. There has been only a tiny amount of additional communication regarding this matter because what we have started to get when we contact the installers is “that is not my department, but I will forward your query to someone who will contact you,” but of course they never do.
So what do we do now? We plan to file a complaint with CALSSA, but we wonder if CALSSA might basically be a “do nothing” solar power industry public relations agency that is more geared towards advancing industry interests as opposed to consumer interests (though, yes, you’d think the best way to improve an industry’s customer service reputation would be to make sure disgruntled customers like us don’t share their horrible solar experience to absolutely everyone who will listen, whether they want to or not).
My questions: Are there any other solar power consumer interest agencies (i.e., conspicuously aimed at advancing consumer interests and resolving consumer complaints) that we should also file our complaint with? We have spoken to a lawyer about our situation, but for now tend to regard legal action as a “last resort” kind of option, and are so far reluctant to pull the trigger on that. Our lawyer is, however, willing to send a “request for information/action” letter on his law firm’s letterhead, as several people have told us that the mere whiff of attorney can produce a response in these solar power situations. Are there any class action suits against installers we should be aware of? As I said, we live between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo in Southern/Central California, USA, so if anyone in this forum happens to know of any technicians, activists, agencies, or lawyers (with experience in this arena) in our vicinity who can help us (they will certainly be aware of Company B's reputation, by the way), thank you SO MUCH for letting us know about them!
It is a horrible testament to the appalling customer service practices of the solar installation industry that after spending thousands of dollars trying to do the right thing for the environment, we are still “grid people,” and a very cautionary tale.
Otherchuck
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