SunPower Reviews

They had to get all of the permits from the town. Once they got the permits, it didn't take time. They did everything in a few hours when they came in. One of the guys had already checked the roof to make sure that they could be done before they started the installation. Several guys brought the equipment, got up on the roof, did whatever they were supposed to do and installed it.

In the summer time, I have a very small bill. In the winter months it's not as good because my roof doesn't get as much sun. But I'm very satisfied. I incurred another bill that I didn't expect to be so much. I thought it would run me around 20,000. It ended up 40,000 something with financing. But it's manageable. Friends and people that have passed by and seen the panels have asked me a lot of questions about them. I gave them SunPower's referral number.

The experience with SunPower is very positive. I use the app to check the power generation, how much we're using in the house, how much is going to the grid, or the rare occasions when the grid supply most of the power. So, I'm aware of how well our system is performing. On the couple of occasions where I've had questions, they were answered very promptly. So, the customer service was great, not only during the process, but has been since then though there have been very few occasions when I've needed them because everything has worked very well. I was very pleased with all the people I worked with, from the estimator through the project manager, the folks who were on site, and the customer service.

The sales rep was really great, too. It's a shame that he isn't doing it anymore because I have reached out since then wanting to add batteries. And since my original sales rep isn't available, I get put to whoever is doing it now in our area. But I haven't been able to come to an agreement to add batteries because the last call I made was about my inverters . They are over 12 years old and they don't match with current battery technology which is dissatisfying. I also wish that there were more advertisements for cleaning services to clean the panel, because at my age of 78, I don't want to climb on the roof to hose them down and squeegee them.

I researched a lot of companies and I realized there are only two American companies and everything else is fine China. SunPower came in at 24% in terms of efficiency. Their rep helped me along. The setup was the summer of last year and then it was six months later because they were booked up. We also had to wait for our electric company to come and disconnect the power from the post. Other than that, the job was done within a week once everything got okay.

December was when they installed the system. When the electric company came and did the final inspection, I didn't realize that the main panel switch for the electricity to turn on the solar panels was never on. A month later, I got a bill and I realized I was being charged normally. I called SunPower and they told me the system was not on. I thought they were gonna do that. They walked me through how to turn on the system.

That’s the only gripe that I had. SunPower dropped the ball on that. I'm an over-the-road truck driver. I'm gone two, three weeks at a time. I wasn't even home to even physically look at it to see where the switch says 'Off'. It's right next to the electrical panel outside. It's a small electrical panel and it's just a big switch, on-off. When everything is all said and done, go out there and take a look, because SunPower didn't tell me about that. So far, I've gotten my SunPower bill and it's going to be a doozy. They told me that I'm gonna have to pay it in two installments when they add it all up, which is horrible. If you're averaging $200 a month, times 12. And you're gonna have to pay it all in two shots."

I had an issue with the panels from day one. I had one panel that kept showing me it was offline on my app. I called my three-month representative and he kept telling me that it was data migration, this, and that. Everything looks good on the SunPower side. I wasn't buying what the representative said and I was insisting that they send somebody out. But he kept saying that was not necessary so I took it upon myself to call the 800 number for the first time. I was on the phone for more than three hours. Customer service told me there were times when the panel was not producing power, which really upset me because it wasn't what my representative was telling me.

It took another 10 days for SunPower to send a technician out. I said, "I paid for this. It's a $40,000 installation. It's not 100% working. Send him out with every possible part so this gets resolved." But the technician shows up with no parts. I wouldn't let him leave. He somehow he pulled out a microinverter from the back of his van and claimed it was brand new. He replaced that part. Lo and behold, the system's been working fine now for well over a month. On that whole, it was like pulling teeth just getting through customer service, convincing them to send somebody out because everybody wants to do everything remotely, checking the system, and sending an update. I was very frustrated. But I am happy now even though I have two minor issues going on.

I'm an engineer by trade so I understood the whole solar panel, power, and the apps. But I felt SunPower was dismissing that. It was almost like excuses, where they would check the system and say, "It was fine. We'll send a signal." They led me along for months and I really was upset about that. After giving my representative a 5-star rating, he just disappeared. I was really hoping he would be the guy to go and jump on somebody's desk and say, "Hey, we got to send somebody out there to fix this guy's solar system."

