Semper SolarisReviews of sempersolaris.com

Found this company on Yelp when I needed a small gutter added to my home. They responded as a potential group to help me. The initial contact was outstanding. Staff friendly and quick response. From there is did not do so well. 1. The individual who was sent to give me the quote, Cody, was late with no call or text indicating that he was running late. I had to call. 2. Once here, I learned he had not done gutters or the type of corners I was having trouble with. 3. He tried to upsell me with other services. Running through a list. Tried to sell me solar, roof, air conditioning, house wind. I already had solar with a well known company that is very much still in existence. But he did not even recognize the name of Sunlux, assumed they were out of business. (Nope) 4. Never received the quote he promised, to be sent hours later. Seems their focus is really solar or air conditioning. Not gutters. Why even quote me then? Why respond ? I said it was an extremely small project with photos. I liked the initial appointment staff, was even ready to hire them in the spot if the quote was reasonable... but the lack of follow through and extreme high energy and loud voice of the estimator, ended that . I was expecting a person who would do the work themselves or who leads a team. I got someone who had no direct experience and needed a computer to give a quote. I liked supporting a veteran owned company, but no thanks. Complete waste of everyone’s time.

I have had nothing but service issue after service issue. tech support is a nightmare and not proactive. I have to follow up on everything and even after paying $700 for the service the system didn't get fixed and is actually performing worse. I have even reached out to their senior leadership directly... they hand off to support, no follow up or follow through. Just a disappointing experience overall with this company. I think anyone looking to use them is rolling the dice and I would definitely recommend going with another provider.

Installed additional solar panels to help us increase our output. Instead that destroyed the existing inverter - refused to fix it - now my production is down to 1/3 of what it was before they added panels. Electric bill jumped over 300%. Customer Service is a joke - you get an office that sends messages to have someone call and then all they do is leave VM saying they are trying to talk - won't call a land line because they can't just leave a VM the phone actually would ring. Set up a time to call and then failed to call. NIGHTMARE of a company!

Everyone is correct when saying everything goes good as far as selling you the system and getting it installed. However, if you need Warranty work on it, do not expect a quick response. It literally takes a week to get a technician to call you back. Then 3-5 days for a "virtual" appointment. (Which is no good because they do EXACTLY what Solar Edge does) Then another week to get an actual technician out to your house to find the problem. NOW, let's wait for a part! A month of no production later....what's the point??? Customer service sucks!!!

This is Far the Worst Company I have ever felt with!!! Went with them as were retired Navy. They installed the solar panels, we were paying $650.00 a month with SDGE. After a couple months we were still paying $650.00 a month plus they’re $415.00 a month for the lease. I kept calling them and nothing but the runaround. After almost a year!! They made me an apt to talk to someone on the phone. Punched in my info and said, Ow. She then told me it should be better now. Next month our bill dropped to $250.00 a month. So got screwed out of $425.00 a month for a year!! Thinking we’re never going to see that again!!

