California Solar Systems Inc

Hello ***, I do accept the response, and you can pull the complaintAt this point I'm satisfied with what OZ and I went over. Thanks, *** ***

RevDex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ***, and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me. I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved
Regards,
*** ***

Our Director of Operations met with Mr*** and went over his concerns regarding his system. As Mr***
previously mentioned and per our original analysis Mr*** is using significantly more electricity then he was before his solar installationHowever, even though Mr*** 's electricity usage went up his overall electricity bill did not because the solar generated power offset the increase in usageThis allowed Mr*** to still save over $500 versus what he would have paid had he not been a customer of California Solar SystemsAfter this last meeting and explanation to Mr***, he does not want to change his system size because once his son moves back out then his electricity usage will decrease to it's previous numbers, therefore he will not need the extra solar productionAs a result of the explanation that we provided Mr*** wanted to remove his review, but per Revdex.com guidelines he cannot

In response to case #***We
value all feedback and appreciate the chance to respondFor our customers’ solar
systems we use a monitoring program that records the electricity generation of
all of the panelsWith the monitoring system we
can troubleshoot a system’s
performance remotely and because we determined everything was functioning
properly a technician was not required to go onsiteAfter running multiple
analyses for this customer, we found that the system continues to work per
their contract and is saving them moneyAs part of our analyses we compared
current electricity usage to the baseline usage from when we designed their
solar system and identified that this customer is currently using almost 20%
more electricityThey continue to save money using solar power, but they have
increased the amount of electricity that they are buying from their local
utility due to their higher power consumption
The solar system is connected to
the grid correctly as stated in the attached copy of the Permission To Operate
(PTO) document from Southern California Edison (SCE)This document is proof
that the system is connected and is working properly. Unfortunately, SCE
has a very strict policy and will not let us work with them on behalf of our
customersWe have tried to work with them before but they will only work with
the customer(s) that is (are) currently on the SCE account. We have been
previously notified by SCE that this is their legal stance and is not something
that they will compromise on whatsoever
Over 99% of the homes we have
installed on do not have bird nesting issues, so this is why the consultant
would have made that statement to the customerEven so, we have installed a
few “bird barriers” around the solar systems when customers have notified us
prior to the installation of a pre-existing bird issueIt is unfortunate that
they are now having this problem and we were not aware of any bird nesting issues
for this customer, but we would like to extend the offer to install a bird
barrier around their solar system free of charge
In summary we have provided the
customer with a thorough analysis, which revealed that the system is producing
per their contract and is saving them money even though their usage consumption
has increased after their solar installationWe have documented proof that
their system is connected and is working properly from SCEUnfortunately, if
the customer still feels that SCE is not crediting them properly we have no
legal way of working with SCE on behalf of the customer on this matterLastly,
we will install a bird barrier at their convenience with no cost to them
Please let me know if you need clarification on anything
Thank you,
*** ***

Hi ***,
Thanks again for your help and sorry for the delay I fine tuned the spreadsheet and went into more detail
with the numbers without releasing the proprietary informationHere is our responseWe have run a thorough analysis of this customer’s system and
their rate, which is attachedIncluded in the spreadsheet is ***'s current
rates for this customer's area, also included is the customer's past usage as
well as their solar productionIf you calculate the current *** tier rates for
this customer's area with their current usage (solar production plus
leftover *** usage) they would have paid approximately $7,for the
monthsWith the lower solar rate that they have locked into they actually paid
approximately $6,for these months, which is a savings of
over 22% on their utility billWe try to simplify solar,
but we are aware that sometimes it is still confusing and hard
to understandWe are contractually obligated to show a savings for any
customer that we sign up for a solar PPASo, this customer would not have been
eligible for the PPA program if they were not getting a cheaper source of
electricity than what they previously hadThe finance company has checks and
balances in place to ensure that the customers are actually saving money on
their electricity bill or they will not fund the system installation
Regarding the accusations of elderly abuse, we specifically
request that all family members who are relevant to a decision like this are
present at our sales appointmentsBased on the fact that the complainant was
at the sales appointment to ask questions regarding rates, tax credits and
process we feel like our protocols were followed and there was ample
opportunity to review our solar solution.
As to the issues that came up in the sale of the home, we cannot
address these specifically since this could simply be a matter of real estate
agents not understanding the solar contract, or a negotiating tactic from the
buyerHowever, studies have shown that not only can solar customers sell their homes with a lower electricity cost, homes with solar tend to sell faster
and for more money than homes without

