Problem: solar pump was intermittently running at night cooling down the hit water heater so that there was very little hot water in the morning Solution: the company sent Mark to come and fix it. He couldn't make the the agreed upon time of 10:30 but he called at 8:00 to let me know that an emergency job was keeping him from coming. He said he would call an hour before coming and which he did. Watching him gave me a sense of confidence as he troubleshooted the sensor system and isolated it down to a potential problem of a pinched sensor at the solar panel on the roof. That sensor he suspected was the problem because it told the pump when to turn on and that he replaced. He was very thorough on the system and knowledgeable. I would ask for him back if I had another problem. read more

We had solars put on my house about 2 years ago, I've been doing exactly what I was told to save on my electricity by the rep who came out to sign contract and take my money! So this month I was outraged of how high my bill was and decided to call HECO to get an explanation, then I popped the question doesn't my panels help alleviate the cost??? The HECO rep goes to tell me there is no panels hooked up to their system?? I was livid and answered how can that be I did a few years ago and paid for it. Well come to find out they didn't turn in any paper work to HECO to get it approved!!!!! So I've been paying a regular fkn bill for 2 years. I call Poncho's to get an explanation or even an apology and how to get this resolved, he said he'll get his girls figure out something and call me on Monday. So I get the call yesterday expecting an ok we'll fix it and at least back pay me for the years I've been paying for my bill and my panels. No I got a it's not our fault and they can try and salvage our panels and give me a new estimate for a battery and panels!! You're kidding me right, you guys were in the wrong, I went through your company. You hired a contractor to do the work it was your responsibility to make sure it all turned out good. Now here we are stuck with panels that ain't even hooked up!!!!!!!! BTW they didn't give a rats ass, was very rude to my husband and plainly they don't care... DONT USE PONCHOS read more

We started looking into installing solar panels when our electric bill skyrocketed during the summer. Our cousin had just got his solar installed bay Poncho's Solar and was very satisfied. We contacted Harumi to get an estimate and received an in person quote within a few days. We also inquired with 2 other solar companies but did not get the same personal customer service response like we did from Harumi, who was very informative with the current energy programs and tax credits being offered and who patiently answered our many, many questions. We were given several options and when we decided on the system, they scheduled the installation within a few weeks (the other solar company advised us that we would have to wait 6 months). The installers were very friendly, professional and efficient, working tirelessly to completed the job within 2 days as quoted. They patiently walked us through using the phone app to monitor our energy usage. When we notified them that we received an alert that one of the batteries had an error, they sent a technician right away and replaced the battery when the issue could not be resolved. It has been 3 months since the installation and we are completely satisfied with the out come, especially at our last electric bill which was $15. We would highly recommend (and have) Poncho's Solar to anyone looking for a trustworthy company that will follow through til the end, making customer satisfaction their number one goal. read more

Warning they are terrible after you over pay for panels and a pv system and never go it to work right.

Horrible customer service. They would come unannounced and early on weekends to work on our solar panels, which is fine but at least let us know in advance. On the final day of finally setting everything up, they miswired something causing a power surge throughout our entire house. This led to about 10 of our light bulbs exploding, our refrigerator stopped cooling, the dryer stopped working, gas range stopped igniting, and oven does not work (when trying to bake it says there is a wiring issue). Things happen, but they need to be fixed. They came to fix the refrigerator and dryer a few days after they caused the issue, so we lost a whole week's worth of groceries and were not able to dry any of our laundry in the dryer for a few days. The refrigerator now thankfully works just fine, but the dryer once again is broken... And I'm writing this review a month later. We have been contacting them every day to come fix these issues that THEY caused , but because we already paid them, they have been ignoring our phone calls and making excuses and false promises about when they will come to repair the damage. We are very upset with this company and all the inconvenience they have caused for us. We hope they will come through and fix these things soon. Otherwise definitely would not recommend. Super unreliable and unprofessional. read more

