Sunrun
Company Highlights
Sunrun
After conducting exhaustive research on top solar companies and gathering hundreds of Sunrun reviews, we've weighed the good and the bad and discovered Sunrun to be one of the top installers of solar panels based on a variety of criteria points. This Sunrun solar review will break down the company's solar services as compared to other companies in the solar industry.
Sunrun, the nation’s largest residential solar, storage, and energy service company, has installed over 1,600 megawatts of solar power and helped hundreds of thousands of consumers. The company is based in San Francisco, California.
Sunrun is the pioneer of the solar-as-a-service model and continues to drive innovation of solar generation, storage, and energy services and technologies. The rooftop solar provider's mission is to create a planet run by the sun.
- Payment Flexibility
- Customizable Sunrun Solar Systems
- Sunrun Solar Process
- 25-Year Maintenance
- Sunrun Solar Panel Warranties
- Sunrun Customer Care Team
- Sunrun Solar Battery Storage Options
- High Level of Transparency with Customers
- Installation Experience
- Extensive Availability
- Positive Sunrun Solar Reviews
Payment Flexibility
To fit customer needs, Sunrun offers several solar financing options, including solar lease, Power Purchase Agreement (PPAs), prepayment, outright purchase, and solar loan.
Sunrun solar lease and PPA options give customers the chance to reap the benefits of a home solar system for zero to little upfront cost. PPAs from Sunrun help the homeowner save on his or her electric bill.
The prepayment option features all of the same benefits as the lease option, except the customer doesn't have to worry about the hassle of monthly payments.
Purchasing a Sunrun solar system outright provides customers with long-term savings, while financing a Sunrun solar system through a loan allows customers to make payments to own their system, which provides long-term benefits.
Customizable Sunrun Solar Systems
Sunrun understands that when it comes to renewable energy, every customer's home, lifestyle, and savings goals are unique.
As a result, the solar company customizes every solar panel installation to the customer's needs using its own proprietary Automated Site Modeling design technology. With just a few pieces of information and satellite imagery of the rooftop, Sunrun's Automated Site Modeling software quickly designs a custom solar energy system to maximize production.
Sunrun Solar Process
Sunrun strives to make switching to clean energy as simple and hassle-free as possible for its customers. The solar installer saves time by taking care of everything from scheduling to permitting and allowing people to follow their installation progress through the mySunrun mobile app. The design and installation process is as follows:
- Step 1: Sunrun's experienced technicians will visit, measure, and evaluate the home; ensure that a solar system is the right fit; and design a customized solar plan.
- Step 2: Sunrun's design experts will review and make any adjustments to the custom evaluation.
- Step 3: Sunrun submits the design plans to the local city government for permitting.
- Step 4: After the permit is granted, Sunrun's installers will come out to the home, go over the custom design with the customer, receive approval, and get to work.
- Step 5: Once the system has been installed, the city or county will perform the final inspection.
- Step 6: Sunrun will submit documents to the utility company and "Permission to Operate" will be granted.
25-Year Maintenance
If Sunrun customers choose to lease or obtain a PPA, Sunrun will own the solar panel system and, therefore, is responsible for all maintenance and repairs of the system.
For leased or PPA systems, Sunrun provides a 25-year maintenance and repair service, including daily monitoring and performance guarantees.
Customers who purchase their systems receive a 10-year warranty, which covers workmanship and roof protection from leaks or holes. Additionally, Sunrun will refund customers if the panels installed on their roof ever underperform.
Sunrun Solar Panel Warranties
Other benefits of Sunrun's product include a 10-year warranty on systems that are purchased and up to a 25-year warranty on systems that are leased. The warranties cover maintenance, repairs, and daily monitoring at no additional fee. The company's monitoring team oversees all Sunrun systems and keeps an eye on production levels. If something happens or if performance dips, Sunrun will contact you as soon as possible to get things fixed. Each solar customer's Sunrun contract also includes a roof warranty, which protects the roof from leaks or holes.
Sunrun Customer Care Team
Sunrun provides a U.S.-based customer care team that is ready to answer questions and help resolve any issues that may arise.
Sunrun Solar Battery Storage Options
Sunrun offers a solar battery storage option that can be purchased or leased called Brightbox. With Brightbox, customers can enjoy safe, clean, and reliable backup power in the event of a blackout.
Brightbox also helps customers manage electricity costs by seamlessly optimizing when a home uses electricity generated by solar panels, stored in the battery, or from the grid.
High Level of Transparency with Customers
Sunrun provides an abundance of helpful information on its website and strives to be very transparent with its customers. The company's website includes detailed solar education and FAQ sections, a helpful Guarantee page, and an informative "Plans and Services" page that will help customers better understand Sunrun's products and how to start taking advantage of solar power.
Installation Experience
When it comes to solar installation, Sunrun is one of the most experienced companies in the solar industry. In fact, the company is one of the few solar installers that has installed over 1,600 megawatts of solar energy.
As a result, the solar energy company has offset 3.7 million tons of carbon emissions and helped more than 240,000 customers to control their energy bill.
Extensive Availability
Sunrun currently offers solar energy services in 22 states:
- Arizona
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Texas
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington, D.C.
Positive Sunrun Solar Reviews
Over 60 percent of Sunrun customer reviews are 4 or 5 stars. This means more than 1,000 happy customers across the United States to date.
Happy Sunrun customers talk about quick and efficient customer service when problems arose during installation, the company's proactiveness in setting up and keeping appointments, and the respectful and friendly Sunrun staff.
Check out this positive Sunrun solar review from a happy client:
Paul P. from California City, CA
"They have a great service team. It started at the point of contact and included every person they sent to my house. There was one point when I thought that there was a malfunction. They assured me that I wouldn't need to hire anyone else to fix it. They talked me through it on the phone."
Considering doing business with Sunrun? Learn more.
- Outsourcing Installations for Remote Homes
- Sunrun Customer Complaints
Outsourced Installations for Remote Homes
A majority of Sunrun's installations are performed in-house, meaning that Sunrun employees will install the solar systems themselves, which is ideal. Occasionally, the company will contract other installers to work on homes that are too remote for Sunrun itself to reach.
While Sunrun does train and approve these third-party contractors before they work on a home, this outsourcing strategy has often led to inconsistencies in performance upon installation. Consequently, customer satisfaction concerning the installation quality and overall experience varies.
Sunrun Customer Complaints
While a typical Sunrun review is 4 or 5 stars, Sunrun does receive about 25 percent 1-star reviews. These unhappy customers complain about the company not prioritizing existing customers, being short on staff and taking months to get an appointment, and overpromising and underdelivering when it comes to solar production and savings.
Overall, Sunrun is highly recommended to homeowners who are looking to go solar. Sunrun's high quality solar energy systems, variety of financing options, lengthy maintenance coverage and warranties, and customer service and transparency are attractive features that make breaking away from your utility company and switching to solar simple and affordable.
Interested in going solar with Sunrun? Find out more. Want to learn more about Sunrun? Check out the Sunrun solar reviews from real customers below.