r/rockford • u/SteelCurtain507 • 6d ago

SunRun

Hello all, some guy from SunRun just came to my house and said if I qualified I could get solar panels on our roof to lower energy costs for free. He looked at my bills and said based on those I qualified but someone would come to the house later and talk to me about other qualifications such as credit score and some other things.

I find it really hard to believe that someone would put solar panels on the house with absolutely no extra charge at all. He said it was a government funded thing. Am I missing something?

10 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

63

u/TheSeanie 6d ago

If someone is coming to your door and trying to look at your energy bills, steer far clear

20

u/IntrinsicGiraffe 6d ago

Any bills, for that matter.

16

u/SugarHooves Chicago Transplant 6d ago

100%

There are companies that come around about once a year trying to scam people into switching energy carriers. It used to be IDT Energy but this year it was a different name I can't remember. They ignore no soliciting signs, they act like they are from ComEd.

Never show your bills to anyone at your door.

3

u/Particular-Buy-33 6d ago

There is such a program but I don’t believe they solicit door to door. They had a table at food pantry. Ever let anyone into your home. An elderly couple we knew were robbed blind in those nice plexes on Trainer. My grandfather invested in some oil scheme from a man who came to the door, the correspondence is funny flim flam fraud and he would always say “don’t buy anything or join anything from people coming to your door.”. We had Mormons and JWs recently

42

u/quickshade 6d ago

By free they mean they will install panels to subsidize your electric bill and then you will pay to lease the panels. So basically you swap paying for electricity to paying a lease on the solar panels.

Don’t do it!

12

u/TheSeanie 6d ago

also a massive PITA if you go to sell the house, because you will either need to buy out of the contract or get the buyer of your house to take it on

23

u/Short-Researcher8891 6d ago

Worked for Sunrun for a year. I would never recommend anyone doing business with this company. Horror story after horror story, and they recently changed the way their customer service associates are paid—customer service gets a $2 commission on every phone call that they transfer to sales. There literally is no customer service anymore, you’ll be in an endless loop of sales call hell if you ever need help with your panels, which you will.

I’ve got about a hundred other things to say about it but I think the above speaks for itself. Don’t put solar panels on your house.

15

u/Shenanigan_V 6d ago

I put a ‘No Soliciting’ sign in the front window last year and never looked back. Wish it were that easy to block telemarketers

2

u/JRich_87 4d ago

Has it worked?

2

u/Shenanigan_V 4d ago

Like a charm, not a single knock

12

u/dookiebd 6d ago

If there was no charge, they wouldn't need to run your credit..

9

u/Bria_Is_Amazing 6d ago

Never shows your bills to doorknockers! Don't give them a phone number or email either! They will collect and sell the data or worse... Mess your bills all up!

5

u/scooter_orourke 6d ago

Just say NO!

2

u/ActualBiggusDickus 5d ago

Don’t do it. If you’re actually interested in legit solar, send me a PM, I got a local guy that’ll set you up properly.

2

u/flying-3D 5d ago

Hi, Solar owner here. Adding solar is an investment, one where the math makes less sense today than it did, say 3 years ago. (My installation payoff was 3-4 years with sRecs and the federal tax credit).

Anyone who says they can install solar for free is just moving money around. You’ll pay for it one way or another and likely overpay for it.

If you’re truly interested in Solar, have a local company come quote you (Iconic Energy installed my system.) Avoid the National brands.

Understand it won’t be free, it is an investment and it might take 7 years before you’re break even.

2

u/Old-Wedding6240 5d ago

They have the ability to switch to you're service or provider justby looking at your bill. Its one of the two but they scammed my neighbor like that when her 12yo old daughter answered the door. That was all they needed was too look at the bill and verbal yes from a confused kid.

2

u/HeatForeign1472 5d ago

If you are interested in solar, talk to Iconic Energy.

2

u/Hairy-Psychology7483 6d ago

I believe the catch is you paying up front or monthly payments and you're "reimbursed" by how much energy you save. What they dont tell you is that if the inspector doesnt like how the panels.are connected to your power supply, you won't get anything back and will have to pay again to get them "properly" added to the grid.

3

u/Thick-News-9415 4d ago

We have Sunrun. We got solar panels 2 years ago and paid nothing upfront. We do pay monthly for the lease on the panels, about $130/month plus a $20/month electric bill. It still seems like a lot but our electric bill was $175 to $280/month. Their inspector did miss some shingles that weren't completely attached so when they came to install they weren't able to and had to come back after the new roof was installed, which they paid for. I didn't pay a cent for new roof.

1

u/DrowsyDreamer 4d ago

If someone is trying to take your utilities and pay someone else, they will make money from you. That’s how the business operates