Poncho Solar just put in a new water heater and new panels on my roof. If I could give them 6 stars if I would . KIRBY MAC is great to work with and gets everything set up. The work crew was here yesterday and did a super job, only taking three hours. Right now there are still tax credits you can receive. Definitely the best service I've received! Call them at 808-422-4266. read more

We did our solar water heater through Pancho's some years back and ended up calling to see if an unrelated repair could be done.To our delight they informed us that a repairman could come out the same eve as the call. We were so relieved and very thankful as a leak in the wall could have had devastating consequences. The repairman (Andre) was so polite and super speedy. We couldn't ask for better service especially during these stressful times. Thank you!! Sincerely the Fontes ohana read more

Excellent Service! Extremely professional and fixed the issues I had with my solar water heater. Mark was great! read more

Awesome service from Big Andre and Derek. They showed up early, diagnosed the problem quick and had the part on hand to change out. They were in/out so I could get back to my busy workday. I was also given some troubleshooting tips in case the problem happened again. Much mahalo's Poncho's!! read more

I was having problems with hot water draining out of the drain valve of my water heater on an almost daily basis. Coming home to water on my garage floor was not pleasant. I called an emergency plumber and was charged $100 and given an estimate of $850 for repair work to be done the next day. After lamenting my situation with a coworker, she recommended another plumber. I called and explained the situation to him and he said the proposed repair didn't sound right. He recommended I find a solar service instead. I am glad I did! Poncho's sent two technicians to my residence. They diagnosed my problem, made a few adjustments and even got down on their hands and knees to investigate the water source (something the plumber did NOT do). I canceled my appointment with the original plumber. The $100 I paid to the plumber, I can't recoup but I saved $850 in unnecessary work, found a reputable plumber and a reliable solar service. Thank you!!! read more

I called for a estimate for a solar water heater tune-up. The woman who picked up the phone said that I would be charged a $75 fee for someone to come out and give me an estimate. She was not rude, but did not seem to want my business or even know what I was talking about. I called three other companies and they all gave me quotes over the phone and even explained the Hawaii Energy rebate. read more

Many years ago, never again... I had a solar water heater and panels installed on my new house in Ewa years ago. It was a good system and so to keep it maintained I called them to do a maintenance check on the whole system. That was a mistake. Within a week the 80 gallon tank started to leak but it was still under warranty. I called Ponchos to have them take care of it but the woman on the line said that Poncho was busy with another job and would call back. I kept calling back many times and the woman kept saying that Poncho was busy. I probably shouldn't have told her that the tank was leaking then maybe Poncho would have called back. Long story short, Poncho never called back and I had to call another solar company on short notice and it cost me $1200 to replace the leaking tank. No warranty service meaning they didn't back up what they sold. Make no mistake, when they first started they were helpful and friendly but after that forget it. Good luck to you if you buy one. I will NEVER go back to Poncho Solar to install anything on my house. I can verify my story with documentation. They are a bunch of crooks. read more

Mucho domo to Scotty, Dougy, and Matt! Great technicians doing high quality work. Fast and clean an got us working again.

I purchased my solar water heater from Giant Solar 11 years ago and Poncho's took over. Andre came to my home on Friday and told me that it was covered under warranty and I only need to pay $400 for the labor. Office scheduled the install for today and a little before arriving Andre texted me that he made a mistake and the water heater is not covered under warranty and it would cost me $1800 plus tax. I called him back and tried to talk to him and he hung up on me. I called the office to speak with the manager and got Mrs. Poncho but she was no help either she told me the person I should be mad at is Andre and she could not give me a "free" water heater because it was not covered under warranty. She did not do any service recovery and ask how she could help me as it was their company's mistake. I asked what she could do for me and she said she could talk to Mr. Poncho to see if he could give me a discount of $100-$200 dollars. As of now I did not receive a call back from Mr. Poncho. I would not do any business with Poncho's ever and I would not recommend them to anyone! read more

Had a water heater that gave up the ghost on us in the middle of the weekend. Poncho's was able to have our heat back up and running by Monday! Has been running smoothly ever since. Prompt and professional service by both the onsite technician and the telephone reps. Highly recommended. read more

