SunPower Systems
Reviews and Complaints

SunPower Residential Arrogance and dishonesty In April we replaced our 16-year-old solar array that was shaded by neighbor's trees with more efficient SunPower 370W panels. I read the advertising claims about the communications app and thought it would be useful for adjusting the time of use with our electric car and all-electric home. The new communication unit is PVS-6 replacing, according to the installer, *** Systems, the former poor PVS-5 unit. After a few months it was apparent that even the installer couldn't get useful data from the SunPower-modified Enphase inverters. I communicated with ***:SunPower is rebuilding our monitoring platform, which we originally built in ***. It has been a challenging update and I look forward to completing the project soon. SunPower is indeed releasing our residential battering in mid-2020. Monitoring is a critical piece of storage and therefore we are all working hard to solve this matter. Northern Pacific is visiting our engineering office this week and will be discussing some monitoring cases. ***, as always, thank you for your patience. *** Residential Manager: *** Coast In September we installed Tesla Powerwalls and with their communication system I could monitor the performance of our panels. On April 14 our power output suddenly dropped by 20%. And has never recovered. The power curve went from a bell-shaped curve with maximum output of about 6.5kW to a chopped top form with a maximum ever of 5.3kW. Four months have lapsed trying to get SunPower to address this loss of power. A Customer Ticket Case No. XXXXXXX was opened with *** Sibug as Manager. Three months elapsed with him not replying, even to the SunPower customer service reps when I'd call to learn the status. On July 14 he replied:Our Design Team and Engineering Team could not find any problem in the system. Both teams already checked for any possible errors or issues. One recommendation was to trim down the trees nearby, if not yet done. I'm sorry that our teams could not find any problem on your system. Let me know if you still have questions. Thanks!Contrary to this useless guess, the SunPower system was installed away from all shading. They seem to have not talked to the installer.Today, August 6. 2020, *** Systems is removing the SunPower-modified Enphase inverters and PVS-6 and installing un-corrupted Enphase inverters with Enphase communication. Through these four months SunPower has demonstrated arrogance and dishonesty as a company culture. The photovoltaics in their panels may be exemplary but their damaging the Enphase inverters for their private communication system is a disaster. *** Systems in the end seem to have fixed my system but why a reputable installer would market SunPower to a homeowner is a mystery. I imagine most homeowners assume their system is delivering the advertised power and, unless they have the Tesla software, are ignorant of SunPower's dishonesty.

If you have the opportunity to purchase your solar panels from any other company, I would strongly suggest you do. *** has been horrible to work with. They have awful customer service, you can never speak to a manager, your issue never gets resolved, and the app that they give you access to is a joke. We bought a brand-new home and purchased the solar panels which were already installed on the home. It is an 18 panel, 6.3kw system and we paid just under $30k for it. We reported a production problem with our new solar system on August 28 case #XXXXXXXX and *** unfortunately has not resolved our issue to this day. We have called on multiple occasions to try and get an update and we are told they are aware of the situation and will give us an update in *** days. When that *** days are up nobody follows up with you and when you try to contact them, they give you the same run around. We are aware of the situation and will be in touch with you in *** days. It is extremely frustrating. I have email and phone records from 8/28, 9/14, 9/15, 9/17, 9/21, 10/3 and our system is still not working. I have even emailed upper management and received no response. Do yourself a favor and do not buy solar panels from ***. They were very friendly during our orientation, but I guess since we own the system now, they don't care anymore. Before you buy from ***, you should know, the app they give you to monitor your system only allows you to see how many kW your system is producing. It will show you graphs on how much power was produced, how much was used and allow you to compare it to previous months. The app does not allow you to see the individual panels in your system. It does not give you the ability to see if all your panels are even powered on. The problem with that is that it does not alert you if there is a problem with your system. One or two of your panels could be down and yes, your system is still producing some energy but not as much as it should be. But you will not get a notification that there is a problem, so unless you are watching your app on a daily basis you may not notice something is wrong with your system. If your leasing your panels this may not be an issue for you because *** is responsible for maintaining your system but when you own your solar panels, it is your responsibility to monitor your system. However, *** does not give you the tools to do so. *** has a web-based site that will allow business owners (and local installers) to view their solar panel system however they do not offer it to home-owners. I have asked why but nobody has been able to give me a reason why. The web-based site allows you to view all the panels on the system to see if they are working correctly. Maybe I am being unreasonable but if you pay $30k for solar panels you should also be given the tools to monitor and maintain that system. To this day the production issue with my panels has not been resolved. Do yourself a favor and look for another company that does not walk away from their customers after they've spent $30k with them. You will save your self a lot of time on the phone.

