Review for Encor Solar (Out of Business)

Office location: 30 Ben Lippen School Rd, Asheville NC, 28806

02/08/2024
Dave B Brevard, NC

Frustrating Start but Great Afterwards

I'm sharing my experience with Encor to not discourage people to buy solar. They are out of business, and my initial experience did match many of the negative comments. My installation process was bumpy and they were late in delivering a functional system as others have said. That said, since then the panels have worked without a hitch and my electric bill has only consisted of the hookup charge, between $15-$17 per month. A couple things I learned: * Duke resets your power credit in May, just as your AC is about to kick in for the summer. This is why people are seeing charges when they think they'll be zeroed out. I got around this by getting a 6k system instead of a 5k system, so I'm generating enough surplus power that I don't get a bill except for the connection fee. This is not Encor's fault and any other solar provider would experience the same issue. Blame Duke Energy or your power company and the NC legislature, which structured the law based on what the utilities, not customers, wanted. This was designed to frustrate customers and create a negative experience for adopters of solar. * While it was frustrating, most of the time it takes to get the solar panels turned on consisted of waiting for Duke Power to inspect and approve the hookup. The panels were installed by the installer relatively close to the agreed upon date. This wasn't Encor's fault and you would have the same issue with any other installer. I was again waiting on Duke, not Encor. * Be advised that the solar tax credit doesn't work as a check returned by the federal government. Regarding the sales contract, this is one part that was misleading. Regarding the following, I am not a lawyer and I am not an accountant. As I understand it, it works as just a tax credit held by the government that you use year after year until the credit is used up. So if you installed the system last year and the taxes for 2023 is $3000, you don't pay that $3000. If you're due a refund because you've already paid that $3000, you will get a refund of $3000. This is how it has worked for me.