1. Alternate Energy

1. Alternate Energy

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Honolulu, HI

Alternate Energy

3.3 (166 reviews)
Closed 7:30 am - 3:30 pm

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Debbie R.

If you use this company, you better hope you never need them to service or stand behind their work. We keep having leaks from where they installed our solar hot water. They came out over a year ago to fix it and with this most recent round of rains, it began leaking again. After leaving numerous messages, I finally got in touch to report the leak. I was told they were slammed and would put me on the schedule and somebody would call me. That was over three weeks ago. I keep trying to find out status of a repair, but nobody ever calls me back. Terrible customer service, A simple courtesy of a phone call would be appreciated.

Split Air
Derek Y.

Finally I got my split air in my bedroom, lots of red tape with the city DPP . I already did my leaving room. Jordan did an excellent job, also the installation person that did my wiring, didn't get his name. All my neighbors went with Alternate Energy with split Air units, some with 3-units. Also, want to thank Vince ...Design set up and Leeland my salesperson. If you need a split air or solar, please call Alternate Energy. Aloha, Derek

Ryan H.

I rarely write a review and only take the time if the service is exceptional. If you're thinking of going down the rabbit hole of getting PV Systems (Solar panels, mounting systems, conduits, rails systems, battery backup, installation, inverters, permitting, HECO, HOA, etc.). I jumped all in and headfirst. Here's some background about me. I recently retired from the military, serving over 30 years, this past December 2022. Finding myself with quite a bit of free time to say the least. I conducted a deep comparison and completed way too much research, creating spreadsheets, pie graphs, PowerPoints, Venn diagrams. I sent requests to 10 different solar installation companies and completed 8 different solar estimates. Why did I choose Alternate Energy? Customer Service!!! Here's just a small list of how Alternate Energy stands out ahead of the rest. 1. Locally owned and operated with more than 30 years of experience. 2. Quality of products offered with warranties: (PV panels-REC Alpha Series w/25 years, Inverter Type - Enphase IQ8H, Tesla Powerwall 2, monitoring system (Enphase and Tesla Apps). 3. Customer service reviews from friends, colleagues, Yelp, BBB, and Google were good. 4. Estimate process working with Lionel Ahina (808) 222-4747; lionel@alternateenergyhawaii.com With this large investment in Solar PV System Lionel and Alternate Energy created the proper system for my family's electricity usage. Lionel listened and asked detailed questions on how we live our lives, and how we consumed HECO electricity. Lionel offered detailed explanation of the entire PV Solar system process. He provided me with knowledge, training, project timelines, true expectations working with all the different parties involved (Alternate Energy, HECO, City & County Permitting, and my HOA). He was also willing to share his personal experience in sales for over 40 years. This process into PV can be inundating. Finding the right sales person to not give you the run around, up-sale you a system, quality products, quality installers, warranties, etc... Alternate Energy should be your first call. Yes, I recommend you get other estimates. You will find some sales people are full of sh*t. After you sit down with Lionel and the Alternate Energy Company you will understand. 5. Cost! Everyone's home system cost will be different on estimates. Alternate Energy's price wasn't the highest or lowest compared to others but they offered the perfect cost for my home. After getting 8 estimates ranging from over $43 to just under $33K with additional fees. My "Purchase Agreement" was in the middle. My System Size: 6.00 kW; Panels: 15; Storage: 1 Tesla Powerwall 2. 6. Installation crew. With PV Systems going up all over neighborhoods, you're able to see installation yourself and compare. I was able to ask questions to installers, electricians, homeowners, prior to me making my selection. The installation crew of Alternate Energy is AWESOME!!! Special thanks to the following Chris, Nate, Steve, Sonny, Shannon, Franco. The crew is on time, excellent workers, they have great teamwork, great communication, sense of accomplishment while keeping things light and fun. Chris, Nate, and Steve took the time to explain the entire pre-installation process, provide perspective, communicate required layout changes due to my older home. I appreciated that. Chris takes the time to review the user App on your phone and how the new gateway, generation panel, IQ Envoy works. He explained steps on shutting off the power and what to look for in your PV system production and usage. They are an extremely hardworking group, under extremely hot conditions. They also installed a NEMA plug and Emporia EV Charger 2, 48 amp, which I changed the location a few days prior to installation day. I cannot give enough credit to the installation crew, quality workmanship, start to finish. 7. I agreed to Alternate Energy 17th May 2023, and my Solar PV System was installed on 12th September 2023. The timelines will vary, this timeline was not predicted and to me this is extremely quick. Extremely Satisfied Customer

misty l.