So what I see a lot of written here is the initial interactions with a certain company. I will admit, when everything is running smoothly, they are very helpful and solutions are easy and quick. However, I am a few years in and leaving this review. Before purchasing solar in 2013, I did a lot of research into whether to buy or lease, the types of panels available, and their benefits. My step-daughter directed me to a reputable company. They convinced me to purchase their solar panels, highlighting all the perks. At the time, I believed I made the right choice. However, by 2021, I realized there were better options available, especially when considering the company's response to issues. I thought I had a solid warranty, but that confidence was shaken by recent events. I've had persistent problems with my inverter for over a month. The inverter displays a 'Disturbance AFCI' code and shuts off several times a day. This code indicates an electrical arc, prompting the system to shut down. The company has replaced diodes and wires, but the issues persist, and they ignore their own technicians' recommendations and online information pointing to the inverter as the culprit. They claim it's normal for the inverter to exceed 150 degrees and for the cooling fans to not operate during normal conditions. They only offer refurbished inverters as replacements because the original model is now obsolete. So, in less than 7 years, my inverter is outdated, with less than 3 years left on the warranty, and the best they can offer is a previously failed unit they claim to have fixed. Reports suggest that refurbished inverters last about 6 months on average. I have lost faith in my system's performance. After investing over $30,000 and expecting a 7-year payback period, my system failed before breaking even. Now, I wait endlessly, with no functioning solar unless I risk burns to reset the overheating panel. I've had to cancel a vacation due to this unreliable system. There's a risk of the inverter blowing out, which is a danger whether I'm home or away. In conclusion, while the initial purchase may be satisfying, the long-term quality and support have been disappointing. I'm still waiting for the company to follow through, but it hasn't happened yet. I'm sharing my experience to help others make an informed decision.

A bit about me: My name is [redacted] from a small town, an hour from a major city. As a disabled veteran on a budget, I look for ways to save money. I installed 42 solar panels to cut my electric bill. The average roof in my area gets about 4 hours of sunlight daily, and with each 250w panel, I expected significant savings. I began my solar journey in June with Infinity Solar. The salesperson was knowledgeable, and the system promised was efficient. However, after installation, my roof was damaged, and the company failed to honor their warranty. Despite promises, my electric bills didn't decrease, and the system had multiple failures. After years of issues and poor communication, the company filed for bankruptcy, leaving me with a faulty system and unfulfilled guarantees. I've stopped payments and am seeking recompense for the breach of contract and damages. My experience with this solar provider has been disheartening, and I advise others to avoid them.

Case Number N. *** Case Number N. *** Case Number N. *** Case Number N. *** We have had issues with the inverter for our solar panel for more than one year. We opened 4 cases and the service has been terrible and nothing was fixed. On 12/13/2022, I opened a case and I was able to get a technician on 02/06/20023 from ***. After an evaluation from SunPower, the company is saying the problem in the inverter needs to be replaced, however, SunPower does not want to give us any credit for their wrongdoing. According to them, it is not under warranty and it is our problem. If SunPower had decent services and did not close the cases until calls were returned to fix the issues, the inverter maybe was been in a repair condition. This is NOT acceptable. Now, I have a system that is useless due to the incompetence of SunPower.

