Is your solar installer from Washington?
Mar 17, 2023
Solar is a rapidly growing market in Washington state, but not all installers are equal.
Purchasing anything of substantial cost and value can be a daunting task. You want to feel like you’re making the right decision. The thought of buyer’s remorse creeping in will make anyone pause. We’ve all been there.
Doing a bit of research can go a long way when choosing a solar installer (or making any large purchase for that matter). There are a few questions you may want to ask before signing on the dotted line.
There are a lot of new companies entering the marketplace in Washington - a lot of national brands eager to capture the growing interest in solar in our great state. Here are a few questions we think you should be asking yourself before committing to an installer.
Are the crew members who are installing the system employees of the company or are they subcontractors?
A great way to measure a company’s commitment to their customers as well as their longterm strategy is to understand if they employ their installers or if they subcontract their work. When a company subcontracts their labor, there’s a real possibility they’re not invested in maintaining longterm business in that region or state. You could think of them more as a sales organization that happens to sell solar and they hire labor to do the actual work. If they don’t employ staff in the field, how can they ensure support to troubleshoot and fix issues down the road? Weekly, we hear from people who had gone with another installer years ago who are either no longer in business or just refuse to help them because they don’t have staff in the field. Longterm warranties don’t mean much if the company can’t support you after installation.
At Blossom, we do not subcontract our work. Our installers are all employed by Blossom Solar. If a customer has a flat roof material like PVC, TPO, or torch down, we may hire a roofer to seal around our penetrations, but that’s only because we want the best possible protection for the roofs we install on, and we do the rest.
Is the sales process moving a bit too fast?
OK, many of us have been in a high-pressure sales situation before. Sometimes, we don’t even know it until we’re right about to sign and then we have to make the decision to either move forward or hold off and think about it some more.
The decision to go solar shouldn’t feel like that. It’s a big decision and you should be allowed time to make the right one. We hear from customers who are given strict, short timelines to sign a contract or the price will either go up or have to re-quoted. How does that make sense? The only logic we can assume is that the price or value is such that if you were to comparison shop, you might make another decision.
If your sales rep is presenting a price that is only good that day or within a few days, there’s likely a reason to get a few more quotes.
At Blossom, our pricing is good for 30 days upon delivery of a quote to you. We don’t do the high-pressure sales thing. We want our customers to make the best decision for their household, and we believe that’s us. We believe that pricing our projects fairly benefits our customers and the longterm health of our company (which in turn benefits our customers so we can support them and their systems in the many years to come), and is just the right thing to do.
Does the pricing seem fair?
In today’s economy, material prices can fluctuate significantly, causing the price of a project to shift in either direction. For the sake of full transparency here, we have experienced these changes in material costs and have passed along increases and savings to our customers while maintaining our 30 day price guarantee after delivering a quote.
What we have noticed from reviewing competitors’ quotes, shared by our customers, is the cost per watt is totally out of whack for some companies. Again, it comes back to the fact that solar is a growing market in Washington and some brands are either leveraging a lack of awareness with some folks, or their organizations are so large that the overhead necessitates a higher price. Either way, it’s not great for the customer.
At Blossom Solar, we price our solar panel and home battery projects fairly and individually, so each customer is paying for what they receive, not compensating for anyone else’s project.
Will the other installer have permits in hand at the time of installation?
We’ve noticed a growing trend of non-Blossom Solar customers seeking our help because their installer had not taken the steps to receive the necessary approvals to energize their systems, whether that be proper permits or the interconnection agreement with their utility. Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do to help these customers.
At Blossom, you can rest assured that we will apply for all of the necessary permits and approvals to get your system energized and Net Metered with your utility.