I had an existing solar water heater installed by Giant Solar that the pipes were installed through an upper deck and down to my car port. Rain water would leak from the deck through the ceiling of my carport. I called Poncho Solar to fix the leaking deck and was charged accordingly. I had Poncho return 4 more times because they failed to fix the leak. Finally Andre, who used to be Giant Solar and installed the water heater, told me that the leak came from elsewhere and he refused to return to fix it. I looked at the repair they did and found some really shoddy work. It took me 20 minutes to fix the problem myself and it no longer leaks. How can you trust someone to install an expensive PV system when they can't even repair a simple leak job correctly! I asked for a refund and got no answer so far. Do not hire this company especially after they hired the previous owner of Giant Solar, they are not competent. read more

I recently had my roof redone so Poncho had to take my solar panels off for the roofers. You would think they would come either the day the roofers finish or the following day to put the panels back up. It took them 3 days for them to contact us. They finally called and scheduled a day and time to come by. They originally wanted to come at 12pm but we told them nobody would be home after 12. So they set a time for 2pm to stop by. They showed up at 11:50 and I needed to be out of the house by 12:30. The workers told me that nobody from their office told them anything about a 2pm appointment. So I had to reschedule for the next day which wasn't a problem since I didn't have anything planned for the day. I asked the customer service rep what time would they stop by. Her response was "I don't know, it depends on how fast the workers get done with their previous jobs". So I'm confused to why she gave me a service time of 12pm and 2pm the day before if thats the case. So I asked her why don't they call before they stop by? Her response was "we don't do that". So you're telling me you don't communicate with your field workers? What kind of company are you? Every business I've dealt with in the past that stopped by my house, has made a call to inform me they were on their way. Even Pizza Hut makes a call to say they are on their way. At least give me a time frame when your field workers will stop by. Last year there was a power outage at my house and the timer for the heater stopped working. We called Poncho several times to see if they could come check it out. Nobody answered the phone and they didn't return any of our messages. This is by far the worse company I have ever dealt with. I would give them 0 stars if that was possible. read more

Poncho's does extensive advertising and is one of several contractors who claim to be Hawaii's leading solar firm. I had it checked out and found out that up to that date, Poncho's did lead the pack in the number of solar building permits pulled from the city building department. It may have been a combination of water heating systems and photovoltaic (PV) systems. Poncho's works with Walter's Electric, a Hilo-based firm. It may not be as odd an arrangement as it might first seem - this gives Poncho's a presence on the Big Island, where HELCO's rates are 25-30% higher than HECO's here on Oahu. The electrician, who came over to give me the estimate for the PV system, said that this arrangement has been working fine in regard to his traveling between islands. The biggest problem with Poncho's was the price. 36 Samsung 241W panels qualifying as three systems at an astonishingly high $57,487. There was also no information given on the power output or anticipated electricity savings. With that kind of money involved, you can't render a favorable decision based only on the guy's personality. Besides, my sister's general contractor had selected Poncho's for the mandatory solar water heater on her newly-constructed rental property earlier this year. She informed me that she was not particularly pleased with that job. Exactly why, I don't really know. With a typical gross price difference of $13,000 against the rest of the contractors, I had to say "NO" to Poncho's. The value is not there. read more

Pancho came to take off my existing solar panels so I could put on a new roof. The unit was 20 year old. I was notified that the job was done while I was at work. Later when I got home, I went up on my roof to see what they had done only to find that they used the same black, torn, insulation on the coper pipes and held them together with black zip ties. The sensor were held together with black electrical tape. I called Pancho's to respectfully share my disappointment in the below standard work and asked why I wasn't notified and give the opportunity to pay for new insulation. The company official explained that they would be out to my home in the next few days to remedy the situation. It has been nearly 3 months now and still not contact from a Poncho's representative. With the many new companies in the local community, I thought going with a company that had been around for years was to my advantage. I was wrong and remain deeply disappointed read more

