Sun Valley Solar Solutions

Great product.  We're pleased with our backup battery.  Misty, our project manager, did an excellent job of keeping us informed of the progress of our installation.  Kudos also, to Melissa, Bill, and Sal (GM).

In our opinion, this installation is superior, and more economical than a gas-powered back-up generator.  With this battery we can actually power our house from the battery during peak electric energy rates.

We sure wish we had done this years ago, although we aren't such technology was available back then.

They may as well be selling extended car warranties.
I was told 20 years at $100/month for a system. In that same quote, the total system code was over $27,000. When I questioned the monthly payment because it only adds up to $24,000, I was told that I would need to pay back the tax credit of almost $8,000. That's not how a tax credit works!
So the sales pitch turns into how I'm not solving my problem by not installing solar. I never said I have an energy problem. I'm looking for opportunities to offset my tax liabilities and the 26% tax credit is an ideal way. Tax credits don't magically go toward financing - they offset tax liability, reducing/eliminating the amount you owe at tax season (or increasing your refund).
Shady practices. This sort of stuff should really be spelled out in an estimate.
Zero trust in this company.

Update:  I have had the system a little over 3 years.

So far the problem with the battery system not switching correctly from summer to fall has continued.  On November 1st of each year, the peak demand time frame for the SRP service area changes from summer hours (2pm to 8pm) to winter hours (5am to 9am and  5pm - 9pm) and therefore the battery system (called the battery profile) is supposed to adjust to those new hours and provide backup power to house loads during peak hours.  When this works properly, you can avoid using too much power from the grid and therefore avoid high peak demand charges.  I have a demand limiter which will start turning off big loads when I reach 2KW, but I usually stay well below that (typically 0.2 to 0.5KW)  during peak time.  

However, several times, the battery profile has not automatically swapped from summer hours to winter hours and therefore my demand charges spike.  This is usually corrected by Sun Valley or their vendor manually transferring the profile later in the day but of course the peak demand has already occurred.  This is a known problem to Sun Valley and they say that they have written work orders to the company that operates the electronics of the battery profile but the problem still occurs.  

This seems like a simple fix - have someone available at 5am every November 1st to make sure the profile works and if it doesn't, then manually transfer it.

Except for this problem, the system has worked well for last couple of years but I am still keeping the one star because of the mistakes during the setup (described in the first review) and the effort required to get those problems fixed.

Updated: on my way back to CA dropped by this morning and installed what would have taken a Professional perhaps 1hr. I did it on 1.5hrs

Casa grande and Aps inspected and approved system just needed the box installed no permit would have been needed since as you see on paperwork i submitted it was all in the original permits which had been approved by Casa Grande.

So I hate when companies try to rip customers off by assuming they know next to nothing about solar or electicity. I called and spoke with Victoria I let her know i just needed a very simple meter box installed. She requested schematics and permits and pictures. All of which I quickly provided. What was needed was a $25-$60 box installed with 6 wires. Something that me a non electrician could due in under 2hrs. Well after submitting all this information to her. She emails me back and says they have to pull additional permits to install a meter box. Which ofcourse is complete bull$ht. Anyways after getting all my plans and pictures permits basically all my properties information she emails me back and says.  

"Thank you for providing the information. I spoke with my manager and confirmed we are not able to install anything on your system because we did not do the panel installation. We cannot own anything that we did not start from the beginning."

If this is the case than it is common knowledge that the company will not work on anything that they themselves didnt profit on from start to finish. (Why did Victoria not tell me this before hand and waisted my time)

I normally don't leave reviews for companies I didn't hire but I find it very unprofessional for someone making me jump through hoops run around taking pictures pulling up schematics etc to then tell me sorry for making you do all that but we wont bother with your small job because we didnt profit on the entire solar system install.

I wasnt asking them to warranty or do anything with my solar system. Just install a simple meter box.

