ESD Solar

I had ESD Solar install on my new home in SW Florida. The sales process went very smooth and the rep Zach always followed up in a timely manner. The price was competitive and equipment seemed good quality. The problems came in at time of install. It took a day and a half to complete the install. The first day there was an English speaker on the crew that I could communicate with. On arrival I was asked for spare roof tiles since I have scolloped cement roof tiles which I do not have as stepping on them can break them. The second day, no one on the crew could speak English. I wanted to ask if any tiles were damaged but could not due to the language barrier. I then followed up with ESD's customer service. I raised the roof inspection as an issue and also had an issue with the system communication. They installed the system to communicate via cellular which only reports operation every 6 hours. The system offers WIFI communication as well and I wanted the WIFI real time communication set up. The ESD team was clueless as to how set this up. I spoke to several people including finally the customer service manager Olivia. I felt like Olivia was blowing smoke up my butt and wasn't being straight with me. It resulted in her shouting over me not allowing me to speak. She kept insisting she was in charge and she was the one that was going to help me, even though no one there could. I ended that call with a few choice words for Olivia and called Enphase directly. I asked Olivia to have someone else in the office call me about the roof repair as I was tired of her being disrespectful towards myself. Enphase walked me through the set up process in about 2 minutes and I am now hooked to WIFI. Someone else called me about the roof getting inspected that day and I answered their questions in the hope of getting the roof looked at. This took place at the end of February. I never heard back from anyone and followed up with ESD the week of April 15th. Olivia called me back and acknowledged their installers had taken pictures of the roof and there were 2 broken tiles, but here it is 2 months later and nothing has been done. She told me she would arrange repairs and I should hear back from her or the roofers by Monday April 22. Well as i write this on April 25th, I have not heard from a roofer to make the repairs or anyone at ESD. Wet season is approaching and my patients has run out on ESD getting my roof fixed. I requested ESD's insurance company info and I am going to file an insurance claim.

ESD contacted me to tell me that they could not perform the contract at the agreed price. I had already submitted my 50 percent deposit, over $30k. I agreed to cancel the contract and get my deposit back. I wish the salesman and engineer had done their homework before signing a contract with me.

The system was installed on a ground mount best thing about it is I never have to pay to have it removed when I need a new roof. Matt the sales manager has helped me any way he could.

Made an appointment, they contacted later for some info, then never showed for appointment.

I live in Texas and not sure if this is the case with everyone they support, but ESD Solar basically serves as a pass-thru. All the work was done by subcontractors so the folks I was talking to at ESD Solar didn't understand what was happening with my house. There also was several cases of the sub telling them inaccurate information of what actually occurred. I remember reading an article that advised folks to make sure the company you contract with is the company doing the install. I didn't heed it, but I am hear to tell you, when things go wrong (and you just never know), you will wish the company you contracted with was the one doing the work. Besides failing the inspection FOUR TIMES -- yes, you read that correctly -- I basically was lied to by several of their staff members. I don't blame one of them (their customer service person, Olivia) but the others.... To make this short and sweet, as I have Thanksgiving shopping to do: 1. Once the salesperson signed the contract with me, he pretty much went MIA. 2. Even though they sent folks for a site visit that included looking at the electrical (and we providing them with the system components we had just upgraded a few years ago), AFTER I signed the contract and we were months into the process, I needed an almost $2,000 upgrade to the electrical panel. 3. After the system failed inspection for the third time, they actually told ME to call solar panel company. Me. I had absolutely no idea what was actually wrong with the system -- the person who actually came to do the install told me it was a part needing replacement but when I talked to the person at ESD Solar, she told me it was a software....yet they wanted ME to figure it out with the solar panel company when the whole point of hiring a company to do the install is that they handle this stuff. If I had wanted to get this detailed, I would have purchased the panels myself! Still gets me annoyed..... 4. Since it took so long to get the system functional, the loan repayment started BEFORE the system actually worked. I was told I would get reimbursed for the loan payments that I had accrued. LIES! I'm going to blame the owner for this because it sounded like the staff requested multiple reimbursements for the loan payments but she only approved one. So either empower your employees to do the right thing or give them clear guidance on what is allowable. Given my experience, I would NOT believe this company when they say they will reimburse you or give you funds for referrals. Don't believe them...and they take forever to actually get this done. 5. We financed the upgrading of the HVAC system with the loan since ours was too old to work with the solar efficiently and I was told that I would get those funds as soon as the loan went thru and ESD got their funds. MORE LIES! It took about five (almost six months) for this to occur. So...a long story to say don't use them. Find a local company or a company that will do the install themselves. They are getting pretty aggressive with referrals so seems like desperate acts for desperate times.... The panels from Enphase have worked quite well and we are enjoying the app...so I guess that's a good thing. That's the reason for the stars for value and quality...not them but the fact that they recommended Enphase panels. ESD, the company, is what sucks.

