SunPower Ceasing Installations
- Thread starter 45North
- Start date
Lawrence_SoCal
New Member
You may want to double check that. Reporting I read mentioned some of their business units (maybe great white north?) but not stopping residential solar installs globally.
Considering how screwy SunPower was with my install ~18 months ago (still haven't paid them a penny, as they have refused to fix design and install issues, lied about some plan deviations (potentially fraudulent), LOTS of bad faith behavior and responses, etc), and having heard that such install issues (in SoCal) were rather common, getting out of the business would probably be bad for warranty and future support (app features, etc), but... hard to say how I feel if SPWR actually stopping all residential installs .. nice they won't screw other customers, but the market really does benefit from a 'single throat to choke' installer (all aspects of install, including all hardware) ... way too many stories of problem PV systems and vendors pointing fingers at each other.
oh, in regards to SPWR, I'm working on a CA CSLB complaint, already with 100+ pages of documentation, including 20pg report from professional installation inspection that found lots of install deficiencies (damaged roof, melted PV breaker in main load center... twice, first time not addressed for 2 months .. .could easily have caused house fire), code violations, and overall lack of following professional standards, including their own mounting standards. SunPower could have addressed issues I was aware of, and been paid, long ago, instead they jerked me around ... so I got a professional inspection, and now it is really going to cost SunPower a lot to remediate my install. Also, may have basis to have mandatory arbitration clause in contract voided ...
Considering how screwy SunPower was with my install ~18 months ago (still haven't paid them a penny, as they have refused to fix design and install issues, lied about some plan deviations (potentially fraudulent), LOTS of bad faith behavior and responses, etc), and having heard that such install issues (in SoCal) were rather common, getting out of the business would probably be bad for warranty and future support (app features, etc), but... hard to say how I feel if SPWR actually stopping all residential installs .. nice they won't screw other customers, but the market really does benefit from a 'single throat to choke' installer (all aspects of install, including all hardware) ... way too many stories of problem PV systems and vendors pointing fingers at each other.
oh, in regards to SPWR, I'm working on a CA CSLB complaint, already with 100+ pages of documentation, including 20pg report from professional installation inspection that found lots of install deficiencies (damaged roof, melted PV breaker in main load center... twice, first time not addressed for 2 months .. .could easily have caused house fire), code violations, and overall lack of following professional standards, including their own mounting standards. SunPower could have addressed issues I was aware of, and been paid, long ago, instead they jerked me around ... so I got a professional inspection, and now it is really going to cost SunPower a lot to remediate my install. Also, may have basis to have mandatory arbitration clause in contract voided ...
chrisski
Solar Boondocker
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2020
- Messages
- 5,231
They were #2 on my list last year to do my install. I’m glad there was another installer I preferred locally.
At the time, sun power had a rather good rating on solarreviews.com. They’re supposed to be one of the few companies who have been around long enough to actually be in business when warranty issues are needed.
First was a bad earnings report last year, now this.
At the time, sun power had a rather good rating on solarreviews.com. They’re supposed to be one of the few companies who have been around long enough to actually be in business when warranty issues are needed.
First was a bad earnings report last year, now this.
If you have a claim against SP you may want to pursue it sooner rather than later.
You can confirm this news item yourself: I've given my source in post#4.
robbob2112
Doing more research, mosty harmless
Lawrence_SoCal
New Member
Thanks for the reference to https://electrek.co/2024/04/24/sunpower-ceases-residential-installations-lays-off-1000/
Fortunately, my system is installed and working (thought without monitoring, not sure how well) and I don't really want SPWR to fix it anyway (as I have LOTS of reason to not trust SPWR's local install team). So, having someone else perform the repairs (most likely roofer and an electrician), as ordered by CSLB, with advance approval by SunPower (meaning they are still on the hook for full warranty, with no wiggle room), and that repair cost being paid direct by SPWR, or reducing my amount due (and I pay repair party... but I prefer SPWR paying 3rd parties, so my contractual relationship only with SPWR... avoid some gray areas.. ) Annoying part, sort of, is whether this reduces significance /risk of losing their CA contractor license due to my and other complaints ? (probably not). Though certainly means bad reports on their residential installs has significantly less impact, and associated need to protect corporate reputation.
Gonna get interesting... at some point, SPWR may want to put a lien on my house, BUT that would only add to bad faith actions on their part and increase damages I'm eligible for... so I'm not actually worried about that. Almost a 'make my day' scenario.
I wonder is my inspectors comments about more common SPWR residential installation deficienes (in SoCal) was more wide-spread, and with NEM 3.0, and the panel patent issues referenced in Eletrek article comments, meant SPWR really had no good path forward [managed themselves into a corner, now stuck, so to speak]
Getting CSLB complaint submitted is already high on my priority list... time to move it up to top place