Sun Power inverter problem since May & absolutely NO help from Sun Power till July 9th  2020! I reached out to Jenna @ Sun Valley Solar Solution (very well informed) and explained my situation &
man she hit a home run. Her knowledge & ability to answer all my my questions was amazing. They were able to schedule a tech within a week. The the technician (Andrade) was on time & gave me a courtesy call prior to arriving.  One look at the inverter reading & he knew exactly what the problem was and replaced a fuse. He as well answered ALL of my questions & helped set up my app so I could monitor my production. Sun Valley Solor is an elite Sun Power vendor meaning that if I needed an inverter they could have assisted me. We were up and running thanks to this team instead of waiting till July for Sun Power. Thanks again  Jenna for responding to our needs.

It took a while, but once they did the repairs the system works great! My electric bill was $19.02 last month! You still have to pay a lease fee, but overall it's a good deal, especially over the long term.

Used these guys to install a 6.2 kW solar system with a demand manager. The initial sales discussion went great, no pressure, and I feel I was given all the information and resources I needed to make an informed decision. Price was right in the ballpark of all other solar companies and they had great reviews on Yelp so we pulled the trigger. That's when all the problems began.

First the installation of our demand manager was botched. The guy who installed it only connected it to 2 out of 3 of our ACs and then left the demand manager running before we even had our solar system commissioned. I noticed that our ACs were randomly turning on and off, reached out and was given a link to learn about demand managers. Finally explained the situation enough times and had a lead come out who quickly apologized, agreed it was done wrong, and fixed the situation.

Then the panel install date came. Crew showed up on time and were generally respectful. After they left I noticed they had knocked a roof vent loose on my roof, didn't paint like half of the conduit, and left bright pink stickers half ripped off on the side of several panels, which was very visible from the yard. Again, had to make multiple calls to finally get someone out who agreed they did a very poor job and then corrected the issue.

Finally, about 90 days since deposit, the commissioning date came (yay!), Sun Valley guy shows up and has to stay on the phone with someone who is walking him through commissioning the system. Then once he gets it up and the SRP rep confirms it's running, he packs up and is on his way. But wait, no one turned the demand manager on. This is absolutely essential as even one day of high demand with SRP will spike your demand charge for that month. I ask him about it, confirm that it is in fact not running, and he responds "I dont know much about those, maybe someone else will come turn that on". Well, I need it turned on and verified before 1pm when on peak demand will start being measured.  Finally after reaching out again multiple times, someone calls me on the phone and they walk me through turning it on and ensuring it's working.

System is working fine and we are enjoying having solar. I am not sure if I would use Sun Valley again, but if I did I would make sure I stayed up on what they were doing and confirmed everything myself. This company seems to have very bad internal communication issues. The leads and sales folks are knowledgeable and acccountable, but everyone else (basically every install crew) seemed confused and did a poor job.

Out of all the quotes I received, they were more than double the cost of the highest quote. Crazy. They quoted me 34 panels for $52944. Then they showed the 30% savings. The highest quote I received outside of this company was $29k before the 30% tax incentive.

If you went with this company and paid that much I can't image why the reviews.

From sales to install I had a great experience with sun valley. They educated me on why I need a demand manager to stop peak demand pricing from srp and sold me a 4kw system to curb peak demand etc. the demand manager let me control demand for each month and informed me that water heater is pretty costly in energy in addition to ac. I will use them again to install more panels and maybe a battery if they get cheaper. Great prices great experience !

Great service from these guys.  Bobby is very knowledgeable, advise was very useful.  It took several months, but none of the delay was on their part.  It just takes weeks/months for SRP to come through with approvals, then the homeowners association needs to chime in.  In any case, our install took all of about 4 hours, installers even painted their conduit for us.  Excellent install, very satisfied with the service and quality of the install.  I of course have no other solar installer to compare, but I have absolutely no complaints about these guys!!

Update 9/21/17 - After four months, we're getting between 28-39% from the small panel set installed.  Knocks down our demand charge while the sun us up and kept the bill under $300 in the hottest part of the summer. I keep the house cool all day, as I work from home.  Thanks again guys!

Team from Sun Valley reached out to me, and made amends. I am upgrading my review to A-OK, 3-stars, the firm followed through, a rebate they promised came, and they were helpful in walking my wife through the monitoring App, and we see our production now on our phones.

