Everything went wrong
It feels like everything which could have gone wrong did. 12/19/2019 initial contract signed, and paid for half the system up front. Was told that it would probably be installed in late Janurary after the holidays are over. 2/18/2020 Sent me a second ammended contract and asked that I sign it. They would be delivering less kilowathours than originally contracted. It was explained to me that this was because their initial design did not meet code requirements. 3/7/2020 A crew comes out to start the install. I am thrilled that the wait will finally be over and I will finally have some electricity out of my investment. Halfway through the install I noticed that the gear they are installing did not match what was on the contract. I questioned the lead installer. I told him what was on the contract, and he called the company owner. He said that they wanted to proceed with the install, and after the county inspections were all done that they would send a crew out to make the correction to what was contracted. The system was still not functional when they left on 3/7/2020, nor was it what was contracted. 3/13/2020, 3/16/2020, 3/17/2020, and 3/20/2020. Exchange multiple emails asking when the inspection will be scheduled, asked what I could do to expedite. Got people pointing at each other and no answers. Started checking and discovered that a permit had not been applied for the work. 4/11/2020. I finally got an answer. Was told the person who did the install had been out with the virus. Was asked about my install and what the status was. 4/17/2020. Permit was finally granted by the county. 5/1/2020. They send out a crew to meet the county inspector. The inspection is signed off-on as installed, which is still not what was contracted for. The system is still not functional. Was told it would work once interconnect agreement is completed with Duke power and the bi-directional meter is in place. 6/18/2020 through 6/27/2020. Multiple applications for bi-directional agreement were completed, and finally got the meter installed. Got notice from Duke that the system can be activated. However the system is still not functional. 6/26/2020. Got a call that they wanted to collect the rest of the money owed now that they system was installed. Sent someone out to collect a check. I noted that the system was still not functional, but gave them most of the money owed hoping that this would enable them to pay someone to come out and fix it. This was in hindsight a huge mistake as the system is still not functional as of 8/5/2020. 7/14/2020 I email for a status and was told that someone showed up 7/9/2020 early in the morning before I woke up. Said they tried to connect the system to my Wifi and left unsuccessful. I said drop by whenever as I am here every day. 7/19/2020 after lack of progress I start looking at the system, checking the company website, connect a network cable and check the status. According to the error code 3501 "installation failure" the system gives, it is a ground-fault on the DC supply side. I told them I suspected it was a cable up on the roof which was not terminated correctly from their install install in March. Said that I needed someone to come out with a ladder to go on the roof and check the connections. This erorr code also showed on the display for the unit the entire time. 7/31/2020 after angry phone calls to company office after the people conducting the install stopped answering my calls, I finally got escalated to someone else. They had someone remotely register the system with the manufacturer to acivate it. Something which in hindsight they should have done months ago. System is still not working. Still shows the same install error 3501 that I told them about. 8/5/2020. I am nearly 8 months into something that I was initially told would take 6 to 8 weeks. I am out thousands of dollars and have not seen a single kilowatt hour for my trouble. I am unsure when or if this will be resolved as I keep getting excuses that they are working with other parts of their company, contracted installers, or "on vacation".
By John P.