Sunternal Solar reviews

Donovan M. spent a lot of time wading through sales pitches while planning a rooftop system to power a small wine-cellar AC that runs around the clock. He had been leaning toward Tesla batteries, but a chance search led him to Sunternal and a conversation with Brian that changed everything. Brian listened, answered hundreds of questions across multiple calls, and even arranged a sit-down with the battery company's engineers so Donovan could be sure the storage would handle his continuous-load needs. He learned about Enphase batteries — a different chemistry that runs cool and lowers the fire risk he’d worried about after seeing news about Walmart suing Tesla over battery fires. Comfortable with that trade-off, he partnered with Brian and Sunternal on a system tailored to his house: 24 solar panels, three 10 kWh Enphase batteries, and Enphase IQ8 microinverters. The IQ8s add a modern benefit Donovan hadn’t expected — the panels can keep producing power during an outage, something older setups don’t do. Installation and permitting moved quickly, the hardware has performed reliably, and the batteries stay cool in operation. When a rainstorm produced a small drip in the garage, he叫

Justin B. signed up for a rooftop solar installation, paid more than $30,000, and 1½ years after the contract he still doesn't have functioning panels. He ended up with equipment sitting on the roof but no activation: the company never completed the PG&E application and he discovered they had lied in writing about the reimbursement rates he'd qualify for if he rushed the project. Over a year after paying in full he faces higher electric bills while subcontractors—who he found to be decent—left him with inactive hardware. He also unearthed signs the company isn't paying its workers and flagged pending lawsuits against Sunternal, and received repeated promises of a fix—“any day now”—from employees who later left the firm. His lasting image is a paid invoice, dead equipment, and the chilling possibility that legal recourse evaporates if the company folds.

Kris H. started a residential solar installation that turned into a one-and-a-half-year ordeal marred by delays and back-and-forth. They watched the project stall repeatedly: just before crews showed up the company demanded a last-minute change order saying more panels were required, then discovered the original plans didn’t match site conditions and had to be redrawn and resubmitted. Longer stretches of inactivity followed while approvals and corrections dragged on. Subcontractors who finally came to the property complained that the company hadn’t paid them for previous jobs, leaving Kris feeling caught between wanting the work done and worrying about subcontractors’ unpaid bills. When the installer finally invoiced, Kris paid immediately through bank bill pay and saw the money leave their account — yet the company continued to send multiple daily texts demanding payment, and an employee named Melissa even threatened to turn off the system. The clearest takeaway: be prepared to chase paperwork and payments. Prospective buyers should insist on plans that accurately reflect the site before work begins, get written confirmation that any bank bill-pay has been received, and secure sub

Tom Y. followed up a year after his solar installation and discovered the system has performed so well that his August true-up with PGE should result in a zero balance — a result that exceeded his expectations. He remained pleased with the overall outcome and credited Bay Sun Solar and Nexus Energy for their hard work during the installation, linking that effort directly to the strong performance.

James R. purchased a roof‑mounted solar system through Bay Sun Solar (later rebranded Sunternal) with Nexus handling the installation. As a retired building inspector who had done several solar inspections, he admired the quality of the electrical and conduit work, the array installation, and the way the conduit was painted to match the roof and walls — most of the job looked excellent. One striking snag kept nagging at him: he had asked whether the crew would use clips but accepted plastic zip ties if they were UV‑rated; under pressure to finish before the city building inspector arrived that afternoon, the crew instead used gray duct tape to hold cables under the array. The inspector even pointed out a cable touching the shingles, which the crew temporarily secured with that tape; James collected the duct tape roll and pieces that later dried out and ended up in the rain gutters. Sunternal came back to resecure cables twice after the initial install, and when he recently noticed another loose cable he contacted Amber at Sunternal, who had Christian return and fasten things properly. He appreciated that Sunternal continued to honor the installation warranty and handled the follow‑

Marshal contracted Sunternal in early 2022 to install a residential 5 kW solar array paired with 20 kWh of batteries. He found the hardware to be excellent and the system now works as promised, but the installation dragged on far longer than expected. What started with an agreement in February 2022 and a signed contract in April turned into panels going up in August, permission to operate arriving in October, batteries installed in November that initially didn’t work, and everything finally functioning in January. Along the way he was repeatedly pressed for payment before the job was complete, which became the most frustrating part of the experience. He advises future buyers to build a 10% holdback into the original contract and only release it after you have permission to operate and the batteries are demonstrably working — otherwise it can be hard to get timely attention from the crew.

Masa S. ended up with a pleasant surprise: during the sales-to-install process Sunternal switched to a newer panel model that produces more energy, but the quoted price never changed. They arranged the rooftop install in August 2022 and the system went live in November 2022. Pricing felt transparent from the start, and the crew moved through the job smoothly, with only a couple of minor adjustments required after inspections. They also liked the Emphase app for checking exact daily production, which made it easy to track the extra output from the upgraded panels — the thing that stood out most about the whole experience.

Daniel A. had a rooftop solar system installed in 2019 and soon discovered a small roof leak originating from the installation. He watched the company return again and again to attempt repairs — calling them annually to reopen the issue — but the fixes never held. After rain in November 2021 he called once more; a promised visit got stretched out into months (he notes a five-month wait for a crew), and by then the roof and interior had accumulated more water damage. Two months have passed since the last repair attempt and the company still hasn’t come back to finish the job. On paper the system carries a solid warranty, but he experienced that paperwork as hollow when service delays left a minor leak to become years of unresolved damage. He left a one-star review and wished he could give less; the takeaway is stark: a small installation problem became prolonged water damage because repeated service visits were delayed or ineffective.

When Carl S. had a rooftop solar system installed, the equipment performed as expected, but everything around the sale and service fell apart. He discovered the salesperson, Ron, pushed aggressively to close the deal and then became hostile when Carl tried to follow up after signing; Ron redirected questions to Max, who sometimes took weeks to reply. The situation escalated when a lien appeared on his house because the company hadn’t paid its workers — Ron brushed that off as “perfectly normal” — and Carl asked to have a lawyer review the paperwork. Ron reacted defensively and threatened legal action of his own. After Carl referred a friend, the friend encountered the same pressure: nonstop texts and calls from Ron. Carl also noticed his Enphase system wasn’t providing live usage data and was told nothing could be done. In the end he ended up with functioning panels but a lien on his property, delayed and evasive communication, and threats when he pushed back — and the company has since gone out of business.