Score
Sunworks reviews
• updated MAR 3, 2026Loading map...
The Verdict
Sunworks poses a clear risk. Over the past decade, customers report a company that overpromises and under-delivers, then vanishes when the system fails. One customer called 40 times to reach support after a panel quit working, only to be told the 24/7 monitoring they paid for meant they had to spot every problem themselves. Another waited an entire year for their commercial system to go live because Sunworks filed the wrong paperwork with PG&E, racking up power bills the whole time. We found a pattern of broken warranties (one homeowner had to scan and email their own contract to prove coverage after Sunworks claimed to have lost it), mysteriously lowered production guarantees in the monitoring portal, and systems generating thousands of dollars less energy than promised. The company blames former salespeople, posts canned responses to complaints, and routinely ghosts customers mid-crisis. One reviewer never got a reply to a two-week-old support email. The irony? A handful of glowing reviews from 2016-17 praised efficient installs and friendly crews, but none of those reviewers checked back years later to see if their panels still worked or if anyone would answer the phone.
If you're considering Sunworks, know that any money you save upfront will likely evaporate in unreimbursed underproduction and unreachable support. Look elsewhere.
3 Stories That Stood Out
Mark S. paid for a 20-panel solar system installed in October 2013 with the understanding it included 24/7 monitoring and a 25-year parts-and-labor warranty. After a few years of lower-than-expected output he checked the system and discovered one panel had failed — a bad microinverter — and set off a long, frustrating effort to get it fixed. He phoned Sunworks roughly 20 times at different hours, left messages, and finally reached someone after about a week; the company’s voicemail promised callbacks within two business days but he waited longer. When he raised the advertised “24/7 monitoring,” the company’s response was that customers were expected to spot problems and report them — not that Sunworks would proactively monitor the array. That felt like a bait-and-switch to him. Sunworks then declined to cover labor for the microinverter replacement, saying their current policy covered parts only and that some contracts were “lost.” Mark had kept a printed copy of his original contract, scanned it, and sent it in to prove his warranty covered labor. The company quoted a 2–4 week window for a technician but ended up sending someone in about a week. More recently another panel began l
Christi bought a SunPower solar system from Sunworks two years ago for her home expecting 12,400 kWh a year, but discovered the array never reached that output in either the first or second year. Sunworks covered the first-year shortfall and installed a few extra panels under an addendum they added in early 2016 that allowed a 10% production shortfall; she signed that addendum to try to stop ongoing losses. Even after the new panels, the system still underperformed, and Sunworks refused to reimburse the second-year shortfall or commit to fixing any future underproduction — instead shifting blame onto the original salesperson and noting he no longer works there. Christi calculates the gap at roughly three panels’ worth of energy, about $1,500 per panel, or $4,500 in overpayment relative to the kWh she purchased. When she pushed back, Sunworks pointed to shading from a “large tree” visible on Google Earth, but she explained the tree was removed the prior summer, showing they weren’t using current site data. She also found that someone at Sunworks had lowered the system’s average-yield expectations in the Sunny Portal monitoring site shortly after purchase, making it look as if the PV
Amanda invested a large sum in a solar array meant to power her agricultural pumps, and a year after Sunworks put the system on her roof in September 2018 she discovered it still wasn’t tied into PG&E. She spent months calling for status updates only to hear Sunworks blame the utility — then learned the real problem was Sunworks’ paperwork: applications were filed incorrectly and the installation was routed through the company’s residential team instead of its Ag/Commercial group, creating prolonged delays. As a result, the panels sat idle while she kept paying full electricity bills. She also found an earlier Sunworks system installed in 2016 performing about 10% below the output she had been promised. When she escalated the issue and threatened a formal complaint, Sunworks largely stopped responding. The most striking detail: after a year the system remained unconnected and she continued to shoulder large power costs.
Platforms Monitored
Performance by Work Type
How We Got To Trust Score 37
No Red Flags
Unauthorized Activities
Passed screening
Misleading Claims
Passed screening
Background Check
Serving customers for 13 years
Among the longest-standing installers in the market.
BBB Rating
Not BBB rated.
Natural Review Patterns
Reviews were posted naturally over time.
What You Can Expect
Paul A. ran into a string of unexpected hold-ups with SCE after installing a Tesla backup battery on the rooftop solar system that had been approved and in place since 2009. He struggled with repeated questions and tiny changes from the utility and found it nearly impossible to reach anyone there. After months of back-and-forth, Laurie Schaffer stepped in, handled the paperwork and communications herself, and kept him personally updated as she worked the case. This week he finally received final approval — he attributes the resolution to Laurie’s persistence and was especially impressed by her hands-on assistance.