I noticed my Solar system had *** lights with error messages and wasn't communicating for over 6 months. I finally got around to making the call to SunPower to troubleshoot. A technician ended up needing to be sent out after waiting weeks for him to arrive which resulted in needing a new inverter which was still under warranty. I was initially told they would order one and would call me back to reschedule the appointment within a few weeks and I heard nothing. Ive called at-least a half dozen times since then to obtain a status and each time I get told by the agent that theyll follow up with the manufacturer and that theres a supply shortage on the inverters. Meanwhile, my PG&E *** has been steadily increasing. Its unfair that weve invested sooo much money on this solution only to have it not work. With every day that goes by is more money out of my pocket. Help! Case#

We have a solar lease and our solar has been out since June 7th. I have extremely severe asthma and need medical equipment day and night as well as the a/c on constantly.I have contacted SunPower by email probably at least 20 times and have phoned probably 30 times and am left on hold an hour and a half each time. At one point, I got a hold of a person who sent me to a woman named *** who referred me to "escalations." The person in escalations, ***, tells me that even though they've had the part for weeks to repair my solar, I have to wait for someone to schedule to repair it. Nobody is contacting me to schedule it, nobody will give me the contact info for the person so that I can call them to schedule it, *** does not return calls or emails. I continue to try to get through to SunPower and they ignore all attempts at communication. In addition to leaving voice mails, and emails, I have left messages on their *** page, comments on their You Tube Channel, I have used their chat on their website, etc. I have literally exhausted all avenues. Please help!

I'm in a long-term Solar Panel lease agreement with SUNPOWER. SUNPOWER receives automatic payment from my checking account each month. I made and early payment on 03-03-2022 for the month of March 2022.On 03-15-2022 an overpayment was made by automatic withdrawal from my checking account copy attached. On 03-23-2023 as a result of the overpayment my bank agreed that payment had already been made on 03-03-2022 and returned the 03-15-2022 payment made to my account. Attached is a letter from my bank confirming that the payment was made in error to SunPower. I have contacted Sunpower on several occasions and they refused to resolve this matter for some strange and unknown reason. On 04-03-2022 I received a 30-day late payment invoice for the month of March 2022. The invoice indicated the last payment received was on 02-15-2022 copy attached. According to my account payment history indicates a payment was made on 03-03-2022 copy attached. In spite on the facts and evidence in supporting my claim SunPower continue to refuse to adjust the account status and remove the 30-day late payment from my account. I appreciate your help in resolving this matter.

My solar installation stopped producing power in April. I didn't notice this in the status app until June (I don't always check it every month). At that time SunPower said it was a known issue.First complaint: If they knew it was broken and they immediately knew the issues, why did they wait for me to call?They sent a tech who changed some parts. Now the system itself says it is generating power but not sending it back to grid. The SunPower monitoring says a component is having problems.They say that "a work order for a return visit has been sent to our *** We will work with them to schedule an appointment and continue to monitor the progress of this case until the issue is resolved". This was almost 2 months ago. They have stopped responding to email and their support phone line is a 30+ minute wait.My solar system, which cost tens of thousands of dollars is being held hostage. I can not get them to respond. It has been down ALL SUMMER (peak solar months) so my annual true-up power bill will be very large.The last response was 9/7 - 5 months AFTER it failed and more than a month after they failed to fix it the first time. No response since then (now 9/29), despite repeated emails from me.

On August 20,2022, a high-pressure water distribution main essentially exploded in front of my house. The water main shot a stream on water on my property for approximately *** addition to the enormous amount of water that was expelled, asphalt gravel and other debris from the hole in the street landed on ***, lawns (front yard and backyard), driveway, porch, and side yard. This included the solar panels on ***. On August 31, I had the original solar installer inspect my panels and he indicated about 10 to 12 were damaged. (He was unsure exactly how many were damaged because the panels were dirty.) On September 1, I had the solar panels cleaned and the roof cleared of the gravel and rocks. My solar installer then filed a claim on my behalf with SunPower. On September 22, I received an email from SunPower Customer Support stating an on-site inspection was required. After many attempts to get a date for the inspection, SunPower arrived on October 26 and completed their inspection. They indicated *** about a month. This report is required by the insurance company for my claim. After 4 emails and 6 phone calls with Customer Support over the past two months, and I still have no report to give to the insurance company.

