Sungevity reviews
• last updated FEB 26, 2026Loading map...
The Verdict
Sungevity went bankrupt and abandoned its customers. We found 42 reviews where people paid thousands upfront only to lose all warranty support when the company filed Chapter 11. One customer paid over $10,000 for a 20-year lease, discovered two shattered panels on their roof, called for repairs, and was told to shut the system off while still paying the lease plus full electric bills. A year later, they're still waiting. Another prepaid their entire lease specifically to secure maintenance coverage and never heard from Sungevity, the bankruptcy court, or whoever bought the wreckage. Beyond the bankruptcy, the company ran on broken subcontractor relationships. Installation crews brought the wrong parts, failed city inspections, and one installer smirked at a homeowner saying "you should have bought a generator instead." We tallied 144 complaints about project management across hundreds of reviews. The pattern is identical: salespeople promise three-month timelines, then customers wait seven months while permits sit incomplete and the company can't secure funding for systems already bolted to roofs.
This company is defunct. Even if you find remnants operating under a new name, the bankruptcy wiped out warranties and left paying customers with no support when equipment failed.
Reviews That Shaped Our Verdict
Tim K. leased a 40-panel Hyundai rooftop system about four years ago from Sungevity; when Sungevity folded or sold his lease, Omnidian Solar and Short Hills Lease Co. ended up holding it. In November 2019 he climbed onto the roof to wash the panels and discovered two with shattered glass. The new servicer came out, inspected the array and acknowledged a known defect with that Hyundai model — a problem they hadn’t proactively warned customers about. For safety they instructed him to shut the system off, but he remained responsible for the lease payments and continued paying SDG&E full price for electricity. The company has since said it’s negotiating with Hyundai and might have an answer “early in 2021,” which would leave him double-paying for well over a year. He pushed for immediate repairs at the servicer’s expense so they could pursue Hyundai later, and he isn’t the only one with this issue; he is now consulting an attorney who is reviewing his contract. What stuck with him most was being forced into a year-long limbo — no power from the system, continuing lease charges, and full utility bills while the companies sort out responsibility.
Eric shopped multiple firms to buy a residential solar production system outright and discovered Sungevity offered one of the lowest price quotes while using high-quality panels and a very nice inverter. He ended up with a system that performs well, but getting there was a drawn-out, stressful process. Sungevity relied on outside installers, so deadlines slipped and their centralized team often didn’t know the quirks of local city/county permitting or specific utility rules. More troubling, he found they tried to cut corners: his contract required them to buy an extended inverter warranty, but they didn’t purchase it until he confronted them with the contract language, and they repeatedly stalled—claiming a company “Production Guarantee” would cover problems even though the contract showed that guarantee would only cover a small fraction of inverter costs. Midway through the project, after he had already paid half the system price, he learned he needed to pay an extra $6,000 to replace underground cables—an expense that hadn’t been disclosed up front. The installation experience felt mostly like a nightmare, even though the panels have worked well for nearly a year. On 3/29/17 he y
Sympa L. reached out to Sungevity in June 2019 to install solar panels and a battery on her home and quickly received a phone quote — but the moment felt rushed. The rep pressed for an on-the-spot acceptance, invoking investor timelines and using high-pressure tactics. After checking EnergySage, she discovered the quote sat roughly 25% above market; a renegotiation shaved about 10% off the original price, but the final number still ran well above comparable offers. She decided to move forward partly on faith in Sungevity’s reputation and the expectation of quality. Sungevity promised a six-week turn‑around for a combined solar-and‑battery install. In practice the process stretched beyond seven months. The project reached what the company called “substantially complete” only in the last week of December 2019, and even then the system remained uncertified by PG&E at the time she wrote the review. During the drawn-out timeline, suppliers and the installer began sending California Preliminary Notice forms threatening liens because Solar Spectrum — one of Sungevity’s operating companies — hadn’t paid them. At the same time Sungevity and Solar Spectrum repeatedly demanded a final
Platforms Monitored
Performance by Work Type
How We Got To Trust Score 44
No Red Flags
Unauthorized Activities
Passed screening
Misleading Claims
Passed screening
Background Check
Serving customers for 18 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
Tim K. leased a 40-panel Hyundai rooftop system about four years ago from Sungevity; when Sungevity folded or sold his lease, Omnidian Solar and Short Hills Lease Co. ended up holding it. In November 2019 he climbed onto the roof to wash the panels and discovered two with shattered glass. The new servicer came out, inspected the array and acknowledged a known defect with that Hyundai model — a problem they hadn’t proactively warned customers about. For safety they instructed him to shut the system off, but he remained responsible for the lease payments and continued paying SDG&E full price for electricity. The company has since said it’s negotiating with Hyundai and might have an answer “early in 2021,” which would leave him double-paying for well over a year. He pushed for immediate repairs at the servicer’s expense so they could pursue Hyundai later, and he isn’t the only one with this issue; he is now consulting an attorney who is reviewing his contract. What stuck with him most was being forced into a year-long limbo — no power from the system, continuing lease charges, and full utility bills while the companies sort out responsibility.
Shane K. discovered his roof started leaking in 2016, three years after Sungevity had installed solar panels in 2013. He requested the installation photos and city inspection records and the company agreed it should have recommended a roof replacement before the panels went up. Sungevity offered to cover removal and reinstallation of the array so he could pay to redo the roof, and the work was scheduled for March 2017. An employee, Thomas Hardman, reassured him he hadn’t been forgotten and would handle the job — then Thomas disappeared from the project and the panels were never taken down. Summer rains opened a new section of the roof, causing interior damage and raising his worry about black mold. Sungevity/Omnidian customer service escalated the service request and promised contact, but then cautioned the repair could be delayed 4–5 months because of backlog. Meanwhile he continues to pay his bill every month while damage inside the house mounts. The most striking detail: an explicit agreement and a named employee’s promise to remove and reinstall the panels in March 2017 never materialized, leaving him stuck with an active leak and an uncertain, multi-month wait for repairs.
Kathy became a Sungevity customer in 2013 and remembers a 2014 service issue that the company handled quickly. She prepaid the entire cost of her lease up front specifically to get maintenance included, and counted on that protection. Lately she’s been reading about Sungevity’s bankruptcy, but has received no communication from Sungevity, from the bankruptcy court, or from whoever bought any of the company’s assets. That silence has turned her prepaid maintenance into a source of real worry — she’s left unsure who will maintain the system she already paid for and where her money stands.