PetersenDean Roofing & Solar reviews
• last updated FEB 26, 2026Loading map...
The Verdict
This company should not be on your list. We analyzed hundreds of reviews and found a pattern of catastrophic project failures and vanishing support once the contract is signed. One homeowner watched workers shoot nails through rotted decking that blew out the bottom of the eaves, then spent nine months sweeping rainwater off an exposed roof in the middle of the night while waiting for someone at PetersenDean to produce an actual engineering drawing. Another paid cash for a whole-house battery that caught fire twice, burning through relays and current sensors, and couldn't get anyone to return calls between repair visits. The delays are structural, not isolated. Reviews mention eight-month waits between signing and installation, systems that never get turned on, and support reps who promise follow-up then disappear from the company entirely. When things go wrong, the response is silence. We found 74 reviews describing serious roof failures, leaks, mold, and rotted decking, with customers reporting they had to leave messages for weeks before anyone acknowledged the problem. Even customers who praised the installation crews noted it took a full year of redesigns and city approvals before work could start.
If you're weighing PetersenDean against other installers, know that the risk here isn't just a bad install. It's spending months chasing people who won't return your calls while your roof leaks or your system sits idle. The pattern is too consistent to ignore.
Reviews That Shaped Our Verdict
Ludek K. had just bought a house in San Diego and, after interviewing four companies, chose PetersenDean—the largest and most expensive—expecting a prompt, professional re‑roof and later a solar system and main panel upgrade. He signed a December 2016 contract for a full re‑roof priced at $22,000; the crew started on time, but he quickly discovered new roofing material being applied over a rotted deck and nails blowing out the eaves. Work stopped, the new material was pulled off, and as the old roof was stripped he realized the team had no plan to fix the sagging flat portion he’d explicitly described. A foreman eventually sketched a three‑foot peak solution on a napkin and demanded an extra $10,000; with rain coming and the house exposed, he felt forced to agree. More rain followed, the tarp job failed, and water began getting inside; he spent rainy nights sweeping water off the roof and juggling every bucket, trashcan and cereal bowl in the house while crews who barely spoke English offered little help. At one point the crew cut a hole in the roof deck and bolted a structural support to an interior wall without engineering drawings or permits, so he stopped the job and hired a別e外
Mike P. went into the project wanting to be responsible: he paid cash for a full solar system for his small house and asked PetersenDean to design the maximum number of panels that would fit. What started with a July contract turned into a months-long planning marathon — multiple redesigns from August through December as the team worked through panel layout, garage equipment placement and city approvals. The Enphase panels and internet monitoring finally went live in December and the PG&E bill fell dramatically. The panels have run perfectly. Then he decided to add the deluxe option: a whole-house backup battery in the garage. The battery selection and install proved fiddly — local code was strict, ceiling clearance ruled out the largest JLM unit, and in February the crew installed a Sunverge battery and cabinet instead. The battery came with internet monitoring that he could view on a web page; PetersenDean set a Wi‑Fi extender so the unit could reach his home network. At first the Sunverge system behaved, but over the spring the connection started dropping for days at a time and got steadily worse. In May the battery lost all connectivity and then suffered a catastrophic fail:,
James had Petersen Dean install solar panels on his roof in 2017 and, after a lengthy delay for the original install, the array worked and he got the paperwork. In 2019 he brought Petersen Dean back to add a Tesla backup battery. At first the battery system behaved normally, but he never received the final pricing or warranty paperwork for that installation. When December storms rolled through, he discovered a more serious problem: after Petersen Dean’s electrical contractor rewired a backed-up circuit, the GFCI on that circuit began tripping every time it rained, even though utility power never went out. That circuit runs a refrigerator, so the intermittent trips could lead to spoiled food. The two people he had worked with during purchase and install — Michael Karlberg and Victor Tapere — no longer appear to be with the company, so he contacted another rep, Fred Carino, by email and phone to get the missing documents and the electrician’s contact. Fred said he would pass the request to Victor, but days passed with no reply; Victor’s voicemail now goes to someone named Jessica Reese. Multiple follow-ups to Fred and Jessica drew no response. In the end he was left with a battery‑t‑
Platforms Monitored
Performance by Work Type
How We Got To Trust Score 47
Buyer Beware
Unauthorized Activities
2 reports
Misleading Claims
8 reports
Background Check
Serving customers for 17 years
Among the longest-standing installers in the market.
BBB Rating: NR
Poor BBB standing. Significant complaints.
Natural Review Patterns
Reviews were posted naturally over time.
Contractor License
License information could not be confirmed.
What You Can Expect
Julie F. contracted with Solar4America in October 2019 for a residential solar installation and a replacement roof. She watched installation dates get pushed back, then learned the seven‑year‑old roof would have to be replaced before panels could go up. COVID hit, and after months of persistent phone calls and emails the company went silent — phones unanswered and emails bouncing back — even though she had already paid deposits for the solar and the roof plus the first milestone payment. She later learned Solar4America had been bought by SPI and Solar Juice, and was told those companies would complete the job. By 2021 Solar Juice backed out and declined to fulfill the contract. The result: she ended up without the system or a new roof and out just under $20,000, a severe financial blow for a one‑income household and a reminder of how long and costly contractor handoffs can go wrong.
In 2018 Anthony had nearly 9 kW of panels installed on his home, but the crew paired them with a 6 kW inverter — a mismatch that capped production for roughly five hours each day. About a year later the inverter failed, and the replacement process stretched nearly six weeks. He pushed repeatedly to have the inverter upgraded so the array could reach its intended output, but the company never moved forward with the change. When he pressed customer service for answers, he encountered dismissive technical explanations that he, as an electrical engineer, recognized as incorrect. He ended up with an oversized panel array that is routinely peak‑limited, long delays for repairs, and no successful resolution to the inverter mismatch.
Phil hired Petersen‑Dean in 2019 to replace his roof, add gutters and install solar. He waited through repeated calls, texts and emails while the job stalled; the roof finally went on about six months later, but the permit was never finalized. Left with an open permit, he had to refile and close it himself and hire separate contractors to do the gutters and solar — incurring extra out‑of‑pocket costs. He encountered what he considered violations of California State License Contractor Board rules and felt the company made promises it never intended to keep. Worse, Petersen‑Dean took his payments in 2019 and then filed for bankruptcy in June 2020, all while blaming COVID for the collapse. The detail that sticks: he paid upfront, but after the bankruptcy he was the one left chasing permits and paying other contractors to finish the work.