Do not use Sun Badger if you want to move forward with solar. My project started September 2021. Sun Badger did make it clear at my consult meeting that the project would take some time to get through the phases, mainly the bureaucratic phase.
I patiently waited until July 2022 with little to no updates on my project. I should note that Sun Badger provides you with an app to track your project which never worked. In July 2022 I received an email from one of the project team members, which switched throughout my project multiple times, stating I was finally in the instillation stage. Install was scheduled for September 12th. I told them that date would work fine and took the day off work to be available.
On September 12th no one showed up to my house. I emailed them and got this response "I apologize for the miscommunication that has occurred here. I had previously sent you a message regarding changes that were made in your installation date. We have recently been made aware of some technical issues with our emails recently resulting in them not reaching their intended recipients, and I am truly disheartened to realize that this email was among them. Due to a change in our personnel and the difficulty our team has faced finding available skilled workers (primarily electricians) our timeline has experienced a sudden shift and we now have your installation date set for Wednesday October 5th." After multiple attempts to call my management team without anyone answering, I attempted to leave a voicemail which was full. This situation happened on multiple occasions throughout my project, and I want to drill home the point that communication is by far the most frustrating and worst part of working with Sun Badger. They refuse to communicate via telephone unless absolutely necessary or threatened with hiring an attorney. Sun Badger ended up having an opening on September 12th and they finally showed up to install my panels. The install of my system took two weeks before getting to the final part of my project which is called the interconnection phase. At this point it was determined that my project management team submitted all the paperwork to my electric company to have the interconnection completed on the wrong meter. I have two meters on my property, one for my house and one for my shed, which was made clear to Sun Badger when I met with them to start my project. Due to the paperwork for the interconnection being submitted for my house instead of my shed where my panels were installed, my project was again pushed back a minimum of 6 weeks before my panels could officially be turned on. Because of this, Sun Badger agreed to reimburse me my first month’s payment on the panels which starts 8 weeks after they are officially installed on my roof. It was at this point that communication really started to go downhill. What little communication I received before was nonexistent.
My interconnection was finally approved, and Sun Badger coordinated with my power company to complete the utility interconnection at my house on December 27th. This was the last email I received from my project management team. I did not receive an email or phone call to let me know my system was officially up and running or how to track the power being produced. After spending hours on the phone with my power company and reaching out to every single past project manager, I finally received a text message from a past employee stating he had quit. He was nice enough to give me the name, number and email of the president of the company, Trevor Sumner. Mr. Sumner did eventually return my email; however, refuses to call me after multiple requests and threats to hire an attorney yet again. He did eventually send me an email with directions on how to download Enphase, which is the app to track production of my panels. To this date I have not received reimbursement for my first month’s payment, no direction on how to use my system and no direction on how to collect the federal tax rebate.
Do. Not. Use. Sun badger.