PES Solar Inc. review

"DON'T GO THERE. They lie over and over again. We've had our system for a year, and this is the first billing cycle where it produced more kWH than we used. Since PES installed the system 11 months ago, we have been paying $59.00 more each month. Based on how we've used it in the past, the numbers they gave us about how much we could save are completely made up. The salesperson also told us that the Federal Government would send us a check to help pay for it, but that was a lie. In a few months, the terms of the note will change, and in the best case, we'll be paying $116 more each month than we were before PES got us. Don't listen to anything they say. When we told them that the system wasn't working well, they sent us a rude email saying, "That's not something we can fix." We are seniors on a fixed income, and based on what they told us, we thought this would save us money and help the environment at the same time. Instead, they told us what they thought we wanted to hear, and now we'll have to pay on this loan until we die. Just DON'T DO IT and stay away from this business. Documentation to support my claims is available upon request. UPDATE: After dealing with the "new" head of customer service for a few days and sending PES 19 Duke Energy bills to back up our claims, Alex Kennard, who claims to be General Manager, "generously" offered to give us two free extra panels if we bought a third for $2200. The first set-up included 37 panels. 37 times $2200 is $81,400, which is a lot more than we paid for the whole system, so Mr. Kennard's offer to "give" us something for free was really just an attempt to scam us out of more money." - Lewis K.

"Stay away from PES SOLAR and PRS Roofing if you want to go solar. We hired PES Solar to put in solar panels and a generator as a backup. We told our sales rep that we wanted our metal roof to be cleaned, coated, and sealed before it was put up. He said the owners of PES also own PRS, a roofing company and they could handle the entire project from start to finish. In short, PRS did a terrible job on the roof and made an even bigger mess in the process. The sealant looks uneven and VERY MESSY. They spilled a couple of gallons in my gutters and got roof sealer on my freshly painted wall. The solar panels were put on top of the messy sealant in the wrong way. It took a while, but the solar panels finally passed inspection by the county. I wrote a few bad reviews, and the owner told me that if I took them down, they would add four more panels to make everything square and help cover some of the bad sealant work. As a sign of "good faith," I took down the reviews about PES. Even though it's been more than 6 weeks, I'm still in the same place with a project that isn't done. They told the company that gave them the money that the job was done. With Duke, I'm still looking at a bad sealant, panels that aren't even, and no net meter. So I have an electric bill AND a solar bill for a project that isn't finished! Not to mention all the promises that weren't kept and appointments that were missed when we took time off work to be here. I could keep going on about property damage and mistakes, but since PES doesn't want to fix anything, I'll save the rest for court." - Milton F.

"Since a month ago, they have been assuring me that my permit has been submitted to the city of P Pines to be authorized. When I called the city to find out what was going on, I was taken aback to learn that they had not received any communication from PES Solar. When I called them, they informed me that they were having issues with the company that they hire. But their sales rep Claude told me that they do everything themselves, which means that they have been lying to me about how the solar panels are doing for the past month. This is because Claude told me that they do everything themselves." - Glen L.

"Ten weeks have passed since the solar panels and backup battery were installed in the building. During that time, I was only able to use the system for a total of three weeks, and it has been out of commission for the past two weeks. The controller is broken, but PES is not moving quickly enough to fix the issue in spite of the urgency with which it should be addressed. Because I paid cash for the installation, I should be reaping the benefits of my investment; however, I find myself annoyed and remorseful that I went with this particular company. I call each and every day, but I always get a different answer." - Harvey N.

"Blake, the salesman, was great, but everything else has been terrible. The installation didn't take too long, and the techs did a great job. Now it's time for the city checks... 6 tries didn't work! Part of the problem was with the inspectors. I had to talk to the city to find out what was going on, and then I told PES what I had learned. After that, things started moving again. Now comes the paperwork for hooking up to the power company. They never got it, so I had to step in again to get it to them. The application was sent to me by email, and I filled it out and sent it back to PES within an hour. After several emails and phone calls, I never heard back. When I called the utility company, they told me that PES had not sent over the rest of the paperwork that was needed. I called them again, and they said they would call me back after sending it. I've been home for hours and still haven't heard back. I've taken time off of work and made a lot of phone calls to try to finish this project, and I'm very frustrated right now. The only good thing about all the failed inspections was that the inspector found out that the whole system was wired wrong and wouldn't have worked anyway. Also, the installers put an outside disconnect inside and made a big mess of the wall, which needed to be fixed. PES paid for that, but I still have this disconnect box in my hallway that has a big gap around it that I will need to fix up to make it look better. My biggest problem is how PES and I talk to each other. I shouldn't have to call them and beg for progress reports. I'm the customer, and I just paid a lot of money for this. Who's paying me for the work I did for them? Considering how good you are at what you do, why don't you know how the paperwork and processes work in each town? I would think that someone would call that town and utility ahead of time to find out what they need. If I can't get this up and running in the next couple of weeks, I'll ask them to take it all away and have a company that wants to keep my business do it." - Antonio B.