I'm a very disappointed PV customer that mistakenly chose Ponchos Solar, Lets analyze what I went through, I requested a quote from Poncho's Solar Service in September of 2012, the sales person responded to my request and set up an appointment to take a look at our home and look at the required number of panels needed to meet our electricity needs. The appointment date came and went and the sales person did not show up, I had to call the company and then finally the sales person showed up a day later several hours after the set appointment time.The Quote for the system was quickly returned and Poncho's asked for a $1000 deposit for what they call "Engineering Fees" which I quickly paid. They won't tell you but those $1000 dollars are not deductible from your taxes. After putting some pressure on them and 3 months later after several calls and inquiries they gave me a date at the end of January, Installation date came about and an Army of people showed up to our home, 4 trucks, with all the hardware ready to be installed, the system installers and electricians were very professional they seemed to know what they were doing the guys that mounted the rails were careful so they would not perforate the beams that support the system. I personally monitored the installation not only on the roof but also the Electrical portion and I think they did a good job. Four hours after starting the new PV system was up and running, This included the installation of all the rails, inverters, panels and all the electrical system. Our system has been installed for about 6 months and as far as the system is concerned things seem to be working okay although there are no permits, digital meter or Envoy system was not configured by Ponchos. In Hawaii in order to have the system installed you need to sign a net zero metering agreement and until today there has not been anyone else at the premises from Ponchos or the City. After several weeks of waiting I decided to configure the Envoy system myself it allows you to see how your panels are working over the internet. It took Ponchos Electrical contractor 41 days to call me to tell me that they wanted to connect the device to the internet...I told them that I'd done it myself and told them that I'd sent numerous emails to the account manager as well as contacted Poncho's office but they don't get back to me or they give me the run around that it will be done in a few days. Competitors like Sunetric, Kumu Kit, Haleakala Solar have these systems operating the same day they turn the system to you, they also have the required permits in place, Ponchos does NOT. Nearly 6 months passed since the initial installation and finally we got the New meter installed, I had to contact HECO since Ponchos could not find the document that we signed. In short, Poncho's is not the best choice when installing a P.V system, I would not recommend them. They miss lead you, do not follow up on requests, as others indicated here in Yelp their customer service has much to be desired... read more

In general, although they sold us a great product, we were disappointed at their customer service, and at how the company handled issues (which are the true test of a company). We were looking to get solar water heating for my Grandpa, and settled on Poncho's Solar since we saw numerous ads for them, and even had a neighbor who had used them. Everything went smoothly, and my Grandpa had no issues for the first couple of months, until last week when there was no hot water. My Grandpa called right away early in the morning and left messages, but no one got back till the next day (during which my family had intermittent hot water). When they sent a foreman out to investigate, he found the root cause, and explained that during the initial installation they failed to inform us of an important step which apparently we had to do, which involved setting the timer. My Grandpa (who is 91 years old), asked him if he could set it up for him, since the tiny-print instructions were located on a junction-like box high up in the corner, but the foreman said he was too busy, and that my Grandpa could do it himself by reading the instructions. Also, when the foreman purged the water heater system, he haphazardly had the outlet hose in the carport, and it would've flooded the area hadn't my Grandpa moved it into the yard. In the end it was disappointing to spend so much money for a critical utility of the house, and not have a high level of support. read more

So far so good until 4 year warranty expires....no hot water produced by solar system, called to have system looked at. by tech, came by and said pump poss. not working or stuck, usually needs a slight tap by hammer to free mechanism,. gave him rock to tap pump, system now working. he opened valve to release pressure. less than 15 minutes of his time spent was billed $75 + tax by Poncho's Solar System........ read more