Once the contract was signed, ESD did give me some initial emails to let me know the process and timeline. Then I didn't hear from them and needed to follow up on my own to get an update about where they were in the process. They were supposed to come on a Friday to install. Cleared my calendar to be around. That Wednesday evening around 11pm I got an email saying they would be there between XX and XX the next day. I thought it was a mistake. Because they didn't show up within the timeframe allotted. Tried calling several people to find out if it was a mistake and if they were coming on the Friday that was scheduled. No one responded. Installers came out that Thursday after all. They said they needed to collect the remainder of the payment before they installed. I was rather shocked by this - didn't seem to make sense. They called someone and said that was waived. Was told by ESD that permitting would take less than a day - that is was going to be done electronically. Didn't hear from anyone. Needed to follow up. Found out it needed to be scheduled in person almost two weeks out. The ESD person was there early that day, waiting to meet the permit person. - so that was appreciated. When the system was finally up and running - I did get a call from someone at ESD to "turn it on" and answer questions. That was appreciated. I was ready and willing to make final payment at that point. But then realized we had no way of understanding our consumption which was rather necessary given the buy back agreement we have with our electric company. I called Enphase. They told me to call ESD and get clarity on things - that a consumption meter should have been a part of the contract. So, I held off payment because I needed clarity. I left three voicemails for ESD folks - no one ever called me back. They still have not called me back. My husband and I did our own research on how to figure out the consumption (poorly) by talking to our electric company. I went ahead and paid the remainder of the invoice. I had not heard from anyone about the remaining balance short of about three different emails I received as I was waiting for the system to be up and running and then as I was waiting to hear back from ESD about understanding how it worked and if I should have had the consumption meter. Two days later, I get a "Final Notice' in the mail cc'd to an attorney and from the Chief Financial Officer saying they had "despite previous attempts to resolve the matter amicably... we are left with no choice but to take the necessary legal actions to protect our interests." They went on to inform me that they were placing a lien on my property. The letter stated that the payment was "originally due on October 30, 2023" and I received this letter on November 4th - after I had paid the bill on November 3rd - and within the week of the system actually being up and running - with still no returned calls from ESD. This seemed rather jarring. I guess that ESD must be burned by people not paying their bills - because this seemed very extreme and callous and not a friendly way to do business. I had every intention of paying for their service - just wanted to make sure it was actually functioning before I paid the bill. Wow!! One week where it's operational and I'm getting a lien placed on my property! Seems like the system is fine. But, honestly, before they had my business, they were calling and emailing many many times. After the install...very different. Again, I understand that people want to get paid, but I wish there had been some understanding about a new solar customer trying to ensure that things were working as they should before making payment. Solar is a whole new thing for me. This was a huge investment - and I merely wanted to make sure it was all working as promised before paying out. Bottom line is that ESD did hurt its relationship with me as a result of all of this. The work seems good, from what I can tell - but I can't recommend them.