Freedom Solar Power

I will start by saying that their customer service team is very understanding and easy to reach. I only know this because I have had to call them dozens of times to get any update on my project. I contracted with them over a year ago, and the array is currently sitting on my roof wasting space because they can't get organized enough to turn it on. Each step of the process has experienced major delays without anyone reaching out to me to update me on the progress. Worse still, none of their teams seem to communicate with one another making progress even slower. I went with Freedom Solar because of the SunPower panels but I would recommend finding anyone else to do your install. Overall this experience has been terrible.

UPDATE: Freedomsolar promised to have someone get back to me on May 5th. Today is May 17th - no action so far. Wow, this is such a simple fix and it can be resolved so quickly. Lots of promises about how different my experience would be with Freedomsolar. So far, the experience hasn't been great. I moved into a home and only had 6 month of electric usage which limited the amount of solar I could install during the first install. I wasn't coming close to fully meeting our consumption. I decided to go with Freedom Solar Power to max out my system after a year on the original system. This went slower than I had expected. However after the system was installed, I needed to derate my system just a few hundred watts so I could go back to the net metering plan. I have tried for many weeks to get someone to respond and call me back. Customer service promised to call - no call, no one involved in the original project has called. Basically I am stuck. What needs to be done is VERY simple but Freedom Solar Power really sucks after the install when it comes to help. They promised the moon when trying to get my bid. They explained that they were a different kind of solar company. Not so much.