I can't tell how much we've appreciated Mark and the entire Sun Valley team.  They have been thorough with everything!  From the sales process, to installation, to follow-up education and training; they've done it all and have done it well!  We are in the SRP territory and are already saving over 100.00 per month with the Demand Manager.  We would highly recommend Sun Valley and solar in general.  Now is the time to get it installed and benefit from the rebates tax incentives and tools such as the Demand Manager to maximize your savings.

This business installed our solar panels 3-4 years ago.  We recently developed a pigeon problem under the panels.  It was a problem we have not been told might occur.  When I called about a solution, I had hoped they would take care of this in-house at no additional cost.  Instead, they handed off the solution to another company.  Too bad for us that we didn't know this could happen.  We could have taken action sooner.
For Sun Valley Solar's failure to communicate during the sales process and their handing the problem off so nonchalantly, I'm giving only a 3-star rating.
Post takeaway:  buyer still beware.

A great solar installation experience for this home owner. Experienced, clear info, great project management, well trained installers (who cleaned up), and journeymen electricians who knew what they were doing. All our questions were answered with responsive customer service. Highly recommend.

We had the Sun Power system installed in 2012.  It has since had three malfunctions,  The system has been providing approximately 1/2 its rated power output for nearly five months.  Three cases were opened with Sun Power.  The only response has been that they will evaluate the power production in March, the anniversary month.  The system is under constant monitoring and its low production is quite obvious to a casual observation.  This is quite unacceptable and I would caution anyone to seriously consider this type of reliability and service before entering in to an installation.

From sales to installation everything was first rate. The energy saving is about $100-$150 per month for us. The lease program worked best for us. Our only issue was the safe haven the panels created for the pigeons. We needed to have an exterminator remove the existing nests, droppings and block off all areas around the panels to prevent the birds from re-entering. The panels were installed in Maricopa, AZ about a year ago.

Incredible service from sales to contract to install. Absolutely no complaints, we researched many solar companies and Sun Valley Solar was by far the most helpful. They've built a solid business and they explain instead of just try to sell. Excellent communication, and they even encouraged us tour their office which we did and it just solidified our confidence in them.

Initial calls suggest not the place to go.  Did an initial inquiry with Sun Valley, they asked for info, and can't even get a confirmation back at this point.  So if the sales call, initiated by me, is any indication, then they are busy as tar and customers are probably disposable.  When they get it right, people seem to think they're great, but it seems like there's pretty high chances that won't be the way it goes. I'll look elsewhere, but I'd recommend others stay away.

Absolutely fantastic experience from start to finish. I knew I was going to "go solar" when purchasing our home in AZ, but didn't know which company to choose from. I ultimately received five quotes, including in-home interviews with various companies, and Sun Valley Solar was far more transparent, down-to-earth, and knowledgeable than the competition. Special thanks to Cole, who walked us through the entire process from the start with information and timelines that proved to be accurate (it can take a few months to get all the paperwork in order and actually get panels on your roof, commissioned and producing clean energy).

Brenda also did a good job as our project manager, and kudos to the install team who completed the job - our property was spotless when they left, and they did a top-notch professional job.

It's now been over two months since our smaller size 3.24kwh system was commissioned, and we've already saved hundreds of dollars on our APS bills. Whereas our winter month bills were typically in the $140 range, now we've seem them drop to $50-60 per month, plus we have a credit for on-peak usage that we'll be redeeming in the hot summer months, when we have to run the A/C during the on-peak hours (so those bills will have an even greater savings). I also love the Solar Edge monitoring app and dashboard - you can see production per panel over days, weeks, months, and years. It's fun to watch how temperature, angle of the sun, clouds, and other factors impact your production.

Long story short, I couldn't recommend Sun Valley highly enough. I've already sent friends and family to them, and they're locking into solar too. Thank you!

I purchased a system from them and have no regrets.  Good people who delt farely with us from start to finish

It all started with Mark G. The most thorough and responsive solar agent I have ever dealt with...a year later and he responds to my emails and calls even when it is of no monetary benefit to him! Even after hours, 7pm on Friday! I highly recommend you call, or ask for, Mark G.

The PV system itself is great and functions as expected.  The design package and review was very easy to understand, maybe a little too simple for someone like me (engineer), but great to explain product and how it will work for the home. The demand manager for SRP is working well, I might have asked for a few more loads to be connected, but water heater and AC is doing the job so far.

