Alternate Energy

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.

Jon S.

We chose Alternate Energy to install our PV a few years ago. Installation was great and we loved the workers that came to our house. For the past few years we have not had any problems but recently our PV production was declining so I was put in contact with Abby Ngo since they determined that my Envoy was broken and they could not diagnose the issue. I thought this would be covered by the warranty, however, they said it was not. My issue was Abby's lack of response and follow up. I had to repeatedly try to call and email her. She never answered her phone and never responded to my emails except for my initial email. I had to chase the company to get the work done. The office call takers are pleasant and the field guys are awesome. Too bad an unresponsive employee made me not like this company.

B H.

Had our PV system installed in 2013 and even with an ""oops, sorry"" through the ceiling mistake, it seemed to be okay. In 2017, the drywall directly under the system started to discolor. Obvious leak and called for warranty service. No return calls. Called another time and told them I would hold. Held forever and I assume they thought I would hang up. Arranged for service and my mistake was I should have followed the service guy (contracted out, btw) on the roof to watch but too naive I guess. Said was fixed but didn't touch damaged interior. Said not his job and to call the officer. Called and was told someone would call back. Fast forward to 2018, still waiting . After the rains last month, still leaking and paint is now peeling off the drywall. Called Alternate again. Clerk said warranty guy will call back. Waited a week. No return calls. Called again and clerk said she will walk the message to him because he was in. 2 weeks later, still no return calls. Next stop BBB and will contact Mitsubishi direct to illuminate them of this company and the poor service that is a reflection and endorsement their product.

Lala S.

Thank you for your once again extremely professional response . I have no reason to lie and have posted a cropped quote that you sent me, (without posting my information for the world to see online), proof that I am not lying and that you are. You had my address before you even wrote up the quote. So for you to all of a sudden say that you don't do apartments is a laugh. I am in fact extremely busy - besides why would messaging you, someone who only cares about bad yelp reviews, be on the top of my to do list? FYI I have a permit but thanks for asking. I'm so glad that instead of trying to resolve conflict, you just try to take the blame off of you and your company. Thanks for the good luck, I wonder if you actually mean it.

I'm sorry I was quite busy, didn't know I had a timeline to write back, on top of that now that I remember correctly, my husband had to call several times before we were able to get in touch with you because you were on a trip and apparently no one else could help us. I already have an existing split AC and the board has already said that it is alright to replace with the same BTU, but thank you for your response. The Department of Planning and Permitting is not a problem, and I have already consulted with other companies regarding my AC, but I'm glad that I am finding out about your unwillingness to help now rather than suffering for it later. On top of that, my living situation is not the reason that you told my husband that you would be unable to install. He was told that you were too busy. I contacted you in spite of the negative reviews already posted on your site, and I have now changed my mind. I am not disappointed that you could not do my AC, I am quite relieved. By the way, I really appreciate you publicly posting my living situation on the internet and the grace with which you accepted your review. I also don't know how you can say that not many companies will install split AC's because I've talked to several who are willing to and at a lower cost than what you offered. I can't believe that you have the audacity to lie about these kinds of things. That is completely unethical.

Nakitaandalan V.

I really don't know where to start. We originally got out system installed 3.5 years ago and we were? really happy with the quick and fast install. We heard some really good things about this company from our friends who hired them so we decided to follow and pay the extra money to go with Alternate Energy. 6 months later our solar Wifi repeater went down so we were unable to view our solar production. When I called in to get a replacement I was told this was not covered by the warranty. I guess that wasn't part of the 20-year? warranty ok fine. A year later after the install,? I received?e a $400 dollar electric bill and I called them and they said ""it wasn't their responsibility to keep track of your system"", ok fine again. I asked if they would pay for the electric bill and they said no. 2 years after it? broke the first time it broke again and I received??d another $400 dollar electric bill. I didn't even bother to ask and if they would pay for it. I just asked when they could come out to fix it and was surprised? to find out that I would be charged $50 bucks an hour for their technician to fix it. When I asked why was I being charged when I have a 20-year warranty they said only the parts were? covered and not the labor. Then? for a cherry topper,? I was never informed that they would send me a bill via email, I was waiting for some type of bill in the mail and never got it. ?Then? my wife tells me we have a late fee on an email. So I called them to ask for the late fee to be removed because I never received? notification I would get a bill via email and they said the ""billing department is on lunch and they would call me back"". I waited? all day and no one called me back so I called the next day. Then? the billing person tells me they did notify me via email the day before and that I got denied for waiving the late fee. I told the billing lady I was promised? a callback? and not an email. O well at this point I wasn't surprised by their poor customer service skills. I would look elsewhere?? if you were looking to get solar installed at your place. There are cheaper places out there with better customer service, save your money. I will definitely look for a different solar company for my next home.
YOU WERE WARNED !!!!!!!

