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Solar SME

8.7

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Star Rating

4.8

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210 Reviews

Review Breakdown

5 grade

89%

4 grade

8%

3 grade

1%

2 grade

0%

1 grade

2%

Sentiment Criteria

Value

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Quality

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Service

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Trustworthiness

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Duy Doan Baltimore, MD

informed me with good information to help me determine the right solution for my house. I was informed every step of the way and Zayd responded immediately with any questions. provided me best system at low cost with great financing options .

8 hours ago

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K&M Z Roanoke, VA

Areej, Ray, and the team from SolarSME were good to work with. The materials were backordered due to supply challenges, and we opted to go with a different panel. Once materials were delivered, the process picked up pace. Install teams were good, and SolarSME coordinated all necessary paperwork with the utility company and county offices. The only main hiccup was getting final Permission To Operate. The process took twice as long due to a submission oversight. Overall, I was pleased with project. Now I'm anxious to see how well the system performs and to reap the potential savings in my electric bill.

1 day ago

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Lem Chalfont, PA

Zen H of Solar SME was very easy to work with as I dug into the state residential building code with him during the planning stages to maximize production and minimizing building code offsets. No matter how many changes I made and questions that I had about the types of inverters/panels available and the layout, Zen worked with me and answered all my questions to ensure that I was satisfied. Once the plan was submitted for approvals and permits, they were approved without a hitch on the first go around at every step. As with all major projects there were a few glitches, but Solar SME always responded immediately and made it right and quickly, too. In one instance, after the materials had been received and the installers showed up, it was found that the wrong tilt supports for the north roof had been shipped with the materials. Zen immediately responded by shipping the correct parts overnight to keep the project going. Solar SME's subcontractor for the project was also top notch and also very responsive. After installation completion and once the PTO from the power company was issued, I discovered that a couple of items were missing for monitoring production which was needed for the subcontractor to commission the system. The response time to get the parts over to me and for the rep to show up onsite to get the system online was same day!! If there's one thing I'd have to say about Solar SME, it's that they were always available at every step of the project and this was instrumental for timely completion. -- Regarding the question below with the unrealistic multiple choice options: "How long did it take from the time you signed the contract to the time your system was fully installed?" It took more than four months from contract signing to operational. This was due multiple revisions on my part and the permitting process.

2 days ago

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Christian Channell Norristown, PA

I used EnergySage.com to collect 5 quotes for my residential solar panel project in PA. The transparency EnergySage provides is unsurpassed. The standardized process meant the 5 quotes were really easy to compare and I was shielded from numerous duplicative sales calls. I highly recommend using EnergySage.com for your residential solar project too! Solar SME was one of the five providers to bid for my project. They weren't the cheapest, but I selected Solar SME for a follow up call because I was drawn to the quality of equipment included in their quote. In particular, they use industry leading EverVolt panels by Panasonic with an efficiency rating of 21.2% and end of warranty guaranteed production of 92% in 25 years. Those numbers were meaningfully superior to the other 4 quotes EnergySage had obtained on my behalf. My follow up call with Ray C gave me the confidence to proceed. Ray's presentation was very clear and very compelling. He is a true subject matter expert. He had all of the facts at his finger tips, and answered all of my questions to my satisfaction. He also added a rebate to help make the quote from Solar SME even more compelling. I'll update this review as my project progresses, but so far, so good! I'm very excited to being going solar! *** Update ***: my project went live today and I love the app which shows how much power I generated. Much thanks to Emir K from Solar SME who guided me through the entire process with patience and skill. He was consistently responsive and helpful. 5 stars!

3 days ago

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Chuck Swanson Sugar Land, TX