Mark R. has had rooftop solar since 2014 and added Tesla batteries in 2021, but discovered ongoing equipment and service failures that never got resolved. He contacted the installers, SunWorks, and even Tesla, only to be bounced between parties and left with nobody taking responsibility for the battery programming. At installation SunWorks promised system monitoring, yet he found no active monitoring and says technicians were instructed to tell him everything was fine when it wasn’t. He encountered a persistent “Snail Tracking” issue on the panels that tech visits failed to disclose or fix. Mark singled out Kimbra Gaudette as the worst customer-service problem he’s experienced, alleging she misled staff and customers, texted him from her personal number then refused further contact, and that ex-employees backed up those claims. After years of trouble and two Tesla batteries installed since 2021, he received a PG&E bill exceeding $2,200 for 2023. He also watched someone named Rhett T replying to online reviews and questioned whether the company was still operating properly, noting they recently bought another solar firm in Utah. The clear takeaway for him: nonworking batteries, evas
Mark S. paid for a 20-panel solar system installed in October 2013 with the understanding it included 24/7 monitoring and a 25-year parts-and-labor warranty. After a few years of lower-than-expected output he checked the system and discovered one panel had failed — a bad microinverter — and set off a long, frustrating effort to get it fixed. He phoned Sunworks roughly 20 times at different hours, left messages, and finally reached someone after about a week; the company’s voicemail promised callbacks within two business days but he waited longer. When he raised the advertised “24/7 monitoring,” the company’s response was that customers were expected to spot problems and report them — not that Sunworks would proactively monitor the array. That felt like a bait-and-switch to him. Sunworks then declined to cover labor for the microinverter replacement, saying their current policy covered parts only and that some contracts were “lost.” Mark had kept a printed copy of his original contract, scanned it, and sent it in to prove his warranty covered labor. The company quoted a 2–4 week window for a technician but ended up sending someone in about a week. More recently another panel began l
Casey G. went solar with SunWorks about six years ago, investing nearly $40,000 in a home system and initially being pleased with the installation. He was assured the system would be monitored and the company would alert him if panels weren’t performing. One sunny day in February/March he discovered the array was producing almost nothing. He phoned repeatedly and hit voicemail for days; when he finally reached someone, the rep discounted the monitoring claim as a sales misunderstanding and promised a service call the following week — but no one showed up or called. After more calling, a different representative forwarded his information to a tech group for a remote check; that took days, and the techs concluded the inverter needed replacement. SunWorks covered the part under warranty but said the replacement work would cost $400 and the new inverter would take “2–6” weeks to arrive. Casey pointed out that a nearly $40,000 system failing after only a few years — while his PG&E bill runs $400–$500 a month — would leave him with $3,000–$4,000 in lost value during the outage. At six weeks they told him the part should arrive any day; at eight weeks the company had become largely ununco
Jim B. had SunWorks add a Tesla Powerwall to his existing solar system in early 2020 on his house, and the install crew left a strong first impression—clean work and good communication. The Powerwall ran flawlessly for about two and a half years, but after his solar inverter failed and was replaced, the Powerwall stopped functioning. Tesla directed him back to the installer, so he phoned SunWorks twice and sent an email, then waited a week with no reply. Frustrated by the silence, he ended up posting on Yelp to try to get attention—what stands out is that a company that handled the install well went quiet when service was needed, leaving him to resort to a public review to get a response.
L J. had Sunworks install a home solar system 14 months ago and discovered it has failed twice since. The first outage left the array producing no power for three months while they exchanged numerous emails, texts and voicemails trying to get a repair. Three months after that fix, the system stopped producing again. Once more they logged many calls, texts and emails just to get a technician out — and heard nothing from Sunworks about the status or next steps. The tech concluded the recently replaced inverter is likely bad and that SolarEdge, the manufacturer, wants to run tests before agreeing to another replacement. Frustration follows every interaction: they invested retirement savings in this system and feel powerless watching it sit idle while the installer and vendor pass responsibility back and forth. The detail that sticks is simple and sharp — a retirement-funded system, dark for months at a time, and an installer whose silence and slow vendor escalation have left the owner fighting to get the warranty honored.
Cathryn L. had Sunworks install a 10-panel rooftop system in November–December 2018. The job stalled briefly while waiting for PG&E’s final okay to switch the system on, but the crew itself was in and out in a day and left everything tidy. About two years later her monitoring app flagged one panel at zero output; after leaving messages for a rep named Jay and getting no response, she finally called Sunworks’ main line and someone stepped in. A technician came out and replaced a failed optimizer quickly and at no charge. In January 2022 the app went dark again; rebooting the inverter didn’t help and techs determined the inverter had failed — they told her four full years was a reasonable run — and arranged a warranty replacement. The replacement was free but took about six weeks to arrive. She feels let down by the negative reviews she’s seen, because Sunworks honored warranty repairs for her without billing, with the only real downside being occasional parts lead times.
Auro J. had Sunworks install solar panels and inverters on his home four years ago and remembers the job as fast and well done. Now they’ve hit a snag: an EV cable won’t connect to the SolarEdge inverter, and after nearly three months of calling the company phone number and emailing a direct address, no one has answered. Because of the silence they’ve been unable to charge their electric car for months, and the lack of support stings more because they had recommended Sunworks to several friends after the original install. What matters most to them now is simply a working contact—an actual phone number or direct email—so the wiring issue can be resolved and the car can be charged again.
N L. hired the company to install solar on their home a few years ago and ended up frustrated when the relationship soured after installation. They tried repeatedly to contact the installer to add more panels, replace failing equipment, and possibly install a wall unit, but the company stopped returning calls. What lingered was not a botched install but complete unresponsiveness for post‑installation work. The most memorable detail: the system exists, but there’s no reliable way to get service or upgrades from the original contractor.
Long-term Satisfaction
Long-term satisfaction for Sunworks drops to 1.8 ★ compared to early reviews. This decline is worse than 75% of installers we looked at.
Long-term reviews carry the most weight in our methodology because they are most representative of what you should be paying for: a system that will perform for years.