Sungevity Reviews: Make Your Home (and Earth) Shine Brighter

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Solar panel on roof: Sungevity ReviewsAre you looking for a more affordable and earth friendly way to power your home? If so, you’ve probably done a little research into solar paneling. Upon first glance, outfitting your home with solar panels may seem like a huge and costly undertaking. But companies like Sungevity make the entire process easier than you might think. They handle everything from financing and installation to monitoring and repairs. Read our Sungevity reviews and see why we chose Sungevity as our second choice for our best home solar panel systems.

Sungevity logoVisit Sungevity’s Website

Sungevity

7.8
Installation Process 7.0
System Monitoring 9.0
Performance Guarantee 8.0
Availability in U.S. 7.5
Cost 9.0
Customer Support 6.5

Pros

  • Select Lowe’s locations have Sungevity reps in-house
  • Committed to charitable contributions
  • Guarantee that your system will produce the energy they quote or they pay the difference
  • Carefully picked “preferred installers” are local to your market
  • Dedicated project manager
  • Sungevity monitors your system 24/7
  • PC and mobile apps let you monitor your system’s performance
  • Customers report lower than average price quotes
  • A+ BBB certified

Cons

  • System design based on satellite imaging of your roof instead of an in-person evaluation that you get with some Sungevity competitors
  • No backup if your power goes out
  • Some customer complaints about long installation process and unresponsive customer service

How Far is Sungevity’s Environmental Reach?

Zambia, for starters! In addition to being in the residential solar panel business, Sungevity contributes a portion of proceeds from every system they install into a unique nonprofit called Empowered by Light. This program provides solar cell phone charging kits and solar powered light to kids who live off the grid in Zambia. The company also partners with other non-profit organizations, like the American Diabetes Association and the Sierra Club, to convert their offices to solar power and to help them raise funds for their causes. Now, that’s a huge ray of hope for our world!

Key Features

  • A solar leasing pioneer but also offers other financing options, including loans and power purchase agreements (see our Financing section below for more details)
  • Located in 12 states, including AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, MD, MA, NM, NJ, NY, NC, VT, and the District of Columbia
  • Sales representatives located in select Lowe’s stores (most companies don’t offer this)
  • Contract with local installers, who must meet strict standards
  • 24/7 monitoring and self-monitoring through mobile apps

Sungevity Financing Options

Tip: You could be eligible for state and federal solar energy tax incentives and rebates that can save you even more money.

  • Purchase a Sungevity solar panel system. You can pay outright, obtain a loan or pay by credit card. Sungevity provides 24/7 monitoring and a 20-year system warranty.
  • Sign up for a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). In most ways, a PPA is similar to a lease. But with a PPA you pay monthly for the electricity you produce at a set rate, rather than a fixed monthly fee. It’s like having an electric bill, but solar rates are usually lower than electricity.
  • Lease a solar panel system with no upfront costs and a monthly lease payment. Leases for a 5-kilowatt system start at $40-$140 per month for 20 years, based on approved credit. “Payment terms may vary and may include fixed payments or escalating payments at a rate of 1.5-2.9% annually for 20 years,” according to their website. No security deposit and zero due at lease signing.

Check out this video about Sungevity costs and how much you can save by leasing a solar panel system.

Coupon

Our link above applies discounts if available

How Do Sungevity Customers Weigh In?

See below for a sampling of positive Sungevity reviews and Sungevity complaints from customers who currently use the system.

Positive Sungevity Solar Reviews

For Customer service and a first rate installation team I am so happy I chose Sungevity! I just loved all the extra touches and attention to details! No surprises that were anything to have them return to correct. Love how they matched the conduit to match house creating a super first class professional installation! 5 stars for quality on ever [sic] aspect of this project! – Kenny G., Yelp 6/10/2016

The purchase of my solar energy product was easy through financing and installation was very professional. After service was very helpful. I would purchase again and would recommend to my friends and family. – Robert, Consumer Affairs 12/6/2015

Negative Sungevity Reviews

I signed a contract with them back in August. The install should have been done within a couple of months. We are now in month five and the system is still not operational. The sales person was very good and responsive and they were right on top of everything through the contract signing. Since then, getting a schedule has been impossible and the only time anything happens is when I call up and get mad. The project manager I had was totally unresponsive. – Pamela S., Yelp 1/5/2016

We signed up with Sungevity in May 2015. Installation took much longer than promised. Installation caused 2 leaks — one in the attic, one in the basement. They fixed those, but after that, system has issues and support will NOT help. They NEVER return phone calls, they NEVER return emails. – Craig, Consumer Affairs 1/5/2016

Does Sungevity Hold the Solar Panel Power?

Visit Sungevity’s Website

Not in terms of market share, but, as we mentioned above, Sungevity came in second place in our overall review of best solar panel companies for your home, just behind our number one pick SolarCity (the current powerhouse in the residential solar panel industry). While a few of Sungevity’s features fall a bit behind, namely no power outage backup, it’s hard to beat Sungevity cost and their commitment to charitable causes. If you want to invest in a company that stands by its pledge to save our planet, Sungevity deserves careful consideration.

How would you rate the Sungevity solar energy system?

Sungevity

7.8
Installation Process 7.0
System Monitoring 9.0
Performance Guarantee 8.0
Availability in U.S. 7.5
Cost 9.0
Customer Support 6.5

Pros

  • Select Lowe’s locations have Sungevity reps in-house
  • Committed to charitable contributions
  • Guarantee that your system will produce the energy they quote or they pay the difference
  • Carefully picked “preferred installers” are local to your market
  • Dedicated project manager
  • Sungevity monitors your system 24/7
  • PC and mobile apps let you monitor your system’s performance
  • Customers report lower than average price quotes
  • A+ BBB certified

Cons

  • System design based on satellite imaging of your roof instead of an in-person evaluation that you get with some Sungevity competitors
  • No backup if your power goes out
  • Some customer complaints about long installation process and unresponsive customer service
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