As new first time homeowners we've spent quite a bit of time talking to family, friends and researched PV Contractors for our PV needs. Alternate Energy (AEI) stood out above the rest. Thirty years in business and owners comment on Yelp reviews which to me shows good ownership. We immediately felt comfortable with our Project Developer, Miles Yoshimoto. Miles is very friendly and professional and my husband and I liked that he was not "salesy" or "pushy". He patiently helped us figure out what type of system was right for our household usage. We really appreciated Miles responding quickly to our calls and emails. AEl also has a partnership with Hawaii State Federal Credit Union and the finance process was quick and easy! On installation day, my husband, who works in the construction field, said it was a "Quality Install". He appreciated that the installers and electrical crew took the time to explain every step and did a great job cleaning up after. I had to get their names and give them a shoutout so mahalo to Richard, Jade, Alden, Ronald, Reggie & Trey! We have enjoyed using the Tesla app to view our electric usage and how the panels are saving us money! And we have already referred AEI to our co-workers, family and friends. We made the right choice.

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Ask the Community - Alternate Energy

Did you guys move from mapunapuna?

Aloha! Yes, we moved to the Pearl City Industrial Park in 2019. 96-1276 Waihona St #114. Our phone # is still (808) 842-5853

Do you guys repair EV car charging stations? The station is fine, but the nozzle is broken. I have a Chevy Volt and the Charger is a Voltec. I don't want to buy a whole new charger.…

Aloha, Jeff, Mahalo for your question! Unfortunately, we're not offering those type of services at… 

Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

Review Highlights - Alternate Energy

Jeff Lum helped us with the many steps in starting the process of investing on a PV system and AC system.

Mentioned in 7 reviews

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Eco Solar

Eco Solar

4.7
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As luck would have it, my previous updated review of Ecosolar would not be my last…read more After converting my system from running off of Sunpower/Enphase's microinverters to Tesla's inverter from my new Powerwall Plus, I had some worry about what might happen with a single point of failure. Midway through summer, I found that out when my entire system went down when it failed. I reached out to Chris from Ecosolar right away and let him know that I was having a problem and he started troubleshooting immediately. After some investigation it was determined that the inverter had to be replaced and after waiting for Tesla to ship out the part, it was replaced in a timely manner. I was back up and running again, until December when my system started acting up again, this time seemingly having a problem with one of the batteries. I contacted Chris again and let him know that I was having a problem again, and although communication was rough with the end of the year approaching and federal tax credits expiring, I had a service appointment scheduled for the first week of January. On their site visit, it was determined that my new Powerwall Plus itself had gone bad. They were able to start the RMA process with Tesla and told me it would be replaced, possibly with a new Powerwall 3, because the Powerwall 2 was end-of-life and not in production anymore. That meant they would also have to replace my original Powerwall 2 as well with a new Powerwall 3 expansion pack. They hoped optimistically that I wouldn't have to wait too long for the replacement. Fast forward to April and it did take longer than expected for Tesla to send them the replacements but the good news was that Tesla did indeed replace both of my Powerwall 2 units with a new Powerwall 3 and expansion. This did require much more work on the part of Ecosolar to retrofit than just unplugging the old setup and swapping in the new one, for my particular case, and I appreciate the extra lengths they had to go through versus just having to swap out the old if Tesla had just sent a Powerwall Plus replacement instead. I had been down for a few months but the upside is that I have a brand new set of batteries now in 2026. I would say my solar journey has been rougher than I expected it to be. Parts have failed. Parts have been replaced under warranty. Yes, I've experienced periods of time where my PV system has been offline due to failures, and had to deal with big HECO bills until those failures were resolved. I've had two Powerwalls replaced under warranty in the last 7 years (technically 3 since they swapped my still working Powerwall 2 with a new expansion pack), and an inverter. I had problems with weird glitches with power that kept tripping the Powerwall into thinking that I was experiencing a power outage, that Ecosolar's technician helped to diagnose and find out was actually a problem with HECO's underground service feed into my home (which was another years long adventure with HECO altogether). Sunpower's PV control system got booted offline and needed to be reset remotely. Each time I've had a problem I've contacted Ecosolar and each time they've addressed it to the best of their ability. Yes sometimes it takes time to get things resolved, and it can be hard to be patient. Tesla seems to take awhile to get things sent here but they have always come through thus far too. My additional cost for all of their warranty work and service over all this time has been ZERO. Every single problem I've ever had has been addressed. It's great if you can invest in something like this and never have a problem, but I understand that things happen when you're dealing with new technology, and it sucks but sh*t happens. But when you do invest in something as expensive as solar, it's good to know that I've invested with a company that takes care of it's customers.

