Horizon Energy Systems

After interviewing and getting bids from a few different solar companies, we chose Horizon Energy, and we are so glad we did.  They are simply amazing!  We were more than pleased - we were thrilled with every aspect of the process.  The sales guy was dedicated and passionate about his work - he even designed a solar system that enabled us to put the panels on the back, north-facing side of our house!  All the other solar guys told us the panels would have to go on the front of our house...something we didn't really want to do.  Well, Horizon came through!  And because we put them on the back of the house, we didn't have to go with the expensive, aesthetically-pleasing panels, saving us some money.  <br /> <br /> The installers were extremely professional and courteous, even going so far as to buy paint to match the exterior of our home to mask the wires they had to install.  They asked me several times to confirm the location of the extra equipment, and made sure they respected my kids' naptimes!  Have you ever heard of contractors caring about sleeping kids?  <br /> <br /> Overall, I can't say enough great things about this company - we are so glad we went with Horizon ang HIGHLY recommend them to anyone looking for a solar company. 

Horizon was excellent. Kurt was the person who initially came out to see if solar was feasible on my roof. He was extremely thorough and had to do a lot of measuring and computing because I have trees that cause shading on the south side of my house. However he managed to figure out placement of the panels so I would get the best coverage I could year round taking into account angle of the sun and where it would be blocked at different times of day and year. They also did a thorough inspection of the power system in my house and determined where to tap in, what would be needed, and how they would run all the cables. In the process of that, they did find some potentially dangerous sub-standard wiring (too large a gauge for the current pull) in an existing circuit and replaced that for me. The design work for the system was at their offices and it seemed to go fine. There were a few options in some places and they explained the choices to me so that I could make them from an informed place. When they came to install, they were efficient and thorough. The system went in quickly and was up and running smoothly. They had to come back and make a couple of tweaks because the monitoring equipment that comes with the system was not always able to get a reading on the state of the system. This sometimes happens in homes with longer wiring runs or a little more ambient electrical noise and was not in any way caused by Horizon itself. They were very happy to come back twice to try two different ways to deal with the problem. The second fix they made completely solved it and I have had a fully operational solar power system with bullet proof monitoring equipment since then. It has been about six months and I have had no problems at all.

Horizon is great. Our sales guy was Craig, and we have enjoyed working with him. He came to measure the sunlight on the roof and talk to us about the systems, and the new tax credits available. He came back in a few days with several scenarios. We ended up choosing a bigger system that he recommended, because we expect to buy an electric car within two years. The first project was installing the 40 Sunpower 230 watt PV panels on our garage, along with two inverters (one for the 20 panels on the front, and other for the 20 panels on the back) and a solar monitoring system (remote display unit in the house and data uploaded to a web site that graphs our production). It took a few weeks and a little back and forth with San Mateo County, but the permit was approved and the system was installed over two days at the end of December, and the new Net Meter from PG&E installed at the beginning of January. The crew was friendly, professional, and efficient. The total cost of the system was $72,000 but would be eligible for a PG&E rebate of $12,000, so they only charged us for $60,000 and would get the rebate directly from PG&E. They also indicated that we would be eligible for an $18,000 tax credit on our 2009 taxes, bringing the cost to $42,000 after we see the tax credit in April 2010. The second project was to install solar water panels to heat the pool. We waited until the spring for this project, and had to remove a tree that was shading the roof where we wanted to place them. There was back and forth with the County again for the permit. (They are concerned about the structure of the roof and needed pictures for both jobs.) We ended up with 7 panels (4 feet x 12 feet each) because that was all that would fit. (We hope that with our cover keeping the heat in at night this will get our pool into the high 80s.) Here's how the systems are doing: In the winter our panels were producing about 15 kWh per day. In the summer about 55kWh per day. Our pool, only running the pump until 2pm has gotten the pool to 82 degrees, so we've extended the pump to 5pm to pick up a bit more heat. (It is a tradeoff when you have solar power because 1pm to 7pm is the most expensive for electricity.) You only pay for your electricity once a year after you switch to Solar Net Metering. In the winter we were buying electricity, in the summer we are selling more than we use. Hopefully we'll end up with a minimal bill at the end of a year. We were very happy with Horizon. They are great with communication via email and phone. Always happy to answer questions. The work looks great. When we had an issue with the monitoring system they were very prompt to respond. Horizon came to us highly recommended from a friend who used them.