There were some coordination (project management) and install quality very minor hiccups, but Mark helped clean these up quickly and easily.

Buy solar and, if you live in their service area get a quote from SVSS and strongly consider them!

I suggest buying, not leasing as I now must sell my home and an learning the heavy limitations of leasing if you are forced to sell...I would never lease anyway since buying at 100+% production makes so much sense.

Great company Todd Bingham was amazing with tons of knownledge and expertice. I would highly recommend this company to anyone, they stand behind their work.

9/25/16
Update:

We had our solar installed last week and we were very happy with how they installed the panels and especially for how the inverters and conduit were kept so discreet.  You cannot even tell that there is solar from looking at the front of the house because they managed to put the inverters behind the wall and they painted the conduit, ran it along the bottom of the house and up through a roof tile on the other side of the roof peak.  So there is no ugly conduit jutting out around the roofline.  We appreciate them following through on this which was our concern.  The inverters are just barely below the wall line, so we'll see if they are still hidden when we have the inverter covers put on.  Also, we have to wait for APS to set us up to actually begin using solar, so we could have to wait for a while. I'm not sure that Sun Valley could even do anything about this, though.

9/20/16
After a lot of deliberation about whether to put solar on our home, we decided to talk with Sun Valley Solar Solutions.  We largely chose them because they seem to be less salesy and more technical.  We stopped by one day when we were in the area and talked with Bobby.  He gave us some great information and suggestions based on our desires and usage.  He was very patient with our many question.  The quote that was given was also priced very well given that we were getting a very good product.  We appreciated his diligence in carrying the process forward when we would get busy on our end.  He continued to check in, not pestering, just enough to move to the next step.  

Everyone has had a lot of patience with our particular concerns.  Rahel has kept us in the loop on the progress and helped move things forward towards installation.  Also, In response to our questions about the appearance from the front of the home, the designer, Brian, came up with a way to make the conduit and inverters less noticeable, which we really appreciated!

Overall, we have been very happy with our experience with Sun Valley Solar Solutions and are excited to now be able to experience the benefits of solar!

They are scheduled to install our solar panels tomorrow and Thursday.  We will update our review as the project progresses!

After spending countless hours researching different solar firms, speaking to sales people, trying to differentiate between a purchase and a lease, the ratings of different panels, and the capabilities of different inverters, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon Sun Valley Solar Solutions.  This was the only company I spoke to who didn't try to sell me anything...they just listened to my questions and gave me well-thought out, easy to understand answers.  When Bobby came to our house to evaluate our needs and propose a system layout, he wasn't low pressure.  He was NO pressure, which we really appreciated.  He even told us that if it didn't make sense to install solar in our situation, they wouldn't sell us a system.  Plain and simple.

Well it turns out solar was right for us because I haven't had an electric bill over $30 since installing our system and we're currently offsetting about 95% of our electricity usage with solar.  The installation was flawless, timely, and well communicated.  The installers were very professional and the entire system looks fantastic.  They even painted the conduit to match the house so you can't even see it!  Our system went on-line earlier than expected and we started reaping the benefits immediately.  Our house is entirely electric, so the solar saves us a ton of money every month.

I would recommend Sun Valley Solar Solutions without hesitation.  In fact, I have already done so to one of my neighbors and their system is going to be installed this spring.

Although solar technology has been around for awhile - quality companies with integrity, experience and large scope of knowledge are hard to come by - until you meet with Sun Valley Solar! They work with APS and SRP - very professional yet friendly reps who work with what your long term goals are - not just to sell you on the largest system. They have a variety of programs and are just overall an absolute pleasure to deal with - Cole in particular is fantastic! Wouldnt recommend any other company!

Solar can be kind of confusing for the average homeowner. We knew we wanted solar but weren't sure how the process would work. From the initial "sales" consultation (which was more of an informational meeting) to the installation phase, we have been very impressed. SVSS are so professional and know what they are doing. They have dedicated staff to get you through each phase (there are many phases). Our installation is now complete and we look forward to watching our solar go to work!

