03/12/2024
Aya
Berkeley, CA
Hooked On Solar hooked up a residential solar system to an old electrical system at my house for a cost of $21,875. I also financed a battery system with Hooked on Solar, the two transactions separated only because Hooked On Solar forgot to include the battery in the originally financed package. Hooked on Solar installed my solar panels and battery system sometime in 2021. I noticed that in June 2022, the system performance was in decline. In January 2023, hooked on solar turned off my solar system entirely with no explanation. I contacted Hooked On Solar multiple times thruout the year, only to find out that the system was not green lighted by PGE after the solar panels were installed. I had an electrician do an all around upgrade of my electrical system in which the hub was moved away from the gas meter. Hooked On Solar then sent an addition invoice for $2700 for “Labor and Parts for moving loads back to hub+” in November 2023, and then asked me to get my electrician to give a competing quote. My Electrician complained that this was a service gap that Hooked On Solar had created and they need Hooked On Solar to finish the job before they come in again. I complained to Hooked On Solar that as State Licensed Contractors, they should not have proceeded with the original hook up to a non compliant system, and that this second invoice to “move loads back to hub” is a cost that I am only comfortable paying upto 50%, because Hooked On Solar made the problem worse by not inspecting the permitability of the system they were hooking into in the first place. System has been off since January 2023. I paid more than $30k for the solar panels plus battery, and have not had normal use of the system since June 2022.
System size (kW): 240
System price: $21,875
Year installed: 2021
Price include the Federal Tax Credit or incentives: No
Hooked On Solar reply
05/14/2024
Hello Ayako, Looking through the history of the project, the original contract was for solar only and the battery was added later. There are several email correspondences with different options that were discussed and ultimately only the solar agreement was signed to start, with the battery being added later.
The issue that occurred was that you had an illegal “PCO” completed prior to our installation. There was no way of knowing this on our end. Because of the illegal PCO done years ago, the neutral wire connection to PG&E became damaged over time, which affected the incoming voltage into your house. The voltage imbalance from the damaged neutral caused many of your microinverters, your Sunvault battery, and many of your appliances to fail. When you asked PG&E to fix the incoming lines, they refused because the PCO was done illegally, and they said you must get your main service panel up-to-code, and then they would fix the problem. We signed into a separate contract with you for Hooked on Solar to complete the main panel upgrade and went through the process of getting approval to do so, however, when it came time to schedule, we were informed that you had an electrician complete the upgrade separately. Because of how the house was wired, the electrician had to put all the backed-up circuits back into the main panel. None of what happened was caused by Hooked on Solar. If we return and move those loads again, it would be like completing the installation twice, minus hanging the batteries. For this reason, we sent an invoice to move loads from the main panel back to the HUB+ and get solar back on and working, but as you mentioned you would only agree to pay half of the cost. We had already significantly discounted the cost and, again, this situation was not caused by Hooked on Solar, but was a result of the illegal PCO that was on site. There is no way of knowing that the PCO was completed illegally unless we were told by the homeowner at the start. If PG&E did a routine inspection before granting your PTO, they may have brought to light that there were additional issues that then could have been addressed at that time, but they didn’t and PTO was granted, and all was well, until your damaged incoming utility lines started to cause electrical issues in your house. This is not caused by our installation and is not a covered warranty claim, and that is why there is a cost involved to now correct the issue and get everything operational again.
We would like to work with you and have this resolved, and we are still willing to relocate the backup loads for you, with the agreement that the invoice we have quoted will be paid.