Natural Energy reviews
• last updated FEB 26, 2026Loading map...
The Verdict
This company is effectively out of business for warranty service. We found 29 reviews describing leaking pool solar panels that never get repaired, with reviewers reporting months of unreturned calls and hung-up phone lines. One homeowner with a 15-year transferable warranty spent three weeks and five calls trying to schedule a repair. When he finally reached someone named Ted, the manager became hostile and hung up mid-call. Another customer paid cash for 15 rooftop panels that sat idle for six weeks because the company installed them but delayed the inverter, meaning the system generated zero power while the owner had already paid in full. The post-install collapse is near-total: 21 reviews describe systems never connected to the utility, monitoring dashboards never set up, and permits never filed. One homeowner discovered in 2021 that their 2018 installation had never been approved by the city or utility, meaning they paid full retail rates for three years on power their own panels generated. We couldn't find a single review from the past two years describing successful warranty service or a completed callback.
If you're weighing this company because the quote came in lower than competitors, know that the warranty is essentially decoration. You'll own panels with no one to service them when they fail.
Reviews That Shaped Our Verdict
Grim K. paid $15,000 cash for a 15-panel rooftop system from Natural Energy USA and declined their 25-year contract. He discovered crews put the panels on the roof, collected full payment, then left the inverter off for six weeks. Salesman Phil Mcvail kept insisting the panels were producing power without the inverter, but Grim found that wasn’t true—the panels sat idle until the inverter was finally installed. Within a year the inverter failed: the system showed no output from January 12 to April 1, 2019, and attempts to get the company to fix it ran into unanswered phones and a voicemail that used the name Solar USA. The installer also missed the DWP rebate deadline—more than $1,100—and then threatened legal action when Grim pushed back. Repeated requests for the promised 10-year inverter warranty produced nothing, even while the company called to try to sell more panels. He ended up with weeks of idle equipment after paying, a failed inverter within a year, no warranty paperwork, and a lost rebate—the kinds of concrete failures that mattered most to him.
Cathy B. had a residential solar system installed in 2018 that ultimately produced good equipment performance, but the project was marred by the contractor’s behavior and a long regulatory hang-up. Early on the owner put the new electrical panel in the wrong spot, and SDGE insisted it be moved to meet current code. He promised to pursue a waiver — a solution Cathy did not want — then went quiet and stopped responding. A year later, after noticing a change in her SDGE bill, she contacted a different solar company and first learned the term net-metering. That second opinion revealed the system had never been approved by the city or SDGE, so Cathy had essentially been running a system that lacked permits and utility sign-off. The permitting and net-metering process with SDGE dragged on; the panel relocation and permit approval finally happened in June 2021, and the account moved onto net-metering on July 11, 2021 — roughly three years after the 2018 installation (which itself had taken five to six months to complete). The detail that lingers is this: the panels worked, but because the owner walked away from permitting, Cathy didn’t receive net-metering benefits until mid-2021.
Don moved into a house that already had an Advantage Gold solar pool system covered by a 15‑year transferable warranty. A few years back he discovered small leaks in the panels and only got service after faxing them proof of the warranty. Recently two more leaks showed up, one large enough to put the whole solar system out of use, and he began a three‑week effort to get a repair scheduled. He first called the company’s 800 number; a woman took his information and promised a callback in a few days that never came. A week later he left a message at the Escondido office and still heard nothing, so he called again and finally reached Ted, who took his details, gave him a cell number, and said someone would be in touch. Nearly a week of unanswered calls to that cell and additional messages followed, and when he finally got Ted on the phone the man sounded irritated, launched into a diatribe about COVID backlogs, raised his voice, and hung up when Don pointed out the three weeks and multiple missed callbacks. Don acknowledged pandemic challenges, but found the lack of follow‑up and the rude treatment unacceptable—especially after his separate pool service responded promptly and had an on
Platforms Monitored
Performance by Work Type
How We Got To Trust Score 29
No Red Flags
Unauthorized Activities
Passed screening
Misleading Claims
Passed screening
Background Check
Serving customers for 15 years
Among the longest-standing installers in the market.
BBB Rating: A+
Excellent BBB standing. Strong complaint resolution.
Natural Review Patterns
Reviews were posted naturally over time.
Contractor License
License information could not be confirmed.
What You Can Expect
Rosa D. paid for a rooftop solar system in 2018 and found herself nearly four years later still not connected to Edison. She waited through long delays, made numerous calls and got no meaningful response from the company owner; only a polite employee named Lisa attempted to help. After conversations went nowhere, she escalated the problem to the Better Business Bureau and formally requested a refund through the BBB because the company never delivered the promised grid connection. Frustrated, she left a one‑star review and closed her account of the experience by noting that her main recourse was an unresolved refund claim filed with the BBB.
Cathy B. had a residential solar system installed in 2018 that ultimately produced good equipment performance, but the project was marred by the contractor’s behavior and a long regulatory hang-up. Early on the owner put the new electrical panel in the wrong spot, and SDGE insisted it be moved to meet current code. He promised to pursue a waiver — a solution Cathy did not want — then went quiet and stopped responding. A year later, after noticing a change in her SDGE bill, she contacted a different solar company and first learned the term net-metering. That second opinion revealed the system had never been approved by the city or SDGE, so Cathy had essentially been running a system that lacked permits and utility sign-off. The permitting and net-metering process with SDGE dragged on; the panel relocation and permit approval finally happened in June 2021, and the account moved onto net-metering on July 11, 2021 — roughly three years after the 2018 installation (which itself had taken five to six months to complete). The detail that lingers is this: the panels worked, but because the owner walked away from permitting, Cathy didn’t receive net-metering benefits until mid-2021.
J R. had Natural Energy USA install a home solar system in September 2014 and expected ongoing monitoring and long-term warranties. They discovered that the company had not been monitoring the array, because a micro diverter has been malfunctioning for about four years without detection. They reached out repeatedly—numerous phone calls and emails to the owner over more than two months—only to receive silence. Meanwhile a replacement kit has been sitting on their kitchen counter for over two months, unused and waiting for the installer to show up. The lasting image: a system left with a long-running fault and a homeowner holding the parts the company should have installed and supported.