Alternate Energy

Peggy P.

I do not recommend Alternate Energy! Once they have your money and the system is installed, their customer service is very poor!
Check with Better Business Bureau and see the complaints that they have received.

Steven L.

They are great in getting your business but horrible in maintaining them....if you ask for a quote for something new they will get back to you within 24 hours...however request a service call and you'll be waiting for days without a reply....had my on pv installed in 2012 and had my system stopped reporting....called again and was told someone will call back...after 72 hours without a call back I called again with a promise someone would contact me. I got a call the next day asking me to take pictures of the envoy unit....told me they received the pictures and will get back....after 3 days with no response followed up and was told it would cost over 1,000 to replace...I asked who it wasn't under their 10/25 year warranty their reply was that module has only a 2 year warranty. I asked them for a copy of my contract that spells out the exception and they replied they would. Its been over a week with no response. Overall quick to get your business but lousy service afterwards.

Larry O.

This is to update my previous post about alternate energy and how I would never use them again and do not recommend them. After about 6 months of my system being up in running the Enphase system reporting stopped working. I called the office and they schedule a technician to come and look at it and he came about 2 weeks then he got it working again but only after Installing adapters on the outside unit and within to my router. That it only worked for 15 to 20 days and unbeknownst to me then the technician asked for a $150 fee and then I was sent a $250 bill then within 2 weeks this also stopped working. So I decided to call up ponchos solar and through a technician was able to diagnose that the unit was not operating and I called the manufacturer who is sending another replacement and I'm going to have my service conducted through ponchos solar and install the replacement part I recommend calling ponchos solar.

Myron I.

First off, got my pvs installed in 2014. everything was great, actually still is.
maybe from sometime in 2015, i noticed i wasnt getting any energy reports via email anymore. it would state that my home was not producing. it wasnt something i was in a rush to do. i did look up some troubleshooting online at the time and never got around to it. fast foward to 2019, it was then bugging me and i wanted to resolve it. i looked more into it and then made a call to enphase. the rep told me to go look at my unit and that it should be inside my home somewhere or in the garage. i thought that was strange but i knew where it was. it was outside next to my main panel. anyways, screen was all messed up and he clearly stated that it shouldnt have been installed outside, especially outside in a hot panel with no air flow. its not rated to be outdoors. theres the problem right there. he said for a new one it would be about 1k. i talked to him a little bit more about it and then he admitted that the installer shouldnt have installed it outside. i asked what he thought of me going after the company for a replacement, and of course, he said he would.
so, i tried contacting someone at alternate energy regarding my situation after my call to enphase. i dealt with a lady who i was only able to speak to once, rest were via text messages. seems like everytime i called she was screening calls and didnt answer. lets say i got nowhere with her to the point of her not texting me back.
so, i tried again maybe 3 weeks ago and spoke with a different female. she said she would let the appropriate party know about it and have them call me back. i know i aint getting no calls from anyone at alternate.

at time of install i would of gave 5 stars, as of now, just 1. IF im helped, my review may change.

Erin L.

I wanted to wait a while to see whether this would be a continued problem or if it was maybe a fluke. After the new inverter was finally installed we have has no problems. I think it has been about 9 months. Again, we had to be a huge advocate for ourselves in trying to resolve the issue by calling Alternate Energy almost everyday. In the end, it seems that SolarEdge wanted some information from Alternate Energy and Alternate Energy believed it provided all the information, and I had to be the middle man calling both sides to figure out what was missing. This was very frustrating. Nevertheless, once the problem was fixed it seems to have been working out okay. I'm hoping this was a fluke and an unfortunate customer experience that won't repeat.

Chuck D.

UPDATED BELOW. After 7 months from the time we signed up and made our deposit, we are still waiting. I know things can take awhile in Hawaii with permitting and all, but initially we were told it could probably take till May, then it was June, now its going to be July (hopefully).
Today HECO came out and installed the new house meter. I was told by the tech that I need to contact the company (Alternate Energy) so they can get a contractor out to install the solar meter and turn the system on. So I called AE and was told by our salesman that HECO takes care of that, HECO tech said they dont, so now what? Salesman said HECO will call me in a week, then he said a week or two.
Will update this and adjust the rating up or down, depending on what transpires in the near future.
UPDATE 7/1/2020. Yesterday I received a call from Roy @ AE clarifying the procedures. My thanks to Roy for taking the time to give me the correct low down. A little while later he called to say he talked to a HECO supervisor to see when we could get our solar turned on. This morning the electrician arrived to finish the meter installation and turn the system on. Great!!

J. C.

Alternate Energy always does great work for me at a great price. They installed 2 split Mitsubishi A/C systems at my place and 2 at my mother's place. Joel and his crew were prompt, courteous and professional. Joel also addressed any issues promptly.

Darci B.

We installed a solar water heater (replacement of inoperable one and relocated from inside closet to outside storage), 18 PV panels and a Tesla battery. I had already signed contracts and started the process with Haleakala but I paid $1500 to cancel everything with Haleakala and switched to AE when Haleakala could not tell me what kind of PV panels were being installed. Alternate Energy installed Panasonic PV panels whereas Haleakala finally disclosed a China brand. Made the switch and with only 2-3 months left in 2019 they were able to expedite everything to ensure 2019 installation so I could capitalize on the last year of the 30% tax credits. I really appreciate the quick install as I was able to get back around $23k on my taxes. I waited to post my first review until I received my first electric bill, which I just got, $26.25! I'm only paying the admin fee and green energy fee. I sold my dishwasher since I don't use one, but I'm happy that I can wash all my dishes with hot water throughout the day. I didn't have any hiccups or issues with any process of my installation. From beginning to end everything went fluidly.

Russell K. K.

One star is actually to much. 7 years ago alternate installed their pv system. They installed on my double shingle roof. I now have the wet rot on that side of my house. They came out and ""Stan"" inspected and said it wasn't their fault. I hired a roofer and he said it was alternate fault as they installed and didn't do it right. Alternate recommended a outside roofer to inspect. He came and inspected. He said they installed it the right way, but they were not supposed to install on a double shingle roof. Water will seep in between and cause damage, which is what happened. Now they don't respond to emails. So this leads me to believe they are still not going to fix their mistakes. To top it off, the roofer found additional holes on the wrong side of the house, that they filled up and neglected to inform me about. I would not recommend them to anyone.

Craig K.

My solar water heater just started making a loud noise that Alternate Energy installed for me over 20 years ago. I never had a problem with my solar water heater in those 20 years. I looked up their warranty of the solar water system and noted that full customer support was guaranteed for the entire lifetime of the system. I called Alternate Energy and a technician came out the same day (which I didn't expect but appreciated). The technician diagnosed the problem and explained everything to me. Although he did not have the available part with him to repair the problem, (in the meantime went with HECO power), another technician came by two days later, installed the part and my solar water heater is now as good as new. All this was done at a minimum cost to me. Alternate Energy absorbed the other costs themselves because the time they spent diagnosing the problem, explaining what they were doing, the repair, transportation to my home and cleanup, I know would've been A LOT more had I called another company. This is why all my friends, co-workers and I always go with Alternate Energy. Their reputation is highly noteworthy. Thank you Bruce and your staff.