(This fourth and final post about shady solar workmanship offers tips on protecting yourself from unethical or incompetent installers.)
Competition generally results in choices and lower prices. It can also create confusion and make it easy for shady solar installers to take advantage of people. In 7 years, I’ve seen my share of shoddy workmanship, due to negligence, unethical motives, or simple incompetence. In fact, we’re often asked to fix solar arrays installed by others, like the Bedford one addressed in Part 1 of this series. In a recent survey,19% of our customers said they’ve seen or heard of a solar installer doing shoddy or unethical work. Of course, you can find a great solar installer with a little effort. Get suggestions from friends or reputable online resources. Then ask questions like these:
- How long have they been in business and how many installations have they done? Not that you shouldn’t give the new guys a chance — we were new once, too — but experience is helpful.
- How many installations have they done locally? Installation specifications vary by region, because roofs (pitch, material, etc.) and weather conditions vary by region.
- What do the installer’s customers say? Did they deal with the same people doing your installation?
- Are their credentials solid, such as their Better Business Bureau rating? Do they have the necessary licenses?
- What kind of online reviews do they get at sites like Angie’s List and Yelp? Be cautious with this one — you can’t trust every review on the Internet. But, they can give a general sense of how the company performs. Also, do they have a lot of reviews? Some companies have high ratings but only a handful of carefully picked reviewers.
- Do their own crews install the systems, or sub-contractors and/or temporary help? Nothing against sub-contracting, but solar is a specialized field requiring specific skills and safety training. When New England Clean Energy uses its own electricians and apprentices, we control the quality. We’ve let crew members go before for not meeting our standards.
- Is their information clear? If you can’t understand the estimate or get satisfactory answers to simple questions, they may be hiding something.
- If it matters to you, is the company local? Our customer survey found that most (94%) preferred using a local installer, and the majority (87%) were willing to spend more to do so.
- How are they paying the crew? Why does that matter, you ask? Well, I know one installer that sub-contracts to a roofer for $50 per panel. Another pays its subs $4 per foot for conduit after 50 feet. Think about this. If the installer is paid regardless of how well the system is installed, there is no incentive for quality. If the installer makes more for using more conduit, then he’s encouraged to use more conduit, even if it doesn’t look good. Installers paid by the job often want to get in and out quickly, resulting in systems that are rushed, sloppy and aesthetically deficient. Our crew members get praise for taking extra time to make sure the customer is 100% satisfied and the quality topnotch.
Finally, remember that price isn’t everything. Conventional wisdom says get 3-5 quotes for home improvement projects, throw out the lowest and highest and then pick the company you feel most comfortable with. One of my favorite jokes conveys why the lowest price isn’t always the best.
A barber had been charging $10 for a haircut for years. One day, another barber opened up next door, and put a big sign in the window saying “$5 Haircuts”. A concerned friend asked the barber, “Aren’t you going to match his price?” The barber smiled, wrote up a sign and hung it in his window. It said, “We fix $5 haircuts.”
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