Semper Solaris is the worst company I have ever worked with in my life! BUYER BEWARE! In April 22nd of 2023 we signed the papers to purchase solar panels from them and have them installed, and put the deposit down. They said that it would be within about 6 weeks and that the installation would take a couple days. They also promised an HVAC inspection and maintenance that never happened. We heard nothing from them until July of 2023 when they called to set up an installation date. The dates they offered were near a pre-scheduled trip of ours, but they assured us that it would only take 2 days, we wouldn’t have to be home, and that they would start early and end late to make sure that it was finished within the two days. July 25th they showed up late, we had to call to even locate the team and they didn’t start until after 10am. Their electrician hit our mailbox with his truck and they still haven’t paid us for that. They left early because it was too hot for them to work. That was when we started losing power on and off to half of our house, during a heat wave in southern California that kept knocking out our air conditioning. When we checked the electrical panel we discovered that one of the metal teeth of the bus bar was damaged when they switched out the main breaker. Instead of fixing it or replacing it, they improvised a brace using small pieces of wood, that would surely have caught fire if we had left it like that. Because of all the problems surrounding this and working with them, my husband had to cancel his trip last minute. For three days we went without air conditioning or power until they replaced the bus par after we called them repetitively to complain and showed them the pictures of their shoddy work. The pictures actually even came from their own electrician who had done the shoddy work! We had to go up on the roof to clean out our gutters and we discovered that they’d left trash, heavy trash, all over the roof. If it had blown off the roof it would have cracked a windshield or caused a head injury. After that we heard NOTHING. We called and called trying to get them to set up the inspection with building and safety but they literally ghosted us. It wasn’t until September 11 that we were got the first inspection, which they failed. Their installation didn’t match their schematics that they submitted and they needed to move a panel because they hadn’t left room for an emergency exit. They didn’t come back until December 7th to do the work, but all they did was move the panel. So they failed the next inspection on January 31st too because they still weren’t consistent with their own designs that they’d submitted to building and safety! So the THIRD inspection, on February of 2024 we finally passed. The solar panels generated for about 2 weeks, then completely stopped. As of today March 6th, we still have not been generating for the last 2 weeks because the system says that all of our microinverters are not responding. When I call their customer service they say they’ll get back me in 10-14 business days, but I know from working with them that you can always expect to double any amount of time that they give you. Also when I try to explain the problem, it is quite apparent that the customer service representative doesn’t know a microinverter from a microwave. It has been almost a YEAR now and all I have are $63,000 roof ornaments. During this whole process all we have gotten from Semper Solaris is excuses, finger pointing, and outright neglect. We have now worked with 2 project managers and an customer service lead. They assure us that the 1st project manager no longer works there, but no one is willing to take responsibility for the problems, and I personally don’t care who created the problems because no one is bothering to solve them. Every time we call we are told “There is a higher than normal wait time,” but if this has been going on for a year, then it is the normal wait time and they just don’t care about their customers. Of course, there is no direct line to anyone, and no ability to directly call anyone, so we are stuck talking to customer service and leaving messages that go unreturned. Don’t go with this company if you want anything to get done or if you value your time or mental health!

This company is a scam 100% through and through. The owners sucker veterans into doing business and really ruin their lives in the process. Systems never work, constant problems and the owners Kelly Shawhan and John Almond don't care at all. They are pure scum.

Update 3/6/24 - As of right now Semper Solaris is working with me to fix this issue and I will continue to update. I’ve put off writing this negative review for a while now hoping that things would get better. First, everyone I’ve dealt with at Semper Solaris has at least been nice, but it just doesn’t make up for the disorganization and utter lack of communication. The Marine Corps motto is Semper Fidelis. Any Marine would know the company was founded by a Marine by its name, Semper Solaris. I’m also a Marine, just like their founder, and the fact that they associate their name with the Marine Corps is actually a bit insulting to me as a Marine because everything has been so bad. Initial Expectations vs. Reality: Despite a promise of a few months for the installation of 3 Tesla Powerwall batteries, the process extended to over a year and a half. This significant delay, seemingly unusual compared to other customers, was exacerbated by a lack of clear communication and updates, which I often had to initiate. Mismanagement of Existing Systems: My existing commercial Generac generator, which I explicitly requested to remain unchanged, was altered during the installation. This modification has compromised its functionality, including its ability to charge my cars, contrary to the assurances given by the sales representative. Installation Issues and Lack of Consultation: The installation process involved significant changes to my property, including moving my electrical panel and car charger, without my prior knowledge or consent. These major alterations were done despite my garage being finished with custom cabinets, and had I been consulted, I would have preferred the equipment outside. Disregard for Customer Preferences and Belongings: The installer made unilateral decisions regarding the placement of the third battery and removed a $400 Sense energy monitor without my permission. This action, bordering on misappropriation, was followed by misleading and inconsistent information regarding its whereabouts and return. Poor Post-Installation Communication and Service: Follow-up interactions have been marked by discrepancies and a lack of accountability, with documents being provided post-installation and not reflecting agreed terms. There is also a palpable sense of these issues being recurrent and familiar to the sales team, though not explicitly acknowledged. Overall Impact on Trust and Satisfaction: As a fellow Marine, I find the level of service and the handling of this installation by Semper Solaris deeply disappointing and contradictory to the values associated with the Marine Corps. This experience has significantly eroded my trust and satisfaction with the company. Final Assessment – Run Away If you are looking to have a solar system or Tesla batteries installed, I have to tell you in no uncertain terms, find another company besides Semper Solaris. There are too many companies out there to risk having an experience like mine.