Hi, I called your office on Tuesday, May 31, 2016 to schedule an inspection of my Taco 006-BC4-1, which was making noise. I spoke to Chris, whom then scheduled that inspection for Wednesday, June 1, 2016 - with instructions to remain at home and wait for a phone call between 9 and 10 a.m. to advise time when technician would show up. So I took the day off from work but no phone call from your field technicians this morning, so called your office just before 12 noon, but was told that Chris, that schedules field personnel, had stepped away from his desk, and that he would call me back as soon as he returned to his desk. Well it's now 4:30 p.m. and have not received a return phone call (did leave my home phone number, and Chris already has my cell number). As I am a repeat customer, extremely disappointed in the terrible service. Had initially advised Chris yesterday, that I wanted to replace my original 120 gallon tank at the same time your technician replaced my circulating pump (since Chris said your company would NOT simply change out the cartridge). Bottom line is I wasted an entire day waiting on your staff, AND ALSO WAS INSTRUCTED (by Chris) TO STAY HOME AND NOT GO TO WORK, which of course was a waste of my time and waste of my money. I've heard bad things about your companies poor customer service (from friends and business associates) but figured I'd give your company the benefit of the doubt. But I guess it really is true, that the owner of Poncho's is more interested in overbooking the schedule to obtain maximum daily profits, instead of maintaining his reputation and credibility within the community by providing stellar customer service. Thanks for wasting my time and money. read more

Poor service. My mother and I tried to schedule an appointment with Poncho's, but they continually flaked out on their scheduled appointment. The service man who does the installations has major bad attitude and is hard to talk to without wanting to slap him. I'm not sure if the shoddy service is due to that one guy, or if it is just how the company works. We are now looking at other businesses to get our problem fixed. read more

I scheduled work to be done on a solar panel (water heater). Confirmed the appointment to be at 10 am on a Monday. Reconfirmed with their office for 10 am. This is a rental so I drove to the property and waited. At 10:30 am I called their office and was told, 'they should be there'. I said they aren't. The person on the phone said she would find out and call me back. An hour later she called and said they had to reschedule for the next day and would let me know the time. The next day (Tuesday) I again called the office and the person said they would need to check their schedule and call me back. No call. I finally called them and was told, 'they are now at the property' (I live 40 mins away). I am very disappointed at the lack of communications with me, the customer, and the obvious lack of communication within their own office. I will look for a more customer service oriented company for my solar and PV needs in the future. read more

Great service from Poncho Solar! Even better than there were 23 years ago when they installed my first solar water heater. Kirby inspected my old system (one panel was leaking after 23 years in service) and we discussed alternatives. I choose to replace the entire system because it was cost effective (given the tax credits from Feds and SOH). The job was scheduled and I was kept informed. Scott and Doug showed up as planned and four hours later I had a new 120 gallons system. They were informative and pleasant. I strongly recommend Poncho's services. read more

They installed my solar water system a little over 9 years ago and serviced it 4 years ago. I noticed a leak and figured I needed a new one. They came out and said it was bad and the office would call to set up a time. They called a few days later and set it up for the next day. I asked how much it would be and they said it was under warrenty so it would only be labor. That was a nice surprise and I wasnit expecting it. They call the next day to reschedule for the following day. Very nice about it and I uderstand. The next day the worker calls and says he will be there in about an hour. He showed up on time. He thanks me for clearing the area and explained what he was going to do and how long he expected it would take. He was training a guy as well. Both were very nice the entire time. No foul language or smoking. Cleaned up after themselves and made sure I understand everything. Collected payment and left. I'm very happy with the look and what it of the work they did. They could have charged me full price and I would not have known better since it was almost 10 years old. read more

Poncho's Solar did my pool solar system many years ago and did a fantastic job. His customer service and fixing repairs when called was excellent. So when it was time to do our Photovoltaic system we called Poncho. They installed all my panels and did another great job. System up and running and my electric bill is almost zero. I wanted to really zero out my electric bill so I called Poncho again and he installed my solar water heater. Another great job by Poncho. My salesman was Blake and he is very responsive, returns calls quickly and answered all my questions. read more

I had Poncho's install 3 split air hybrid A/C units. They have operated for 1 month and my electric bill increased only $20. The solar panels did a better job than I expected. The installation went smoothly and the installation crew worked long hours in the heat. Kirby our sales person kept us informed of the installation process from start to finish. We are happy with the installation process and the A/C units are functioning perfectly. We will be cool for the rest of the summer, thanks to Poncho's Solar. read more