The sale happened Jan 31st, and they rejected it March 7th, Sorry I wasn't clear

We live in Huntington Beach, CA and decided to go solar about months ago After much research, we went with California Solar Systems, and have been extremely happy with our decisionFrom our initial meeting with our solar rep, ***, to the site survey with the engineers, and through the final installation of our system, the process was smooth and easyCalifornia Solar Systems exceeded our expectations and went out of their way to make the entire process very professional and stress free
After *** thoroughly explained our various solar options, we decided to go with their "Service Option", which required $out of pocket cost for the entire system, and the ability to purchase drastically reduced electricity that's being generated from our own roof spaceThis option was very different from the other "leasing" options that we had previously looked into with other companies
With the "Service Program" that California Solar Systems offers, we are simply using solar power as our utility service, and saving a ton of money without having to make any type of financial investmentOur monthly electricity bills have been cut in half by going solar, and we are so thrilled with this win/win situation for us and, most importantly, the environment
Thank you California Solar Systems!

This case has been resolved with the customer.Thank you

We have a contract with a list of the equipment that was installed for this customer and was signed by the customer, not the husband. A battery backup is not listed on the contract that he signed and was not even an available product at that time for any solar company. We sent a third-party out to...

investigate the vents and they found other issues with the roof as well that were not from the solar system. These issues were either caused by another contractor or the homeowner. As a good faith gesture, we had the third-party company repair that damage also and we paid for these repairs not the customer. When they were done with all of the work, we then verified with the customer that he was satisfied and he said that he was. Amid all of this the rep had meetings with the customer as well regarding his concerns and the last time he met with him the customer had a firearm on the table. This unfortunately poses a major safety issue for us now in regard to this customer. We have sent people out multiple times to address his concerns and once we addressed all of his concerns he said that he was satisfied, so this complaint is a bit unexpected.Tell us why here...

Upon receiving the initial communication that the customer’s true up bill was “too high”, we checked the customer’s monitoring account and noticed an issue. When we then visited the home we found that 12 of the 22 panels were not producing energy due to a disconnect on the roof that was turned off....

After an in depth analysis we concluded that their issue turned out to be a combination of the disconnect being turned off, along with an increase in the electricity usage in their home. As is our process, once a system is installed the monitoring account is checked to verify that all of the panels are producing electricity. At the time of their installation all panels were on and registering in our solar monitoring online portal. When our installers left the job site the disconnect was left on, which is also our process.  Additionally, we were not notified by the customer that something was not working properly with the system for over 6 months. The [redacted] household did have an AC system installed shortly after their solar installation, so it is possible that the disconnect was not turned back on afterwards. This is our belief because we have verified that the system was on and working properly after their installation. Per their contract we designed their solar system to produce 9,929 kWh annually, this was agreed to by the customer based on the amount of electricity they historically used.  We have also estimated the amount of electricity that would have been produced by the 12 panels that were turned off during this time period to be 2,700kWh.  The customer pays about $.20/kwh on average, so if we take that into account, the customer lost $540 due to lack of production of their panels during the time period in question when the disconnect was turned off.  Anything above and beyond that on their SDG&E bill for electricity was additional electricity used in the home.  Soon after the installation the customer added a downstairs office and air conditioning, both of which can increase their electricity usage in the home.  When we analyzed their most recent usage they are using 65.5% more electricity than the system was designed to produce. This is the first time that we have experienced this issue in the thousands of installations that we have completed across all of California. Our true goal is to make sure that all of our customers are very happy with their solar systems, therefore, we have already changed our processes significantly to eliminate this from happening in the future. We do not believe California Solar Systems to be at fault, but in an effort of good faith we had already given this customer $300 to help with their electric bill charge and in order to “keep the faith” we will cover the missing production cost of $540.

