Overview
Looking for a solar energy provider can be overwhelming. Because solar is such a promising technology to invest in when upgrading a home or business, many companies offer services needed to provide clean energy upgrades. Just like any field with a healthy amount of competition, that means that it’s sometimes difficult to decide which of those companies is going to be the best for your particular needs. If you’re looking to upgrade to solar but aren’t sure where to go, this article is intended to help give you a look at one of the options you might want to consider: Sunrun Solar.
What is Sunrun Solar?
Sunrun Solar is a residential solar company, which means that their services mainly focus on helping homeowners upgrade their residences with solar energy systems.
Like other solar companies, Sunrun Solar provides systems that include solar panels that will absorb sunlight and convert it to electricity for your home. One point in their favor is that they also provide an option to attach solar battery back-ups to your system, which not all solar companies offer. These batteries will store excess energy that the panels produce, letting you use it when you need it later, giving you a source of power to rely on even during power outages or during times when your panels aren’t getting as much access to sunlight.
One of the major selling points that Sunrun Solar emphasizes is the fact that they have customized services. So buying from them isn’t just a matter of getting the same thing everyone else gets, regardless of whether or not it’s the best fit for you. Instead, Sunrun Solar promises to offer personalized service and custom designs that will fit your home. This means that working with Sunrun Solar gets a system that’s designed to fit your home’s potential and your energy needs, making it even more worthwhile for you.
What’s their process like?
According to Sunrun Solar’s website, when you begin working with them to install a system at your residence, they follow a 7-step process to put together your solar energy system. This begins with a site survey, set up after your initial contact with the company, and then moves on to the design phase, where they will put together a plan for your home’s system and send it to you for review and approval. After that, your part would be pretty much done! The next steps they take are getting the proper permits from your place of residence, installing the system, running inspections, taking care of the utility hookup, and getting things turned on and running.
Where is Sunrun available?
Sunrun Solar’s services are available in 22 states and territories of the United States, including the following:
- Arizona
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Nevada
- New
- Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Puerto Rico
- Rhode Island
- South
- Carolina
- Texas
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Wisconsin (solar batteries are not available in Wisconsin, but the solar panels are)
What deals do they offer?
To make sure that many people can afford their products, Sunrun Solar offers several different ways to get solar power at your home. These include solar lease plans and loan plans, which offer several financing solutions. Leases & loans allow you to either purchase your system outright, pay for it over time with financing, rent it month-to-month, or get a “full lease.” A full solar lease allows you to make a one-time payment and purchase just the solar power for the next 25 years (while the panels installed at your residence will still be owned and maintained by Sunrun Solar). Of course, these different options all have pros and cons, and there might be one that’s better for your situation.
Another benefit you might be able to take advantage of is tax credits for solar systems. Depending on where you live, you may get some tax credit for installing a solar system because the government wants to incentivize the movement towards renewable energy. Since it’s also in their best interests to get you the help you need to make a purchase, Sunrun Solar promises to help you find the credits available at your location and then take advantage of them.
While warranties for solar systems are mostly the standard these days, it’s good to make sure to check which companies are offering them, as well as what they’re covering. That’s why one additional positive in Sunrun Solar’s favor is that their systems have a complete coverage warranty.
The Technology They Offer
So, what is there to know about the different technologies that Sunrun Solar uses? We will look at the solar panels themselves first, since those are the heart of the solar system.
Sunrun Solar uses monocrystalline solar panels, which are black, square-shaped panels lined up on rooftops as needed. The main difference between monocrystalline panels and other kinds of panels is that they are more efficient. Other types of panels include polycrystalline and thin-film solar panels, both of which are cheaper to manufacture than monocrystalline panels (and they’re less effective or durable). Sunrun Solar uses only monocrystalline panels in its residential solar systems, and also claims that this type is the most popular among homeowners in general.
These solar panels will work for daily use. Although they function better in cold temperatures, they can stay functional up to temperatures of 145 degrees (hopefully, your home won’t even be exposed to temperatures that extreme).
Also, though they obviously cannot gather energy during the night, the panels offer the chance to store up excess energy if you add backup batteries to your system.
Speaking of which, let’s also take a look at those batteries. Sunrun Solar offers a few different battery backup add-ons that you can get along with their solar panels. For example, if you want a whole-home backup system that can power your entire residence with stored energy, then they offer the Tesla Powerwall, a smart home battery that will automatically begin powering your home shortly after a power outage commences.
On the other hand, if you only need a smaller portion of your home powered during an outage, Sunrun Solar can install LG Chem solar batteries to power individual rooms or sections. This setup will keep the most important systems running without needing to power the entire residence.
Sunrun Solar offers these batteries through a program they call Sunrun Brightbox, which includes not just the batteries and energy storage but also a smart solar energy service that they will monitor to make your system as efficient as it can be.