James B.

Dean WOW! You are awesome! Came out the first time to see if we could safe my solar hot water but no such luck. Very knowledgeable and thorough. A couple of weeks later brought out a new hot water heater and after working all day, reconfigured it to be more efficient and looks better organized than previous. He even checked my pressure relief valve on the roof and said it was good to go. Thanks so much!

Mike C.

Good going again alternative energy! I was told by another contractor that my split air conditioning system would have to be replaced. My Mitsubishi system was not producing any cooling. Joel from alternate energy came over and diagnose the problem. I was impressed with Joel's professional approach to tackle the problem.
In the end, all I needed was recharging the refrigerant. Save me over $5500 for a new system.
Mahalo
Mike Cordeiro

Sean S.

Thank you Jim for reaching out to so quickly and timely. Very much appreciate your concerted efforts in rectifying this issue. You were true to your words that you get back to me with a resolution and kept your promise!!!! Very pleased with your attention to customer service!!

Rami B.

Five years ago I purchased 28 PPV panels from Alternate Energy here in Hawai'i on Oahu. I chose them because they are supposed be one the oldest and most reputable solar energy companies here. They did an energy survey to determine how many panels we needed for our home and said that once installed we would only be paying the base rate HECO charges it's electrical customers which now in 2019 is about $20 a month. The first few years were fine but starting on the third year I noticed that during the ""winter months"" we started having to pay $50, $100, and even $150 dollars a month on our electric bill. I asked Alternate Energy why this is happening so they did another study of our electrical use and our PPV panels functioning and they told me that they are still working well at 101% capacity and to ask HECO why I am being charged more. I called HECO, and they came out and tested our meter and said everything is working fine and to contact Alternate Energy about why their solar panels are not harvesting enough solar energy to meet our household needs. I still can't get a satisfactory answer from anyone about this so I cannot recommend this solar energy company. Also, their customer service is terrible. I keep calling and leaving messages with many different staff members but never hear back from anyone. They use a solar monitoring system called Enphase and it is very unreliable. It goes on offline often and I can't get any help from them to either reset it or get a new functioning unit. If you are looking to have solar panels installed on your home choose a different company than this one. If you work for Alternate Energy and are reading this I'd love to hear from you and ask why you think that misleading and abandoning your customers is a good business model.

Ron O.

For those yelpers rating Alternate Energy ""A"" star, I'm in agreement with you with all of your concerns, more so regarding PV System. AE Customer Service is out of this world. Installed my $40,000.00 PV system in 2012 with a guarantee from the sales person that we wouldn't have problems because this company is a ""local"" company. Guess wrong, sales person (good friend of the owner) no longer works for this company. Long gone, have dealt with customer service, too many names to remember in getting service for my Enphase Micro Inverters, which AE always has to get approval to change out defective inverters, try 10 micro inverters of 30 that were either defective or had problems. In addition, it's 2019, and majority of those cheap tie straps holding the inverter wiring are breaking off as they become brittle. The problem with this, the dangling wires rub against the asphalt shingles causing bare wiring in due time when the wind blows and moves the wire back and forth. Took over 6 months to have AE to replace the tie straps, same ones used and I guess I'll be calling AE again in 7 years for same problems, hopefully they are still around.

Secondly, for those customers who are sold on using AE to install your system, make sure you have someone watch the installation, as things that were shown to us by the sales person may not be the same as those installed. Sales person showed us a heavy gauge aluminum flashing to be tucked in between the asphalt shingles and where the mounting brackets are attached and penetrated in to the roof rafters. Only after the track rails and mounting brackets were installed, we noticed that the ""heavy gauge aluminum"" plates were warped with the edges of the plates lifting up as the mounting brackets were screwed down. Seeing that the aluminum sheet metal was thin as a aluminum soda can, I asked the On sight supervisor that this product is not what was shown to us, his answer it's what we use. The other problem was rain water leak as the water would run under the aluminum sheeting rather than over, so I asked the supervisor that I would like to have each of the aluminum sheet wedged under the shingles be caulked with a waterproof seal to prevent leaks. The supervisor's tone of voice and attitude showed that he was upset that he had to caulk seal each plate.

Bottom line, ask friends, relatives and family who they used to install their PV system, as its not worth dealing with a company with poor customer service, no response, asked for the owner who is out of the office each time I called and asked for him. Well, I'm never recommending my friends, family and relatives to this company, even to my daughter and son in-law who are in the process of building a new home this year.

Good luck to those who feel they got a good deal, good service and great customer service. No one should have to deal with this type of customer service whether it's for a PV or AC system that you paid for your hard earned money.