SunPower sold and installed solar panels on my roof. They have worked well, except during this summer *** 2022). My average solar generation is about *** KwH per month. At the end of the month, I sell those SRECs to *** Exchange. However, the system stopped putting SRECs in my account from July 12 to August 31. During this time, their website stated that customers shouldn't worry, as they was a system issue, they were tracking all solar generation in the backend, and would add that "missed solar generation" when the system issues were resolved. The system issues were resolved in September, but there was no spike in my generation for September. See the logs below. May 2022: I see generation of *** KwH June 2022: I see generation of *** KwH July 2022: I see generation of only 568 KwH

I reached out to a company's customer support a month ago regarding a system issue. Was told to expect a call within 24 to 72 hours. After waiting, I called again and spoke to the same representative who was unsure of the delay. I was reassured of a follow-up. Calling again, I spoke to a different representative but made no progress and requested a supervisor, only to be informed of another potential 72-hour wait. After leaving a negative review on Trustpilot, a U.S. representative contacted me, provided a direct line, and promised to schedule a system inspection. However, this did not occur. Subsequent calls to the representative went unanswered. In a new approach, I posed as a prospective customer, finally receiving assistance from a helpful staff member who found the representative's work email. The representative then promised to expedite a service call, but the appointment was set for a month later, totaling two months since my initial contact. The issue had begun in June. Unlike my previous experience with Sun Run, who promptly informed us of an inverter issue, this company was unresponsive. Persistent emailing seems to be the only way to elicit a response. Reading similar complaints on Complaintsboard.com suggests that this company's strategy might be to discourage customers, avoiding the need to address issues. I urgently require an earlier date for an on-site visit.

For the past couple years my electric bill kept going up up and up and reported I lost communication with the app that show energy production and made many attempts to get a technician out to fix the problems which took 3 months just to finally get a work order # between *** and sunpower both saying that the other would be responsible for creating the work order alone. Then when I finally got a work order # it took another month to get the technician out. Once he came and got communication back up and running the app showed that only half the panels or system was working or producing energy to the grid. Once they got that fixed I asked about reimbursement for the monthly lease payments for the months I paid more to the electric company because my panels were not producing. During this time I also inquired about purchasing a battery for my system that will help with the monthly costs as HELCO is double charging me first to store the energy produced by my panels to the grid then second charging me to when we use the energy. Sunpower told me the panels on my roof or system they installed and failed to let me know a battery was available for purchase is now obsolete meaning theres no batteries compatible with my system that I have. Also after more investigating into my panels I found between March - April 2022 the was no production recorded on my panels and made them aware of this and now this makes sense because this was the times I was trying to get a technician out here because of the increase in my electric bill. It was like I had no panels at all. They said dont worry we have a production guarantee program that every year they look at this annual report. They had the nerve to send me a false report for the above dates when I have the same report from the app. Please help me Im a disabled post transplant patient still in my battle, now this ?

The original complaint was filed with your Office regarding SunPower Corporation. Thank you for contacting Complaintsboard.com. Your complaint was received on January 10, 2023, and has been assigned a case number in our files. It was transferred to your jurisdiction as the company moved into your region. I've contacted your office twice without a response. The issue is now partially resolved after 6 months. In 2017, a solar system was installed, which worked suboptimally for 2 years before failing. After my husband's passing in 2018, I was unaware of the problem until my son-in-law investigated. You may discuss the issue with him. The company subcontracted to Energy Aid for repairs. They installed new microinverters but missed one. It took months, but they returned to complete the job and replaced the lost PVS6 monitoring system. An Executive Escalations Specialist was initially responsive but has since ceased communication. He promised fair compensation for the power loss from [protected] but has not followed through. The monitoring system still doesn't show panel production, which is crucial for me to monitor. At 85 and on a fixed income, this situation is distressing. Please help me get the company to resolve this. Thank you.

