Sunrise Solar Solutions, LLC

***** See Yelp or Angie's List for full review; Google has space limitations so review is incomplete *****My solar panel system was installed on Dec 16, '14 and I was supposed to have my Operations manual dropped off 1-2 weeks after the mid January '15 building inspection. It's now April and I still don't have it despite emailing Sales Rep, Lee back on 2/26/15 and 3/25/15. In late February, he responded: 'OK Cary -- I'll look into it and get it to you. It's a binder with a few different things for you.' Also, in my late March email, I mentioned that I had 4 'production issue' email alerts from Enphase during the first week of March but no one from Sunrise Solar contacted me or came out to check on things. No response from Lee. Now, I question if I chose the right solar firm as Sunrise is supposed to proactively monitor and service my panels and I am now stuck with them for any future problems with my system for the next 20+ years. With their recent marketing campaigns; Let's Solarize Cortlandt/Croton and Solarize Mamaroneck/Larchmont, how responsive and proactive will they be with a bigger client base?I probably should have gone with a national company, like Verengo Solar or NRG Solar, the route my neighbors are taking.Also, twice, there were mistakes with the figures in my contract so luckily I checked before signing.

Sunrise installed a 14 panel system on our home about 5 weeks ago. I'm very glad we chose to go with them because not only was the actual installation done quickly, neatly and technically well, but they were always there to answer questions. They practically held my hand through what I thought was a confusing process, navigating the financing and incentives. Brad, Sam, Julia and the rest were always an email or phone call away, and I always felt comfortable taking advantage of that. The system performs as expected and we knew the equipment was top notch going into it, but what really sold us was the belief that they would provide great customer service--and they came through with it. We've already begun planning an expansion of the system with them.

Originally I was approached by a company that offered to install a leased solar systemon my roof. I let them do an estimate, but when I read the contract carefully I found it to bevery undesirable; after 20 years of leasing I would not even own the panels! Also, it wasextremely misleading - they were pretending that I would have a lower energy cost per kW-hour, but in fact they were basing their calculation on the amount of energy they were farming off of my roof - not on the amount of energy I was actually using. My advice on leasing solar panels is - read the contract very carefully! That said, they made me realize that the time was probably right for purchasing solar panels, especially since NY State and the Federal government were offering multiple incentives thatbring the actual cost of the system down to roughly 40% of the install price. (I don't honestly know whether all of those incentives are still in place, or whether they are going away). When I decided to buy solar panels for my roof, I went to roughly five contractors, (listed on the NYSERDA web page) for estimates. Since I'm an electrical engineer I had plenty of questions about the details of the installation. Lee Streisfeld-Leitner is the sales rep at Sunrise Solar, and it was largely due to his experience, expertise, and infinite patience with my many, many questions that I eventually selected Sunrise Solar. (In fact, by comparison, the other contractors I got estimates from didn't seem to understand this business very well). Sunrise did a nice job with the installation, and when I pointed out a minor flaw they were quick to fix it. The installation was completed in November 2014, and I admit that for the first month or twoit hardly seemed to make a dent in my electric bill! In retrospect this was due to the fact that my system came on line in the middle of the winter. As the spring came on the system quickly caught up to my energy consumption, and I havebeen operating at an energy surplus since April. I should also mention that I had central air conditioning installed at the same time that the solar cells were installed. (This is a split-system Mitsubishi heat pump with four separate cooling circuits that I am also completely delighted with). Lee S.-L. helped me by submitting details on the new AC system to NYSERDA so that I could get a proper rebate for the extra solar cells required to power the system. I have had the air conditioning on all summer and the solar panels are still generating surplus power. (Note that having too much surplus capacity is not wise since at the end of the year the electric utility will only reimburse you at a whole-sale rate for the extra power you give the grid).Since my roof has an east-west orientation, I required a total of 24 solar panels to meetmy estimated power needs. All in all, I am very happy with my decision to install solar panels. I think the system will easily pay for itself within 10 years, which is roughly half of its expected life time.

As part of a Solarize campaign, Sunrise reviewed my house to see whether it was good for solar. It was not, but I appreciated the candor and honesty of the Sunrise rep. If I ever move to a house with more sun, I'd call Sunrise first.