I only wanted SunPower Panels, but was forced to do business with a company mired in incompetent employees. When I knew more about SunPower than the salesman seemed to know, I should have walked away. When I had to call Freedom Solar the day after my first scheduled visit to my property, finally reaching someone about 10am only to be told they had an employee call in sick and they would need to reschedule. That misrepresentation of the Truth right there told me that they knew probably as early as 6am that my noon appointment at my property was not going to occur, yet I stayed at my house all day getting nothing accomplished and wasting a full day off from work. So rather than do the wise thing and cancel the $60,000 contract and requesting the $15,000 in cash I had already paid I allowed them to reschedule the following Tuesday, but commenting I would only believe this second appointment was happening once they arrived, and I doubted they would. So I once again waited all day at my house for a no show, I did get an email around 4:30pm giving some excuse as to why this appointment could not and would not be taking place. I replied "Don't Bother me anymore as they didn't want my business and I was not doing business with them. So around 6pm maybe later, with out my approval or authorization a person arrived at my property and knocked on the door. They claimed they would be doing an on site inspection as previously planned. They took their measurements or at least pretended to and left. Mind you you my property is over 6.5 acres fenced and gated, and plenty if security cameras, I mention them because on Thursday someone came on my property without my consent, flew a drone around my house and buildings, doing what I was told was done 2 days earlier. I could write a a novel about the unprofessionalism I experienced because it's comical to me how this company even existed. I am just going to list my experience with Freedom Solar of Houston rather than east time. If anyone would like to verify any of this I will be glad to provide solid proof through email correspondence, actual pictures even video of a person falling off my roof, damaging my gutters and were so dishonest as to not say a word. Good thing for Video proof. Heck all I wanted was the truth. I didn't even allow them to pay for the gutter to be repaired, I did the repair myself among other things I paid for in the contract. Failure to keep numerous appointments and never contacted me about missed appointments. Scheduled to have a 2 day install beginning on a Monday the end of July. The Friday evening after 6pm just before the install I was called and asked to sign a waiver concerning my Roof. They did not do the install until November because they could not and would not give me a reason stating what was wrong with my Roof. So finally 3 months later the admit the waiver was a way for them to cover their behind, absolutely Laughable, that waiver signed under Duress will never stand up in a court of Law When installation did finally occur, it was done poorly reminding me of an Erector Set Design I might have done in second grade. Conduit run amuck and unnecessary holes drilled in and through my roof to join multiple lines of conduit in multiple Junction boxes plastered on the exterior walls of my house. And the reason I didn't stop them immediately on the Wednesday the 2 day install was to begin was, you guessed it, they didn't show up that Wednesday, and Yes I had to call them because I needed to be out of town on Thursday. Only for them to say they were running late on another project and would arrive for the install on Thursday and miraculously would get the job done in one day. Incredible lies. Nothing was done according to SunPower Corporations supposed minimalist designed modern instal. And when I complained they wanted to ignore me. I even got a request for final payment because the system was supposedly finished and working with approval from the County. Funny thing is, I contacted Freedom Solar of Austin, the main office and just made a simple inquiry asking if everything I experienced was how they conducted business and if SunPower was aware. I was assured nothing I experienced was acceptable and even found out I had been Lied to again, Because my $60,000 42 Panel a Solar System was not even functioning according to he only Civil person I spoke with. It took another 3-4 weeks before the system was redone, and actually was operational. When the system was being redone and the installers complained they don't know how they were to run conduit and electrical wire from the Garage to the House, I had to even show them how that was to be done and asked them if they had ever looked at my contract where I paid over $300 for the cable from the Garage was to be run in a trench dug between my Garage and my House. In the end, I refused ti allow them to attempt such a technically challenging task so I personally dug the 18" trench required by Code and got that part of the bill deducted before I paid the contract in Full. To wrap this up, I had to keep bugging them to give me receipts stating I had Paid in Full so I could have my CPA work on my Tax Rebate. And Freedom Solar has yet to respond Any further question I have like their Quote saying that my 17.4 kWh system was going to generate over 24,4000 law's per year when in fact year 1 produced a dismal 20,064 kWh meeting approx 82% of energy promises. Then year 2 actually beat year one with an output of 20,804 kWh' or 85% of promised solar generation. While I still believe in the Solar Panels by SunPower, I can only hope that no one has to deal with the non sense I did. I only wanted SunPower Panels, but was forced to do business with a company mired in incompetent employees. When I knew more about SunPower than the salesman seemed to know, I should have walked away. When I had to call Freedom Solar the day after my first scheduled visit to my property, finally reaching someone about 10am only to be told they had an employee call in sick and they would need to reschedule. That misrepresentation of the Truth right there told me that they knew probably as early as 6am that my noon appointment at my property was not going to occur, yet I stayed at my house all day getting nothing accomplished and wasting a full day off from work. So rather than do the wise thing and cancel the $60,000 contract and requesting the $15,000 in cash I had already paid I allowed them to reschedule the following Tuesday, but commenting I would only believe this second appointment was happening once they arrived, and I doubted they would. So I once again waited all day at my house for a no show, I did get an email around 4:30pm giving some excuse as to why this appointment could not and would not be taking place. I replied "Don't Bother me anymore as they didn't want my business and I was not doing business with them. So around 6pm maybe later, with out my approval or authorization a person arrived at my property and knocked on the door. They claimed they would be doing an on site inspection as previously planned. They took their measurements or at least pretended to and left. Mind you you my property is over 6.5 acres fenced and gated, and plenty if security cameras, I mention them because on Thursday someone came on my property without my consent, flew a drone around my house and buildings, doing what I was told was done 2 days earlier. I could write a a novel about the unprofessionalism I experienced because it's comical to me how this company even existed. I am just going to list my experience with Freedom Solar of Houston rather than east time. If anyone would like to verify any of this I will be glad to provide solid proof through email correspondence, actual pictures even video of a person falling off my roof, damaging my gutters and were so dishonest as to not say a word. Good thing for Video proof. Heck all I wanted was the truth. I didn't even allow them to pay for the gutter to be repaired, I did the repair myself among other things I paid for in the contract. Failure to keep numerous appointments and never contacted me about missed appointments. Scheduled to have a 2 day install beginning on a Monday the end of July. The Friday evening after 6pm just before the install I was called and asked to sign a waiver concerning my Roof. They did not do the install until November because they could not and would not give me a reason stating what was wrong with my Roof. So finally 3 months later the admit the waiver was a way for them to cover their behind, absolutely Laughable, that waiver signed under Duress will never stand up in a court of Law When installation did finally occur, it was done poorly reminding me of an Erector Set Design I might have done in second grade. Conduit run amuck and unnecessary holes drilled in and through my roof to join multiple lines of conduit in multiple Junction boxes plastered on the exterior walls of my house. And the reason I didn't stop them immediately on the Wednesday the 2 day install was to begin was, you guessed it, they didn't show up that Wednesday, and Yes I had to call them because I needed to be out of town on Thursday. Only for them to say they were running late on another project and would arrive for the install on Thursday and miraculously would get the job done in one day. Incredible lies. Nothing was done according to SunPower Corporations supposed minimalist designed modern instal. And when I complained they wanted to ignore me. I even got a request for final payment because the system was supposedly finished and working with approval from the County. Funny thing is, I contacted Freedom Solar of Austin, the main office and just made a simple inquiry asking if everything I experienced was how they conducted business and if SunPower was aware. I was assured nothing I experienced was acceptable and even found out I had been Lied to again, Because my $60,000 42 Panel a Solar System was not even functioning according to he only Civil person I spoke with. It took another 3-4 weeks before the system was redone, and actually was operational. When the system was being redone and the installers complained they don't know how they were to run conduit and electrical wire from the Garage to the House, I had to even show them how that was to be done and asked them if they had ever looked at my contract where I paid over $300 for the cable from the Garage was to be run in a trench dug between my Garage and my House. In the end, I refused ti allow them to attempt such a technically challenging task so I personally dug the 18" trench required by Code and got that part of the bill deducted before I paid the contract in Full. To wrap this up, I had to keep bugging them to give me receipts stating I had Paid in Full so I could have my CPA work on my Tax Rebate. And Freedom Solar has yet to respond Any further question I have like their Quote saying that my 17.4 kWh system was going to generate over 24,4000 law's per year when in fact year 1 produced a dismal 20,064 kWh meeting approx 82% of energy promises. Then year 2 actually beat year one with an output of 20,804 kWh' or 85% of promised solar generation. While I still believe in the Solar Panels by SunPower, I can only hope that no experiences anything similar to what I did.