Keep in mind, if you’ve already gotten your system set up, Sunrun Solar cannot add on a Tesla Powerwall. That type of energy storage is also limited by area, depending on where Tesla has made it available.
The App
If you’re considering Sunrun Solar as your company for upgrading to solar energy, there’s one more big thing to consider: the mySunrun smart application. Other solar companies offer similar applications, but it is by no means a standard practice at the moment. When it comes to Sunrun Solar, their app offers several useful services:
Monitor systems and home energy profiles
Using the app, you can monitor your system’s energy production and your home’s energy usage. For example, see which days generate the most power for your home, and look at an overview of the system’s functions.
Pay bills when needed
The app also allows you to take care of business-related issues with Sunrun Solar, including paying your bills and setting up autopay if you want.
Keep track of Sunrun Solar documents
The app keeps track of important documents for you, including any agreements and design plans.
Although the app does seem to deliver what it promises, with a focus on simplicity and a direct approach, reviews for the app itself are mixed. It seems that many of the problems expressed in reviews had to do with slow updates to the app (so that your solar system’s production was shown a day behind). There were also general problems with logging in (having to log in every time the app is opened, being unable to log in, etc.) and some concerns with the app itself not functioning well. However, some recent reviews express that these problems have been fixed. Some customers have updated their reviews from 1 star to 4 or 5. Overall, many app reviewers suggest just using Sunrun Solar’s website, which seems to have better functionality and is more carefully maintained.
In short, having access to the app might be a nice bonus if you’re already considering using Sunrun Solar, but it doesn’t seem like it offers anything to really seal the deal or make them stand out very much from the competition.
Reviews
So, that’s a lot of information from the company itself. But what are customers saying about their experiences with Sunrun Solar?
The Positives
Many customers who left positive reviews for Sunrun Solar mention the friendliness and knowledgeability of the company’s representatives. It seems that a common theme is that these representatives can help customers understand the solar energy system they’re considering and answer any questions they have thoroughly and helpfully.
Many of these customers noted how quick and efficient the installation process was for them, and how the company took care of all the setup without problems. Several customers also noted that the actual installation process, once it was begun, was very quick and easy for them as well, with installers only taking a day at most in several cases.
Positive reviews often mention the monthly savings seen after a solar system has been installed. They show that many customers have seen notable financial benefits to having a solar system on their homes. Some of these benefits were fairly substantial, such as some customers whose energy bills had been reduced from $300-$400 to $25-$50. From these reviews, it definitely seems like their systems work as advertised when reducing your monthly utilities.
The Negatives
Some customers have also had negative experiences, of course. Many customers who left negative reviews note that they had a lot of trouble getting service for replacement parts or had trouble getting any service at all. Customers mentioned having to wait for a long time to get their systems running or repaired when issues arose.
There were also some complaints about how companies acquired by Sunrun began treating customers, implying that the customers inherited along with these purchases were sometimes not served very well by Sunrun’s representatives.
There were also some complaints about the companies contracted to install the panels on roofs, with some notable mentions of damaged roofs and ceilings that leaked afterward. Some also installed fewer panels than agreed upon, failed to properly acquire permits, and had to cancel the process partway through. Of course, this could be more the fault of those contractors, in some cases, but it’s still a motif that is important to note.
Conclusion
Although there have been some complaints from customers about shoddy customer service, faulty installations, and the ineffectiveness of the mySunrun app, this company has helped many satisfied customers upgrade to a renewable energy source. Of their positive traits, we have the fact that they focus on customized residential systems, meaning that their representatives will have the experience that they need to make sure that you’re getting the most benefits that you can from a solar system. The solar panels that Sunrun Solar uses are the most efficient and durable type of solar panel, meaning that they’ll provide the best value for a system in the long run. This does, however, mean that their systems often cost more than the industry average.
They also offer many different approaches to purchasing, renting, and financing your solar system, which could be a major benefit depending on your current situation and what you’re looking to get from it. The option to add battery storage to take full advantage of excess energy production can also be very helpful in the right situations. It is ideal for outages when you might need to rely on stored power.
Like many other solar companies, Sunrun Solar also tries to make the transition of purchasing and installing solar systems as easy for their customers as they can. This includes working with you to figure out an effective design to meet your home’s clean energy needs and helping you by taking care of all the necessary legal paperwork and permits that come with installing solar panels. Additionally, they will help you learn about any available rebates or tax incentives available to you if you switch to solar, and what you need to do to get them.
As with any large purchase, it’s in your favor to get quotes from more than one solar provider when you’re considering this kind of investment in your home’s future. If you’re in one of the states they service, and you like what you’ve learned about them so far, Sunrun Solar is definitely an option that you could consider for solar power.