Just completed a 7KW install at our new home.  Mark Greene at SVS could not have been any more professional, helpful and responsive.  I had called 5 different solar companies at the start of my search and SVS impressed me with the promptness of getting back to me and explaining how solar works here in Salt River service area.  Their price was very competitive and worked with me to get non-China made equipment (important to me).  THe install went very well and the system was running quickly.  Am very pleased.

This is a correction to my prior review.  I was contacted by them and they helped me pay for the unit from what I had received back in tax returns.  The amnount owed is still the same but they were very helpful and helped me get it to an affordable range.  Thanks guys!

The work up to explain what they could do for me and the process went really well. Went over appliances installed and the power demand of a very full house. Day of install was planned and the day of installed happened. Then a final review of appliances caught the design teams lead and they determined they underestimated the demand of my tankless hotwater tank and the only solution was basically double my panels or install a hybrid water tank as primary and make my tankless secondary. Neither option would work and they tried to find a solution, even offered to pay for they hybrid and install and split the cost of the shed that would store the hybrid. The conclusion was to cancel commissioning of panels and remove system. They talked about a no later the two week removal time but now it has been over a month and not word since the a couple of days after commissioning was cancelled. They had five stars but no scheduled follow up and not removal of panels now has me concerned. Again would recommend but make sure they really understand what appliacnce you have and if you have a tankless water heater you will not be able go solar unless you understand will not break even and your bills will be higher between you solar bill and electric bill.

Kelly O'Brien is one of the most knowledgeable persons I've talked to during my solar system/installer selection process.  She really wants to make sure their offer fulfills my needs for solar.  This is a good reflection of the company she works for, having the best customer service in their business model.  It appears SVSS can install any custom systems I wanted them to, but Kelly gave her honest advice on the pros and cons on the equipment and offered what would be best for me.  I have done a lot of research on solar panels, inverters, mount systems, and their warranty to know that those are real facts she gave, not just some sales tactics to get me buy in to something that benefits them the most (which unfortunately happened to a few other companies I talked during the process.)

Just had my install done and they have been transparent through the whole process.  I would highly recommend them if you are looking to "buy" solar panels rather then rent like the other big names do.

I was relieved to find Sun Valley Solar Solutions. Solar energy is wonderful but the solar industry is volatile.  I know this because I provide communication consulting services to a renewable energy company in Australia.   Companies in this industry come and go, and with a 25+-year investment, the business behind the system is as important as the quality of components.  I reviewed 5 companies, knowing I would have to suffer through interviews with sales reps who knew next to nothing about the products they were pushing, but who felt saying "solar saves money" was enough to clinch the deal.  Not so at Sun Valley Solar.  AJ Saferstein answered my questions honestly, with no hard-sell hype.  He honed in on our goals, then recommended a system to fit our needs.  We had to have a portion of our roof replaced before the install, and Sun Valley Solar worked seamlessly with  Cardinal Roofing, our vendor of choice.  The solar install itself was performed by a team of highly professional technicians who left the work site spotless each day, and finished the install without noisy disruption to myself or my gated community neighbors.  Rachel Anderson, Project Manager, was incredibly responsive.  Emails or phone calls were answered the same day and any needed action was carried out quickly and professionally.

Because I believe in using only highest quality components, we went with Sunpower panels and an SMA inverter, so cost was higher than it might have been, but not in my opinion, unduly inflated to the company's advantage - another measure of trust.

Our reason for going solar was driven by a commitment to environmentalism as much as it was by a desire to avoid the ever-increasing cost of standard electricity.  With Sun Valley Solar, we felt we had achieved both financial and environmental goals. If you choose this ethical and highly professional renewable energy company, you'll be glad you did.

My neighbor had panels installed before New Year's Eve.  My install happened on Feb 10.  My system was turned on on Mar 9, and started making power.  My neighbor still doesn't have a meter, so obviously his is not yet turned on.  I don't know what company he used, but it's Mar 26, and I've made over a MWhr and he hasn't made any.  

SVSS did this install about as fast as it could have been done, I think, and I have absolutely ZERO complaints.  Every time I call, I get a response, from a person who handles my question right then, and more than adequately.  I've had plenty of contact, and have NEVER been disappointed.