I caution others who are looking at Freedom Solar (Freedom) as a potential solar panel provider to read all the reviews you can find on the company before making a decision. I concur with many of the complaints other reviewers have documented. However, I have two specific grievances with Freedom Solar (Colorado Springs) that motivated me to cancel my project last week: 1) they have a poor understanding of Colorado Springs Utilities' solar requirements, and 2) their customer lending process lacks integrity. A Freedom energy consultant came to my home in Sept 2022. He analyzed my annual electricity usage, and I executed a contract for 16 solar panels. I also entered into a loan agmt with Freedom lender, Sunlight for 16 panels at 1.99% for 25 yrs on a "total solar investment" of $36,857. Pymts would be $110/mo if I applied the Federal Tax Credit (FTC) by month 19. If not applied, monthly pymts increased to $158/mo in month 19. Manageable. The loan structure would give me time to generate a tax liability to avoid the pymt increase and the pymts would match my average electricity usage. The contract with Freedom included a "TBD" start time. This concerned me but the consultant said Freedom could not predict when CSU would approve applications. He would contact CSU and verify the numbers to avoid a project kickback. Over the next five months, CSU denied my application multiple times for the same reason: Freedom had oversized my solar design and used inconsistent module and model numbers. Between Nov 2022 and Feb 2023, Freedom blamed the denials on CSU, telling me "We are fighting for all of our CSU customers right now as we feel [CSU's] practices are not in line with overall goals." Freedom said CSU's assessment of my electricity needs was incorrect and that CSU was the party who had the model numbers confused. In Dec 2022, I instructed Freedom to reduce my panels to 14. My consultant sent me updated figures. My loan would remain at 1.99% for 25 yrs. The "total solar investment" would fall to $32,501 and pymts would be $96/mo if I applied the FTC in month 19. If not, monthly pymts would increase to $139 in month 19. Perfect. In Feb 2023, the consultant finally re-submitted my solar application to CSU to satisfy CSU's 14-panel determination. In parallel, he informed me that Freedom "no longer work with [Sunlight] ... We have now transitioned to Flic ... as they only work with us." He said I was now "in a unique position to switch to [a] loan that previously was not available. We now have a 20 yrs 0% interest rate. You will be able to take 5 years off the payments AND avoid interest the entire way." The new FLIC loan for 14 panels would be 0% for 20 yrs on a "total solar investment" of $35,291. It required $145/mo in months 1 - 18 (and 19 - 240 if FTC not applied). If FTC was applied, pymts dropped to $98 in month 19. The new pymt structure, beginning in month 1, was now $50/mo MORE than I had originally agreed to. The structure of the loan pymts changed dramatically and my "total solar investment" had increased by $2,790. My consultant told me it was likely lender fees. He rationalized the new arrangement by pointing out that the pymts were only $2.00 more than the original loan and the shorter loan period was going to save me $4,500 in interest. I knew I needed to see the terms of the loan agreement. The devil is in the details. Freedom initiated the loan approval process with FLIC ... for $100,000. In no other lifetime would a lender approve me for a $100,000 loan on a $35,000 project, but that's what happened - within seconds. Freedom sent me the new loan agmt. Now I could see how FLIC would pay out the financed amount: the "total solar investment" of $32,501 had increased to accommodate a $1,182.89 charge for "seller's points" to FLIC and an ADDITIONAL $1,107.11 to Freedom Solar. For what? Freedom told me these amounts were "basically the dealer fee, cost of doing business, between the two companies (Freedom and FLIC)." I might be saving interest, but my solar was now substantially more expensive than my electricity bill each month. Freedom and FLIC were the real beneficiaries of this new arrangement. The original Sunlight loan made sense for me. It was a SIGNED agmt and the monthly pymt ($96) was optimal for my electricity usage ($75 - $110 / mo). It was unfair and dishonest for Freedom to force me into a new loan with a higher pymt ($145/moh) AND then pocket another $1,107.11. The fees buried in the FLIC loan agmt have the appearance of a kickback. I canceled my project with Freedom immediately. Despite wanting to make the shift to solar, I could not get past Freedom's lack of integrity and lack of transparency.

I had heard good things about Freedom Solar. Our conversations with their salesperson were fruitful, we questions got answered, and our basic concerns were addressed. At the end of the day, though, their limited panel options and brand lock (SunPower panels and Tesla Powerwalls only) meant that we couldn't design the system we wanted with the equipment they offer at this time. The price per watt was also the highest of all installers we compared. I think they'd be a good fit for a very simple, small, suburban setup but we didn't fit that mold and went with another company.

I had a video consultation with John Simon to discuss the quote for my home. He couldn't have been nicer and ultimately said that their company probably wasn't the right fit for my needs, but still went through things to look out for with other providers as I navigated this process, including over-estimating production from shaded areas on my roof. He even referred me to a credit union he'd recently used that could possibly offer me better rates on a home equity loan that would beat the rates offered by the solar providers. Again, he had nothing to gain by this and did it just to be nice and look out for another person he'd never met before. As I told him, it's rare to run across people, especially in the world of sales, who truly seem to care about the client (or potential client) experience. I'd encourage anyone seeking quotes for solar power to consider Freedom Solar and hopefully get connected with John.