I decided to get solar panels when I ran the numbers and determined that the rate of return for the investment was better than I could get in any money market account or even long term in the stock market. The return is money that you are no longer paying to the utility for electricity. I was fortunate in that I had plenty of south facing roof space and no tree cover shading the roof. I used Energy Sage to obtain quotes. I had sales people from many companies come to my house and tell me all sorts of things, some of which were true. Solar SME did not have a sales person come to my house to try and sell me and that was nice. I obtained quotes from 5 different companies and Solar SME was the lowest cost per kWh. I would have gone with another company despite the low price with Solar SME if another solar company had a higher consumer rating, but no other company had such a good rating as SME. Sure, there were some complaints with Solar SME on some rating sites, but they were about delays outside of Solar SMEs control. Now for my experience. It was great. I signed my contract on December 23, 2022, and the installation was completed on February 28, 2023. The city completed its inspection on March 3, 2023. I received my Permit to Operate from CenterPoint Energy on March 7, 2023. I turned on my system on March 7, 2023. Signing the contract to solar panel operation was 74 days. The roof inspector that came to inspect my house at the request of Solar SME was Garrett with Illustrious Home Inspections. I was very impressed with Garrett. The site manager for the installation was Frank. Frank and his team did a great job. I was happy with the installation. Even though my roof looked good, I put a new roof on my house before the installation since I had about 5 to 10 more years left on the life of the roof. The solar panels will last more than 25 years, and I didn’t want to have to pay for removing the panels to place a new roof in 5 to 10 years. Zayd was my project manager. He had to arrange everything and obtain approvals. He handled homeowners’ association approval, city permitting and inspection, application for the Permit to Operate, ordering the equipment, and scheduling the installation crew. Zayd kept me informed every step of the way. He did a great job. I bought a 5.7 kWh system without a battery storage system. I do have an interconnect on my electricity panel so that I can hook up my generator. I had recently upgraded my electricity panel so that cost was not included in my cost. Had I known that I was going to install solar panels in the future, I could have waited and that cost would have been part of the solar panel installation cost. I was able to pay cash and not finance. The most kWh that I use at any time is about 3.1 kWh. Unfortunately, we do not have “net metering” in Texas like some other states. For example, in California, when your system produces more energy than you use, the meter runs backwards so that you effectively get paid the same amount for the extra you produce as you pay for the electricity that you consume. That is not the case in Texas. For the electricity that I consume, I pay taxes and transmission fees. For the electricity that I sell back to my electricity supplier, I only receive credit for the base electricity cost and not the taxes and transmission fees. Fortunately, on the plan I changed to, they will pay me for all the excess that I return to the grid. Now in the summer, I can keep my house as cool as I want. I am also looking forward to the generous tax credit that I am going to be able to take on my 2023 taxes.

4 days ago

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Dewan S. Rahman TX

We had our solar panels installed recently, and it has been a relatively smooth process. Project manager Ruben had been very thorough and kept regular contacts with the updates. I'd recommend Solar SME to anyone who's interested.

1 week ago

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Chris Odderstol

Good pricing. Good response. Good explanation about everything. Definitely get a proposal from them if you are considering installing solar panels.

1 week ago

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Darrin Beck Houston, TX

SOLARSME (Josh L) provided extensive support to understand my end use requirements and took the time to review the pros and cons of various design/equipment options to arrive at system to meet my needs. The final design also took into account future requirements, such as electric vehicle charging and battery backup. The interactions though technical at times were delivered in a way for clear understanding. Follow-up activities were completed in a timely manner.

1 week ago

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Samish Shah La Plata, MD

I had a great experience with Solar SME. After researching many companies, I chose Solar SME, they were highly recommended on Energy Sage. My experience was as it was described by many reviewers. My project manager was Mario A and he did fantastic job on keeping me updated at every stage. I signed the agreement on December 1st 2022 and Solar panels were installed and producing energy on March 7th 2023. I would certainly recommend Solar SME to anyone who is interested installing Solar panels

2 weeks ago

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Chris Rand Oriental, NC

Thanks so much to everyone at SolarSME; especially Mario A, who provided a great experience from the start of the project to the very end! I recommend SolarSME for anyone interested in solar but unsure how to get started. I think you will find you get great value, great personalization, and great communication from start to finish.

3 weeks ago

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David Comalli Chalfont, PA

Solar SME was the best bang for our buck. That's why we chose them. However, I am recommending them, because of the service end of the bargain. Andre L was my contact and was always ready to talk and explain the steps in the process and work through rectifying the minor bumps in the road that always occur with a job of this scale. The final product looks beautiful. Likely unrelated to Solar SME, but I wanted to share in case this is helpful for future buyers: The financing options are poor. Increasing the loan amount to get a better rate is not a wise decision. Pay off in one fell swoop if you can. Or find financing via a HELOC or refinance.

1 month ago

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Christopher Biggs Alexandria, VA

Our experience with Ruben K from SolarSME can be summarized as trustworthy. Ruben immediately answered every call and text message. He was honest with his responses even when he had to perform research on my request. As far as SolarSME, they kept every promise and were loyal until we obtained permission to operate from our local power company. Furthermore, their monitoring software and responsiveness are as trustworthy as working with Ruben. We are delighted with this outcome and recommend this company to anyone considering an affordable and top-notch solar provider.

1 month ago

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J Tan

I would like to express my gratitude to Solar SME and Raffy S for bringing my project to the end. My project took a long time due to reasons beyond their control and was more complicated due to the limited size of my roof, but they were there throughout, making sure that the project made it through the entire approval process intact. Good service, value for money!

1 month ago

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Jose

Solar SME, especially Johan B, the project manager was great and very responsive. He addressed all my questions and quickly resolved any issues I had.

1 month ago

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D A Dallas, TX

My project manager Areej was on top of the process and kept me updated throughout the duration of the project. She was very helpful and took care of all my project needs.

1 month ago