Blue Pacific Solar Products, Inc.

This company is a great solar company. My sales tech answered all questions and was a great help

I decided to try a grid tied Do-it-yourself (DIY) solar install on Oahu. After about three months of research I purchased a 30 panel system. I made the order in April 2014 and by September 2014 the Net Metering agreement was completed. It took about 1 month of weekend work to install the system. Blue Pacific did a great job, answering all my questions throughout the process. The prints provided went through the building and planning department without any issues. Final cost was about half the price as average bid price provided by solar companies. I highly recommend giving them a call if you are considering solar.

Only problem was some missing components in the package but resolved and shipped next day would have been a ten otherwise. Satisfied with customer service .

Excellent service both on technical side and delivery side. They are very helpful in designing a system. I just fired up and it works perfectly! Will buy two more from them for other jobs.

I am a homeowner who installed rooftop solar on my house. Blue Pacific Solar provided me with excellent service from the beginning to the end of my project. Any time I had questions or issues, [redacted] quickly and adequately addressed them.
For the do-it-yourselfer, I highly recommend purchasing the permitting package. Without it, my system (which produces all of the electricity I use) would still just be a good idea. Once my permit was approved, the rest of the project was just physical labor (but I don't want to make it sound easy - you need to be comfortable working with electricity and rooftops to succeed).
The cost of my system was far less than half of what it would cost to have a solar company install it for me. I expect the system to pay for itself in four or five years.
Thanks [redacted] and Blue Pacific!

The service and customer support was very prompt and thorough.

I ordered a 10.6 KW solar kit from them and they helped me all the way. I installed it myself and the system is working just as designed. Turnaround on the shipping was just as stated. They not only met, but exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend Blue Pacific Solar!

Jim V.

The customer service before and after the sale was outstanding! All issues were resolved quickly and in a very positive manner. I strongly recommend Blue Pacific Solar for the "do it your self" homeowner.

Review: Blue Pacific advertises grid-tie solar power kits in terms of Kit Size (Watts STC) and Price Per Watt. I purchased item #EEC-1500, which is advertised at 1500W. The kit was stated to include (6) 250W panels and (6) microinverters. Please refer to the link below.http://www.bluepacificsolar.com/home-solar/enphase-1500w-solar-kit.htmlWhi...⇄ submitting some documentation to my utility company after installation, I learned that the inverters included with these kit limit each panel to 225W peak/ 215W continuous power. This means that the kit advertised at 1500W cannot produce more than 1350W under any circumstances. Ordinarily a consumer may not have a need to review the datasheet for a component within a turnkey kit, especially before purchase.Blue Pacific offers inverters that would make these kits capable of their advertised ratings, but they are advertised as an upgrade for "Even More Power" at additional cost.An upgrade from 250 to 255W panels for "More Power" is also available, separately from the upgraded inverters. Without the inverter upgrade, the upgraded panels would still be limited to a maximum of 225W each.I have sent the information above to Blue Pacific Solar and proposed that they send me the inverters that would make my kit capable of the advertised rating, and a shipping label to return the ones that came with my kit.Blue Pacific pointed out this statement on their website: "Depending on the module brand selected and the installation location, an M215 microinverter can clip power output when paired with a module with an output rating above 250W." However, my kit is stated to include 250W panels and not panels "above 250W". Also, this statement is placed below the table for "Solar World/Enphase" kits, not the "Canadian Solar/Enphase" kits as I purchased. I and other consumers could reasonably conclude that the statement does not apply to the "EEC" kits. Please see the link below.http://www.bluepacificsolar.com/solar-kits.htmlE-mail string available if needed.Desired Settlement: * Send (6) M250 microinverters and a shipping label to return the M215s that came with my kit, at no additional cost.* One or more of the following: - Update website with revised "Kit Size STC" and "Price Per Watt" values for all affected kits - Revise kits to include components that make them capable of their advertised ratings - Add a single clear & concise statement about component limitations on kit ratings, which must be acknowledged (e.g. check box) before completing the purchase

Business

Response:

Thank you for your inquiry. We appreciate it when customers express their concern or dissatisfaction with our product offering. We apologize for the misunderstanding and are sorry the customer did not understand the information offered throughout the process designed to help prevent just such a misunderstanding.

(1) To the first part of the customers concern about the "price per watt"; the first page the customer would have had to go down to select the kit he did was the "Grid-tie kits" page. At the top of each category of each of the 6 separate systems under "Kit Size STC*", there is an asterisk which commonly is used to direct the reader to near the bottom of the page to define what "STC" means. Additionally, the definition of "STC" is also at the "Kit Description" and numerous other locations throughout the site. The "STC" or Standard Test Conditions also sometimes referred to the "Name Plate Rating" is universally accepting around the world as the standard for measuring solar panel sizing by manufactures, code authorities, consumers and utility companies. Solar panel manufactures have long used this test standard which is 1,000 watts per square meter solar irradiance, 1.5 Air Mass and a 25 degrees C. cell temperature.