Just wanted to give an updated shout out to Chris Osaki and Michael French of Eco Solar…read more Specifically, what you can expect AFTER installation, even years later, in terms of system support. We had an issue arise late one evening multiple years after our system was installed. Instinctively, we reached out to Chris & Michael after contacting HECO and began getting calls/texts back from them around 7am the next morning. They connected us with industry professionals who got out to our house and resolved the issue the SAME day. We were worried we'd be without service/a fully working system possibly for multiple days, as you often hear about with other outfits. Not Eco Solar--they provide support and info well after purchase/installation. MAHALO!!!

Independent Energy Hawaii

Independent Energy Hawaii

4.9
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Awesome work. What can say...Dave is the best. Keeps in contact with you. Keeps you updated on…read morethings. A+

We have been abandoned by our original installer. Our system has been downed for almost 8 months…read more My parents are already old, and they relay on their solar to avoid bills from the utility. Its hard as we are paying for the solar and have to pay high utility bills, and we know there are a lot others in the same situation like us. When Independent Energy Hawaii step's in. They coordinated with us, check the system and provided us an update regarding why the system went down and will it be recovered. They proposed a long term fix not just fixing the current issue which is super appreciated. The company is very transparent and honest which amazed me. From the schedule coordination, onsite visit and after service they are hands on. After a the service visit, they sent us the full service report regarding the summary of the visit, what was performed what they found, what they fix and what needs to be fixed. For customer's like us which are not very techy or does not have a lot of knowledge in solar having this kind of company to service us which explains everything is very helpful they help us understand the system how to take care of it and all that. To the Independent Energy team, thank you so much I will definitely recommend you to anyone that needs solar and battery installed in their house or anyone that needs someone to service their systen. Mahalo!

Island Pacific Energy

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4.5
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My experience with Island Pacific Energy has been exceptional and they deserve 5 out of 5 stars for…read moretheir ability to communicate well, provide a quality Tesla battery product and installation, and consistently keep me informed of the multiple steps and actions that were part of this install. Rory has been a solid salesperson looking out for us and making sure we were on schedule. Their office always called to confirm install dates, changes and also double checked via email. Finally, Jordan Bush as the crew chief was very good in doing the initial inspection and letting me know the next steps that would be involved. Their crew was prompt and let me know when they would be at our home to start. Always good to have confidence in the company for such a big investment. Jordan did the final hookup and left us with a great feeling we had installed something valuable. I recommend Island Pacific Energy to all who are looking for a solid local company that stands apart from the others that don't return calls, don't communicate well, don't follow up and make promises that aren't fulfilled.

Devon was super helpful. I was shopping for some panels for a DIY off-grid project and called…read moreeveryone else on the island but nobody wanted to talk with me. One guy even hung up up the phone even though I was ready to spend close to 3 grand. I understand everyone was rushing for the tax credits but some business seem to forget that it's the long run that counts, and even though I'm not familiar with the quality of IPE's workmanship I would definitely send people their way based on their customer service.

SolarTech Industries

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Update: Confirmed; they no longer support the products they sold just 5 years ago. Not a warranty…read morework issue--they lost their certification to do the work, or let it lapse. Junk product from a junk company. Original: SolarTech Hawaii does not support the equipment they install. Do not recommend; as other reviews have mentioned the poor support after sale is unacceptable.

We had a great experience working with Julian and the Solartech team here on Oahu. From the start…read moreJulian didn't come across as a typical sales rep at all -- he felt more like a knowledgeable industry expert who offered thoughtful, objective opinions about different technologies and brands. Before meeting him, I spoke with two other solar companies. One rep came on extremely strong and the meeting felt very sales-driven and impersonal, which made it hard to trust the information being presented. The other rep seemed to still be in training and had to run nearly every question through a senior colleague. Working with Julian was a relief. He's clearly experienced and communicates in a smart, casual, and very approachable way. We also had a great experience with Jelly and Brandi from the Solartech administrative team--they were easy to work with and helped keep everything moving smoothly. Solartech's digital quote platform made comparing options and selecting our plan simple and easy to understand. We ultimately decided against Tesla batteries after learning about potential overheating issues, which can be a concern in a place as hot as Hawaii. We went with Enphase we're happy with our choice. The installation team was excellent as well. Nainoa, the lead electrician on our project, is a total pro--easy to talk to, great at problem-solving, and he helped us quickly figure out a battery placement challenge. He completed the electrical work in just a few hours. During the panel installation, the crew accidentally drilled through part of our roof which caused a small leak, but they responded immediately and repaired it right away. Everything was patched up and looks good as new. We really appreciated how quickly they addressed the situation. Post-purchase support has been just as strong. I had some questions about how our system was pulling power from the grid, and Julian took the time to explain everything. It turned out to be more of a settings preference than an issue. He followed up with helpful explainer videos and even called a week later to make sure everything made sense. Overall, we're very happy with the experience and appreciate the professionalism, transparency, and support from the whole Solartech team.

Alternate Energy - solarinstallation - Updated July 2026

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