Date of transaction: Contract signed on May 12 Contract price: $36,800 (paid $14,720, remaining $22,080 not incl. $5k credit)What the business committed to provide you: 1) A 10kW *** solar system that will generate an est. *** kWh system.2) Issue a $5,000 credit to homeowner for upgrading main electrical panel.What is the nature of the dispute:1) SunPower badly damaged *** during solar install. Multiple roof comp shingles were torn and excessively worn shingles from foot traffic caused during installation. 2) Some *** panels were improperly fastened with missing mounting clamps. 3) An access hole was cut in the ceiling and left unpatched.4) Several *** panels and the frames were scratched during install and visible from street level.5) *** panels under producing rated power 6) The $5,000 electrical credit was not applied towards final bill.Has the business tried to resolve the problem?No. *** panels were installed on Oct 19th, 2022. Roof issues were immediately reported to SunPower on Oct 20th. Two SunPower field supervisors came out to inspect the damages on Oct 24th and arranged for a ACME *** to provide a repair estimate who came out on Oct 31st. After SunPower and their roofing company came out to inspect, there have been no further communications to when ***, *** panels, and ceiling will be repaired. I have tried contacting SunPower on several occasions via email and phone (left voicemails) but no one has returned any of my messages (tried unsuccessfully contacting my project manager and sales person). I did however receive the final bill in the amount of $22,080.00 which did not include the agreed $5,000 credit for the electrical panel upgrade which I paid for out-of-pocket.Lastly, the *** panels are under-generating power. I have opened a case with customer support on Nov 11th, 2022, which I have also not heard back from anyone.Account/order/tracking number:[protected]

This business started the solar project on my houseback in March 2022. on the month May after the installation of all panels on the house and garage roofs the SunPower wasn't able to pass LA city inspection since the garage doesn't have permit. It has been converted to the *** without permission. No one from SunPower was able to answer on question why they started the project without getting all necessary permission before starting solar project. In August 2022 they came up with offer if they move all panels from garage to the mail house the city will give them permission to connect solar system to Department of water and Power. Even it will reduce the energy production I decided to move forward with offer. But after they moved panels from garage to main house anyway the city wasn't able to approve the project and still keep asking for garage permitting. They still weren't able to answer on the question why they attempt to transfer panels if eventually will not be able to get job done. Also, they dig a trench between garage and my house to lay an underground cable between this two budlings and all waters from rain (specially this year *** was raining a lot) because of damaged drain went under my house. Contractors who remove pavers and dig the trench never comeback to place paver and grass back as it was before they started. It has been a real mess for the last 11 months. I can't believe that this can happen in ***. People can't be so ignorant to others. I have many emails with excuses, but it is not helpful at all since no one reached out to resolve this matter. I have 2 kids who didn't play in the backyard for last 11 months because this people are greedy and incompetent. Also, the dust we have in the backyard because the ground is not covered with paver and grass make everything nasty. Please review my request and let me know what are my options . Thank you in advance.

I signed documents with Sunpower on October 20 for my house. The company has a battery rebate program that I qualify for, and Sunpower initiated the process. The solar panel installation date was set for November 10, 2022. The panels were installed on the roof, but the connection to my power panel was not completed. I was informed the system would be finished by November 17 or 22, and received a confirmation for November 21. However, I was contacted by SCE requesting additional information for my rebate application. Despite assurances from Sunpower, my application remains suspended. On November 21, a skilled team installed two batteries and prepared the new panel for my backup batteries, performing excellently. Yet, another team's subpar conduit work on the house prompted my complaint, leading to their departure. The work obstructed a window and had other issues, as shown in my photos. The connection from the roof panels to the main panel and a safety pole for the garage battery are still pending. On December 8, a crew returned to complete the electrical work properly, which passed the city inspection. Now, I await the safety pole, PTO from SCE, and the rebate. Sunpower's lack of response is frustrating. I found no progress on the rebate website and have been persistently contacting the salesperson and project manager without success. My polite emails are met with promises of answers that never come. The completion of the job within the year is crucial for tax savings, and any mishandling of the rebate could be costly.