I talked to a man from california solar systems all he did was explain the tax law he dident respond to the statment made by his salesman that I would get 6000.00 on my taxes at the end of the year also he dident have much to say about the statement about my electric bill either I was told my bill would almost be eleaveated with the panels and as far as the class action law suit I couldent find anything about solar and modesto irrigation

The financing companies that
we work with do not file a lien on any properties, it is...

a temporary UCC-1
financing statement. Definition of UCC-1 filing – “A UCC-1 financing statement (an abbreviation for Uniform Commercial Code-1) is a legal form that a creditor files to give notice that it has or may
have an interest in the personal property of a debtor.” (Wikipedia - [redacted]). This temporary UCC-1 filing is easily
and quickly removed and reinstated in the event any customers refinance or sell
their homes during the PPA contract term. On their specific contract it
requires the customer to notify the financing company 30 to 90 days prior to
the close of escrow on their home. They also provide a separate phone line just for
home sales & refinancing – [redacted] or they can also be contacted via
email - [redacted]. Once notified, the finance company will
release the UCC-1 financial statement and transfer the contract to the new
homeowners. This portion of their dispute should not be directed to California
Solar Systems, but to Clean Power Finance or Kilowatt Financial, as those are
the entities that hold the PPA contract for this solar system. With
all of the solar systems installed in the past years, there have been many
homes sold and purchased that have solar systems installed using a PPA. We
cannot speak to the reasons regarding their home not selling as this may be due
to an unreasonable asking price, or a number of other causes. Many of our past
customers utilize the benefit of cheaper electricity rates as a sales benefit
when marketing their homes.  As
a part of our confirmation process we specifically request anyone, who is relevant
to a decision like this, attend the consultation. In this particular case the
daughter and her husband both participated in the consultations. The solar
industry often sells to customers who are on fixed incomes as there is a
benefit to them. Solar power is often the only alternative to reducing what was
previously an inflating cost of living for our customers. Understanding
kilowatts and other terminology may benefit some customers, but the end result
is that we simply demonstrate what their savings are on electricity rates going
forward utilizing power generated on their roof as opposed to purchased from
PG&E.

Final Response to Case
#[redacted].
We are glad we could oblige the
customer with the bird barrier and will schedule to install it at the case
resolution. Southern California Edison's bills unfortunately are confusing when it comes to how they show solar production credits for their customers. Which we have previously explained to the customer that SCE will only show the Net Credits on their bills,
it does not however show them what the solar system produces. As an example, if the solar system produces 1,000 kWh and the customer uses 600 kWh then their SCE bill will only show the Net Credits, which is 400 kWh, on their bill. We realize that this can
be confusing for some customers and have lobbied to SCE to change this, but
again we are not the customer and have no leverage in affecting any changes in
their processes. This is specifically why we provide an online account, through a third
party monitoring company, so that all of our customers can monitor their own solar
production. This is linked directly to their solar system and monitors their
system 24 hours a day. This data is also what we used for this customer’s
analysis which we then combined with their SCE kWh usage to get their current total usage, which is the only accurate way to calculate their total electricity usage. In our previous
analysis that we provided to the customer they showed an increase of 3,323 kWh
annually, this is a significant increase. As, we did not design their system for this much electricity usage
and we do not have any control over how much electricity the customer uses, any excessive
usage will inevitably put them back in the higher tiers.  I have included the current production from the monitoring system to show
that the system is producing above the guaranteed amount on the contract. See
attached “[redacted] Solar Production 11-19-13 to 11-18-14”, the customer can compare this to the amount on their contract for year 3. In summary, the system is
producing what we designed it to produce and the customer is using
more electricity, but paying a lower electricity rate. We would be glad to provide the customer with further
explanation of the Net Credits or Net Production confusion with their SCE bill if
they need more clarification. Also, as we said before we will install a bird
barrier at no cost to the customer.

