True Renewable Energy reviews
• last updated FEB 26, 2026Loading map...
The Verdict
Don't hire True Renewable Energy. We found a clear pattern of incomplete installations, failed activations, and customers stuck paying utility bills while their solar sits dormant for years. One homeowner went 3.5 years before discovering their panels weren't sending any power to offset their PG&E charges, racking up nearly $10,000 in true-up bills while the company stopped returning calls. Another paid for an HVAC system in 2019 and is still chasing the company in 2025 to finish maintenance work on leaking units and pull permits that were never filed. The financing arrangements raise red flags across multiple reviews: couples who thought they understood monthly payment terms discovered after signing that repayment came as massive twice-yearly property tax installments, enough to threaten their ability to keep their home. (At least they got a working system eventually. Many customers paid in full and never got functional equipment.) 24 reviews mention problematic sales practices, and 22 cite project management failures like missed timelines, no-show crews, and zero communication after the contract is signed. We identified 11 reviews describing outright abandonment: installations left incomplete, permits never pulled, systems never activated, and calls ignored for months or years.
If you're comparing solar companies, cross True Renewable Energy off your list. The risk of paying thousands for equipment that never works, or getting trapped in financing terms you didn't agree to, is too high when reliable installers exist in the same market.
Reviews That Shaped Our Verdict
Rebecca N. discovered three and a half years after installation that her solar panels had been installed incorrectly and were not sending any power to offset her PGE bill. As a result she accrued nearly $10,000 in true-up charges. When she tried to reach the installer, calls went unanswered, so she lodged complaints with the Better Business Bureau and the contractor licensing board. After years with no exported power and no response from the company, she now faces almost $10,000 in charges and is pursuing formal complaints.
Keisha H regrets hiring the company to put three mini-split HVAC units and solar panels on her roof in 2019. She has been calling them since 2020 to finish promised maintenance, but all three HVAC units keep leaking. The installer was supposed to pull city permits and never did, and by 2025 the solar array still isn’t producing — she has been paying more than $300 a month in bills for the past two years while being told the panels produce nothing. The company stopped returning calls and emails, she calls them a scam, and she intends to take legal action. The standout takeaway: six years after installation, unpermitted work, persistent HVAC leaks, and essentially nonfunctional solar left her pursuing a lawsuit rather than a service solution.
Jessica C. ended up with a working solar and HVAC system but only after an odyssey that left her wishing she'd chosen a different installer. She discovered the crew was warm and responsive until the contract was signed; after that, promised start dates slipped without explanation, workers arrived unannounced on random days, and she spent weeks hounding the company just to get a straight answer about when PG&E would inspect the system — a process that stretched into months until a PG&E rep cleared up expectations. Inspections finally happened, and the system required HVAC repairs within a few months, but the worst surprise came with the property tax bill: the loan the company had encouraged required repayment via enormous semi‑annual installments attached to the tax bill, not the smaller monthly payments after 18 months that Max, the sales rep, had led her to expect. Her emails asking for clarification went unanswered. She acknowledges she could have read the contract more closely, but found the company’s handling opaque and, in her view, predatory; the financing mismatch has put real financial strain on the family and could force them to seek professional help or even consider an i
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How We Got To Trust Score 39
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Misleading Claims
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Serving customers for 8 years
BBB Rating: A+
Excellent BBB standing. Strong complaint resolution.
Natural Review Patterns
Reviews were posted naturally over time.
Licensed Contractor
A valid contractor license is on record.
What You Can Expect
Keisha H regrets hiring the company to put three mini-split HVAC units and solar panels on her roof in 2019. She has been calling them since 2020 to finish promised maintenance, but all three HVAC units keep leaking. The installer was supposed to pull city permits and never did, and by 2025 the solar array still isn’t producing — she has been paying more than $300 a month in bills for the past two years while being told the panels produce nothing. The company stopped returning calls and emails, she calls them a scam, and she intends to take legal action. The standout takeaway: six years after installation, unpermitted work, persistent HVAC leaks, and essentially nonfunctional solar left her pursuing a lawsuit rather than a service solution.
This homeowner signed with TRE in June 2017 for a 26-panel installation at their Pleasant Hill property and ended up spending the next year untangling a string of installation, communication, and billing failures. They found that TRE never notified the City of Pleasant Hill of the correct panel locations and placed eight of the 26 panels in a spot that only gets about 1½ hours of sun per day when the leaves are off the trees. TRE also failed to stay in touch with PG&E after the homeowner refused a smart meter, which triggered a 70-day penalty from the utility. Clear Solar Solutions Inc. repeatedly called TRE for payment on materials that had been expected to correct TRE’s mistakes, but TRE avoided those calls. TRE left the LGChem battery, the I/O metering unit, and the inverter improperly connected; the homeowner fixed the SolarEdge account and profile themselves and arranged for LGChem to fly a technician in from Michigan to recharge a battery TRE had left dead for months. Work that subcontractor Green Wolf Energy completed under the assumption TRE would pay with “future jobs” never got paid; TRE even expected GWE to front materials for work TRE had already been paid for. TRE made
Vicente hired True Renewable Energy a year ago to install a $75,000 solar system on his commercial property in Oakland. He ended up with equipment that never worked for a single day. He phoned John Garcia, the VP, and Mike Hashimi, the President, more than 30 times; neither executive returned a call. John had been his best friend and promised everything until the company collected the payment; after that, the relationship went radio silent. Now he accuses the company of fraud and faces losing the property in November because the system never produced power and he hasn’t received the promised support. The striking detail here: a paid, commercial-grade installation that never functioned and top executives who stopped answering calls, leaving him on the brink of foreclosure.