The customer is incorrect in his assertion that a 250 or 250 watt panel produces 225 watts which we explain in detail at a number of locations throughout our site. Solar panel outputs is affected by many factors the least of which is temperature. On very cold clear days a 250 watt STC nameplate rated panel can produce more than 250 watts. The information is outlined in further detail at the bottom of our Solar Panel page under Tips: "Panel Performance, *STC VS PTC; Real World" & "Panel Performance, How Irradiance (Amount of Sun) and Temperature Affect Real World Output".

(2) Regarding the output of the Enphase M215 micro inverter, we clearly state at the bottom of the Enphase Kit protion of the Grid-tie Kits page with a large blue notice emblem" CAUTION PANEL CLIPPING: Check what you are buying when you compare packages. Depending on the module brand slected and installation location, an M215 microinverter can clip power output when paired with a module with an output rating above 250W. Such clipping loss can be significant when installing modules in the 250W - 270W output range. These SolarWorld 270 watt panel kits are matched with the Enphase M250 Microinverter."

The information on "Panel Clipping" is also clearly on the Enphase M215 micro inverter detail page which can be found here by following this link http://www.bluepacificsolar.com/inverters/enphase-m215-60-2ll-s22-ig.html. Additionally, the reason we put the inverter "Data Sheet" under the "Documents" tab on the detail page where the customer had to place the order is to make the inverter specific AC output available. Reading the readily available data sheets on the products being purchased is a minimum responsibility customers have per our terms and conditions (See #3 below) which the customer agreed to abide by at the time of purchase. Additionally, if the customer shopped different inverters, on the SolarEdge detail pages there is even a video that also addresses the commonly known fact that Enphase micro inverters clip power.

Having missed all of those red flags and warnings, there is an option to "Upgrade" to the M250 micro inverter on the detail page below "What's on the Truck" that the customer had to be on to buy which clearly states"Arnh! Even more Power? Upgrade to the New Enphase M250 Microinverter. The Enphase M250 Micro inverter delivers increased energy harvest over the traditional Enphase M215." The customer clearly saw the option to upgrade at the time of purchase and elected not to accept the upgrade.

The customer is incorrect in his persistent assertion and misunderstanding that upgrading to the Enphase M250 inverter will allow the 250 or 250 watt solar panel to operate at its "STC" rating since the rating is based off factory conditions and not real world condition as stated throughout the site.

(3) At time of purchase, the customer agreed to accept our "Terms and Conditions of Sale"

http://www.bluepacificsolar.com/shipping-solar.html#Purchase Offer. The terms of the sale clearly state in the first paragraph "Our relationship in the sale of any equipment or material is that of a material suplier with limited knowledge of actual site conditions or application. It is the sole responsibility of the Buyer to verify that the listed components on this order will work for the actual installation conditions, local AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction (Code Officials)) and any applicable safety codes."

We approach each customers concerns with a sense of fairness from both parties. We have gone out of our way on our web site and technical support to help our customers become informed customers which is always best for the customer and the company.

However in this case there were ample opportunities for the customer to have a better understanding of the performance of the products he was purchasing and yet he passed each opportunity including the most fundamental critical one that is to read the data page (PDF) on the M215 inverter under OUTPUT DATA (AC); Rated (continuous) output power 215 W.

Because of the multiple opportunities outlined above to understand what system will and will not do, it would not be fair for us to supply the customer free of charge something he passed up at the time of purchase so we are declining the customer's settlement offer. However, in the interest of good will, we would sell the customer 6 Enphase M250 micro inverters at $178.68 (EA) and waive the $148.00 freight costs.

Business

Response:

Thank you for your response to our settlement offer and we are sorry that you did not find our explanation satisfactory. We stand by the details of our response. Since the customer did not choose the option to upgrade the inverters at the time of purchase, ignoring all the information available at the time of purchase regarding the performance of systems designed to avoid just such an misunderstanding, we stand by our original response and settlement offer.

Consumer

Response:

I stand by my assertions that upgrades should not be required to make a kit capable of its advertised rating, that the clipping statement is not applicable to kit #EEC-1500.

A kit advertised with a capability of producing 1350W maximum should not be advertised at 1500W. Gently stated, it creates opportunity for misunderstanding. Simply stated, it is misleading. Frankly stated, it is dishonest.

Simply advertising the kit with its actual maximum capability of 1350W, or including the components required to make it capable of 1500W, would eliminate any potential misunderstanding.

At this point, I would welcome Revdex.com to review the statements we have each provided and decide on the validity of Blue Pacific's advertised rating for kit #EEC-1500. I will be happy to assist with any questions from the consumer end.

Thank you for your time.