After getting the run around from them, I started researching and learned that they settled a class action lawsuit couple years ago that required them to replace faulty components they sold to their customers. Looks like giving people the runaround and not standing by their product is nothing new to them. Had I known how hard it is to get repairs done or it use the warranty, I would have never gone with SunPower. Their high ratings are pretty misleading.

After having the system for about 9 months, we upgraded our service panel to a 200-amp service with plenty of room for their consumption monitor. Trying to get Sunpower to get this final part completed has been an absolute nightmare! We opened the trouble ticket with Sunpower in May of 2023 and as of October it still isn't installed or completed. This has been after at least ten different documented phone calls with SunPower's team to get this finished.

They contract some work out to NovaSource Power Services who is responsible for installing the device. After hounding them for several months they finally scheduled to send out a technician to install the device but he couldn't find it in any of their warehouses and we were back to the phone calls again. When NovaSource returned with the part, the technician had no idea what he was doing and installed it incorrectly. Again, back to the phone calls between both SunPower and NovaSource. In summary, the solar system runs well, but don't expect any decent support after you've paid and have the system installed. It has been an absolute nightmare dealing with them since installation.

Then I had a communication error with the solar panels. Contacted customer support. They tried to troubleshoot the problem over the phone but were not able to fix the problem. So they put a ticket in to have it reviewed. It took a month to apparently get it reviewed and they sent a technician out to diagnose the problem. Turns out I had a part that was not working that was causing the connection problem. Tech had to submit the problem to SunPower. A week and a half later I had the part replaced. Communication probably is now fixed but led to another problem.

Their app does not show me any data that it is supposed to. How much power has been generated, power used, or if I am using power from the grid or power that was generated. It had been 1 week since I contacted customer support about this problem and they still can’t explain anything to me. They just told me that it was escalated from a tier 1 problem to a tier 2 problem and that I have to wait. I have been in my new home for almost 3 months and they can’t get their system to function as described in their videos. Has to be the worst customer service I have experienced as a new customer. I would NEVER recommend this company to anybody I know. If you do give them a try hopefully you have better luck then I have with them.

Shortly after system was turned on, I started experiencing electrical issues. I reported them - over and over - and kept getting told that my matter had been escalated and my issue was going to addressed immediately. Help never came and electrical issues continued to worsen. Then my appliances started to burn out. Again I was trying to get Sunpower to send out someone to evaluate and fix the issue. Despite talking with, emailing and texting my salesperson and project manager, no one showed.

Then my main panel fried leaving us with almost no power to my entire house and the breakers were clicking and sparking - which could have caused a house fire!! Still no response or site visit despite continued cries for help. I finally hired a private electrician who addressed the immediate fire danger and started the process to replace the main panel. PGE came to inspect and the inspector was horrified that the panel had not been replaced (I sent the inspection report to my Sunpower contacts and still nothing). Finally in early April (4/7/23) I talked to a project manager and was promised a crew could be there on 4/28/23! I was horrified! We still had almost no electricity in entire house and were living with extension cords and flashlights.

I complained about the wait and the best he could do was to get someone out on 4/20/23 (2 weeks after the panel fried). The team that ultimately showed up was not a team that handled electrical issues. They told me they would escalate my case to the electrical team. Writing this review on 10/11/23 - no one from Sunpower has come back to do or fix anything.

In the meanwhile, I discovered that while Sunpower was doing some roof repairs (for which I was charged an additional $3080) that they had disposed of my fifteen (15) fully functional solar pool panels! The cost to replace these is around $30,000!! Sunpower has refused to acknowledge any responsibility! After almost 2 months of very limited electricity, my main panel was replaced and PGE approved the permit to operate.

In sum, 3 months after the electrical issues started, I finally had electricity back on in my house thanks to my private electrician. I incurred over $50,000 of out of pocket expenses to repair or replace all that Sunpower damaged or disposed of during the install. My house did not burn down! Had to replace appliances and had countless other costs and major inconveniences due to the issues. And, to date, 10/11/23 - no one from Sunpower has back to evaluate the situation. My calls and emails have been ignored!!!! And my panels are not working even!!!