We have been in contact with the customer and discovered that their tax consultant gave them incorrect information regarding the 30% tax credit, thus telling them that they would not be receiving it. We were able to explain the tax credit process and referred them to the IRS website to obtain the...

details and needed forms to take to their tax consultant. We have tried to follow up with them since we first spoke with them, but have been unable to reach them again within the allowed time frame to respond to their complaint. So, we will have to update this complaint again once we have been able to confirm that the customer is satisfied.

Hello,I have contacted the homeowner, [redacted] and will be working with her to resolve this issue with her. Myself or [redacted] will be responding to this case sometime next week. Please let me know if I need to do anything else regarding this case in the interim.Thank you![redacted]

Hello,I have contacted the homeowner, [redacted] and will be working with her to resolve this issue with her. Myself or [redacted] will be responding to this case sometime next week. Please let me know if I need to do anything else regarding this case in the interim.Thank...

you!
[redacted]

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
First, I am happy they offer to install a bird barrier for free.  The sooner that can happen the better.
Second, none of their analysis matches mine.  In fact, on average in reviewing electrical usage before and after the solar system was installed, the average usage per year has only varied about +/-10%, not an increased usage of 20% they claim.  Also, they have not addressed their original promise of our usage would never put us in the upper tier charges that SCE makes, especially in the summer months.  As their rate of services is closer to tier 3, we expected our average charges to SCE would not exceed tier 3. 
 They did make one thing clear in their analysis, we are charged each month, on average, and then SCE adds their actual charges for each month.  The NRE or credit that SCE offers is no where near what was estimated for us during the initial sales visit.  So we feel, no matter how bad SCE credits our solar generation - we on total are always paying more for energy than just to SCE before.  That is a breach of the contract and our primary reason to request the solar system be removed and our solar credit of $5000 to be refunded.
Regards,
[redacted]

I live in Montara California and chose to use California Solar Systems after evaluating a dozen Solar Companies. I chose them because:
1) they provided the most transparency regarding total cost to me and the installation process,
2) they provided me with the best lease saving me a lot of money,
3) they did not try to replace my roof shingles like [redacted] tried to do even though everyone has told me that my roof shingles were/are in great shape,
4) they were always prompt and kept me fully informed of the steps in the process,
5) and they were friendly and great people to interact with.
Finally, the system they installed has performed even better than they had projected. My highest monthly electric bill (My home is all electric) before solar was $650. After installation my highest bill has only been $125!!!
I highly recommend them.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.
Regards,
[redacted]

The financing companies that
we work with do not file a lien on...

any properties, it is a temporary UCC-1
financing statement. Definition of UCC-1 filing – “A UCC-1 financing statement (an abbreviation for Uniform Commercial Code-1) is a legal form that a creditor files to give notice that it has or may
have an interest in the personal property of a debtor.” (Wikipedia - [redacted]). This temporary UCC-1 filing is easily
and quickly removed and reinstated in the event any customers refinance or sell
their homes during the PPA contract term. On their specific contract it
requires the customer to notify the financing company 30 to 90 days prior to
the close of escrow on their home. They also provide a separate phone line just for
home sales & refinancing – [redacted] or they can also be contacted via
email - [redacted]. Once notified, the finance company will
release the UCC-1 financial statement and transfer the contract to the new
homeowners. This portion of their dispute should not be directed to California
Solar Systems, but to Clean Power Finance or Kilowatt Financial, as those are
the entities that hold the PPA contract for this solar system.
With
all of the solar systems installed in the past years, there have been many
homes sold and purchased that have solar systems installed using a PPA. We
cannot speak to the reasons regarding their home not selling as this may be due
to an unreasonable asking price, or a number of other causes. Many of our past
customers utilize the benefit of cheaper electricity rates as a sales benefit
when marketing their homes. 
 As
a part of our confirmation process we specifically request anyone, who is relevant
to a decision like this, attend the consultation. In this particular case the
daughter and her husband both participated in the consultations. The solar
industry often sells to customers who are on fixed incomes as there is a
benefit to them. Solar power is often the only alternative to reducing what was
previously an inflating cost of living for our customers. Understanding
kilowatts and other terminology may benefit some customers, but the end result
is that we simply demonstrate what their savings are on electricity rates going
forward utilizing power generated on their roof as opposed to purchased from
PG&E.