Solar System Installation in Concord, CA

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Your solar project will always start with the Sales Representative. For you to have the best experience possible going solar you will need to have a Sales Representatitve that is both honest and experienced. You could have an honest Sales Rep who is inexperienced and end up with a bad customer experience. Even worse is an experienced sales rep who is dishonest and rips you off taking advantage of your lack of knowledge about solar. 

What to look for:

• Industry wide, a Sales Rep with 50+ residential solar projects will have the necessary knowledge to plan well for most solar projects. Once a Sales Rep has completed 100 solar projects they are known as a Centurion Energy Advisor. These are most often the best of the best. 

• Local knowledge is very helpful as each solar project has local installers and city inspectors involved. A highly experienced Sales Rep will know what installation crews are best in their area and make sure these crews are assigned to their customers solar projects. Working with local city inspectors on numerous projects helps with fulfilling expectations and getting jobs approved quickly. And, an understanding of the local utility company’s rate plans, their rules and regulations will help with planning, approving applications and smooth installations.

• Most highly experienced Sales Reps have also established industry partnerships with high quality electricians and roofers. This helps if you need electrical upgrades or a new roof needs to be done before your have you solar system installed. Companies with established relationships allow you to include roofing and electrical upgrades in the monthly financing option. 

• Sales Representatives who have worked on a lot of projects also know what solar panels, inverters and batteries are of the highest quality, at the best price points. The Sales Rep creates the initial proposal with the available products their company offers. Each system is custom designed for each homeowner’s needs and budget. It’s important to have a Sales Rep who is trustworthy and who’s top priority is to design a system that is best for you and your long term benefit and not what’s best for their commission.  

• Your price is most often determined by your Sales Representative. Sales Reps in the solar industry are commissioned based, so having a Sales Rep who prices fairly is a key to you getting the most financial benefits from your solar system.  

After seeing lots of customer solar proposals, here are the MAIN MISTAKES I see Sales Representatives making when they design and price a solar system:

• Incorrectly figuring out your annual power usage. Either from inexperience or on purpose to make the numbers look better, when a Sales Rep miscalculates the annual electric usage… homeowners end up with large true up bills from their utility company. This because the Sales Rep miscalculated how much annual energy the home owner needed and designed a solar system that does not provide enough annual electric power. An outstanding Sales Rep is going to find out about future electric needs like an electric vehicle and make sure your solar system will provide the necessary annual energy. 

• Misrepresenting the annual offset of electric power your designed solar system is projected to produce. Offset is based on your current kWh of annual usage compared to the solar system’s annual power production. An offset of 100% means that the solar system will produce 100% of the annual kWh of electrical power you currently use on an annual basis. Depending on your utility company’s net energy metering policies, a 100% offset does not always mean your solar system will produce enough electric power to cover all of the electrical expense. Depending on the credits your utility company gives you for the excess energy you export to the grid, will determine what offset is needed to supply 100% of the electric energy you need without having a true up bill at year’s end. Sometimes, a solar system needs to produce 130-150% offset of the annual electric power you use… this is the case if your utility company charges you more for the energy you use at night when your solar system is not producing than the credits you receive for sending excess energy to the grid during the day. 

• Putting low quality equipment in the proposal to lower your price. Often investing more financially for a high quality solar system will save you money in the long run. This is because a quality solar system will be able to produce more energy from the sun everyday and most importantly not degrade in production over the years. A high quality solar system includes the racking system, solar panels, inverters and the batteries used. Lower the quality in any of these items and you will effect the performance of your whole system. It’s not good enough to just install high quality solar panels… you need the other supporting equipment to be of high quality for your solar system to have a high level of performance for 25 years and beyond.