All, I don't often send in a review, but the service we have been provided by Poncho's Solar Service is so outstanding that I simply had to let everyone know. We purchased 27 panels from Ponchos over five years ago with guidance from Kirby, who is a tremendous PV man and really set us up right. We also purchased a PV hot water system from Ponchos about eight years ago. All are hooked up to the internet with daily / monthly monitoring. Our electricity bill went from over $800 per month to $50 to $150 per month and if we don't use the AC much it is a credit back w HECO because we make more than we use some month. We had an inverter go bad in one of our panels about three years ago and Poncho's team lead by Scottie fixed it at no cost. We recently had a roof leak and Scotti came back out to our home to reseal all of our PV roof anchors plus sealed a lot of other spots on our roof. No leak now and not even sure if the leak can be attributed to the panels. Bottom line, if you are going to put PV on your roof, ask Poncho to do it. They are tops and best price too plus will guide you along the State and Fed Tax pathway to enjoy the rebates. Don't waste your time w other, Go w Poncho and you'll be glad. Tom D, Hawaii Loa Ridge, Honolulu, Oahu. read more

Great service provided by knowledgeable staff. I would use them again. I worked with Carlo Brand and he was professional and courteous.

I wish I could say they provided us excellent service. Why would we use them again if they didn't? I always wondered why we had to take cold showers. I wondered why I couldn't use my jacuzzi tub. We seemed to be always adjusting the settings they had with the initial installation. When everything broke just after the warrantee ended should have been a big red sign for us. No, we gave them a second chance. They gave us no cost break. Since the job has been completed, we found that they forgot to turn the circuit breaker back on. We had grown used to taking cold showers, but my husband found this on accident as we are doing some remodeling. The contractor then found that they never put the timer pins in. I'm not sure how much experience these installers had, but it wasn't enough. Please check to make sure you have plenty of hot water after their installation. You paid good money, make sure the job is complete. read more

Like another review I read, I can't really comment on their physical service. We had our solar water heater installed by Poncho's 9 years ago. I called this morning to schedule service and the lady who took the call told me "today can" (i was thinking in a few days) so I asked what time, her reply, "I cannot say but the service man will call you". As I'm writing this it's 5pm.... No call to say not coming or any call for that matter!?!? Where's the customer service? I get it if your service guy is busy but a simple courtesy call to say you can't make it?? Hung around my neighborhood all day so I could make it back home when I got the call. How fast those humble beginnings are forgotten when a small company makes it big yeah!?!? Poncho's if you read these reviews don't bother trying to fix mine, I've moved on and found another service company.... hopefully they'll show up so I can give them an actual Work Service review!? read more

Ponchos installed our solar hot water system 9 years ago. We like them to do periodic maintenance services but after calling and emailing them many times, they must be wonderfully busy because they never, ever came back to do any maintenance service even after promising they would call to schedule an appointment with me. They were good at one time. Years later, what happened? read more

Great customer service and friendly, knowledgable staff. Will definitely be using them again.

Great team. Very knowledgeable about solar and energy-saving products and options, from PV to hot water to attic fans and everything in between. Great guidance on the local/state/federal rebates. read more

I just had Poncho's install a solar water heater, replacing a 20 year old model from them. The whole experience was great! Installation occured about a week after I placed the order. Kirby is super-friendly and made sure I understood all the options I had to choose from. Scotty was also great and did the installation between rain showers. Then Kirby came by right after installation to make sure I understood how everything works. I'm very satisfied!! Thanks Team Poncho! read more

I had Poncho's Solar install solar AC about 6 months ago. I have 1 in the kitchen and 1 in the living area, they cool the entire downstairs. It is wonderful. They also installed PV panels that have finally been turned on by HECO. Looking forward to nice savings. Great service, especially from John Collins. Highly recommend John and Poncho's! read more

These guys were friendly, did a good job and fast. My solar hot water system is still running fine 5 years later.

Poncho's installed solar panels on my parents' house a year ago and they still are NOT hooked up or working. For a year my parents have been on the roof regularly keeping them clear of algae, have paid the company, and still don't have working solar panels. You do NOT want to do business with this company. read more