Tara was my sales rep, and is, BY FAR, the best sales rep I've ever dealt with for ANYTHING.  She made it clear during the initial consult that, if a system wouldn't be right, she wouldn't sell it to me.  She also made it clear, that if I needed anything dealing with the solar, I could call her, regardless of the issue, and she was right.  After reading an article in the AZ Republic about 90 day commissioning times, I was very worried I wouldn't get turned on until May.  I took my concern to Tara, and she didn't just brush it aside; I received an extensive email about how my install had gone, how it was projected to finish, how different installers have different issues, and how some of the statements in the article meant something different than I was thinking.  The point is, I'd already contracted for a system, and it was being installed; she had the money, and she could easily have ignored my concerns.  But her ideas about what a customer should get won't let her do that.  I was so impressed.

We've been in the market for solar panels for a bit and have been doing some research prior to meeting with sun valley. We decided to go with a couple of bids and then decide what we wanted to do. Tara was amazing as the sales lady and was very informative and helped us understand her bid in addition to the competitors bid helping us see pro and cons of both! We loved that she wasn't pushy or bad mouthing others and truly wanted to see us understand and get what fit our families needs. Once we signed the contract, we were put in touch with Brenda who was amazing as well. Her communication throughout the process was exceptional. The installation crew was extremely punctual, cleaned up and were friendly. They then send another crew out for the automation part and he again was very friendly. Finally, Brenda made sure we were happy and had everything we needed and then Tara comes back to go over the system and explain it all. Just a wonderful personal touch from the beginning to end and very pleased with them. Highly recommend them for your solar needs!

I recently had Sun Valley Solar design and install a rooftop solar system for our home in Arizona. From start to finish they did an excellent professional job and we are very happy with our system. It produces the kWh the engineer said it would, is very easy to use and can be monitored from my phone. I recommend Sun Valley Solar Solutions for anyone considering a solar system. Customer satisfaction is a high priority for them and they keep you fully informed every step of the way. They work well with APS and take care of all the application details so you don't have to.

I would not recommend this solar company. Initially we liked the salesman and had a great experience. We were excited to work with them as they seemed very professional and, while more expensive than another company we received a quote from, they seemed more trustworthy. Our solar took 6 months to turn on when we were told 6-10 weeks. We did not have good communication from the company regarding the delay. We asked for updates and were still not receiving them. They promised to change and would write an update every other business day and that still did not happen! All in all, we were very disappointed with the process. The only bright side is the installation crew was prompt and did a good job. I would not choose this company again.

I waited for a year to write this review because you just never know if your experience from the beginning will continue.  But with Sun Valley Solar, it's been great from beginning to now.  I got multiple quotes and they were the best and were also recommended by SRP (there are a surprising few number of the many solar companies in Arizona that are actually recommended by the utility companies).  Mark Greene was my guy and he was excellent.  Straight shooter and knows his stuff.  SRP changed their generation deal and it's a little complicated, but he helped me understand it.  And to be honest, if you play the game right, I truly think the new pricing plan might be better than the old one.  The goal now is no longer to sell back a ton of power to the grid so you don't have to buy an expensive system to make this work for you.  As long as you can manage your demand, that's the name of the game.  We were able to set our demand to a 4 each month and had no problems staying under that all summer long:)  We have it around a 2.5-3 in the winter months without any complaints.  I just got my last bill for my first 12 months with the system and my payback after taking into account the state and federal tax credits is 5 years, 1 month.  Considering the systems will last more than 30 years, this might be one of the best investments I've ever made.  And they give you a printout of what you should expect from your system - a high, mid and low generation estimate based on each month.  My system generated OVER the high estimate 11 out of 12 months and the other month missed the high estimate by only a handful of kwh!  I've heard some companies over promise and under deliver when it comes to estimates, but that was definitely not the case in my situation.  If you are considering working with these guys and have any additional questions that you'd like answered from a real customer, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected].  Thanks Sun Valley for making the entire process go smooth!

We are a vendor/supplier to Sun Valley Solar Solar Solutions.  Not only do they have great workmanship but they have great payment history.  Definitely someone who should talk to about installing your solar system.

Mark G was scrupulously honest and helpful during the sale. The installation went very smoothly, with everything done as agreed. The financing worked out exactly the way it had been represented. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again if I buy another house in Phoenix, and think everyone should give them a call.