I was referred to 21st Century by one of my clients. They have Mitsubishi split-AC systems running constantly and were incurring HECO bills of $300-400 per month. That was over a year ago. With their PV system operating fully, their bills now range from $18-58 per month. That is solar in action! Although I did not ultimately choose 21st Century, now called Smart Energy Hawaii, to install my PV system, they are a viable alternative for moderately low-priced systems. Their sales rep was courteous, honest, knowledgeable, and helpful in assessing my situation. They did offer the SANYO HIT modules I was most interested in, but their price was about 7.2% higher than what I selected. They do offer systems utilizing CONERGY modules, a German panel, at a price advantage compared with the SANYOs of 2.5%. The Conergy is physically larger than the Sanyo, so its less-efficient power production is at least partially made up by its larger panel area. However, it needs extra roofing area that I don't have with my south-facing roof. You won't go wrong with selecting 21st Century/Smart Energy as they have been long-established here. The president, Myron Thompson, is the brother of famed Hokulea navigator Nainoa Thompson. They are both sons of Myron "Pinky" Thompson, the respected one-time Bishop Estate trustee. read more

Finally got my solar groove on! Of course, like everyone else, I looked and listened to a few others(Revoluson, Sunetric, Hawaii Island Solar, to name a few) but I came back to Smart Energy...the sales team of Toni and Eddie took their time in presenting BOTH Solar Hot Water and Photo Voltaic(PV). They were very thorough in the assessment and the prices were in line with the others....the crew was excellent - keeping me informed and were very clean. They must have been Boy Scouts - because they left no trace of work once they were done - they even took their trash with them!!! The real kicker for me was company stability, Myron Thomson is in this for the long haul - not just cashing in on the Hawaii Gold(Solar) Rush! His company will be here for years to come, so when i pick up the phone....I know it will get answered professionally and courteously. Smart Energy has to be in your review when going solar! read more

I solicited bids from 4 Photovoltaic companies. What I learned is that they all provide pretty much the same products using similar calculations. However, there is one company that stood out--Smart Energy!! Ken Sasaoka is not only an amazing professional, but he is also a very attentive listener. He clearly addressed all of my concerns in a timely manner. If he didn't have the answer, he would find out and get back with me very quickly. What stood out the most was that he was willing to go the extra mile and get all my permitting done: City and County, Home Owners Association, and Historical Preservation permits. He was willing to learn the processes to help me and also be able to help future clients--he is awesome!! Smart Energy has been in business for 40 years, and I can totally trust that they'll be around for another 40. With the rapid growth of the industry, there are many new companies. Once the market becomes saturated, the question I ask is, "Will they still be around to service my system?" Bottom line is that when I purchased my PV system, what I really was purchasing is TRUST. Think about it: they all provide the same stuff, but can they provide you with the peace of mind knowing that they'll be here to help in the future? I can confidently say that I trust Smart Energy and it's staff. I encourage you to research/google their company. You will see that the owner, Myron Thompson, has deep roots in these islands, and his family truly care about our 'aina. These values are part of the foundation of Smart Energy so...nuff said! :) read more

I had my PV installed over three years ago, when the monitoring system reported problems with the system I called Smart Energy five times trying to get them to send someone to check it out. So far the effort has been unsuccessful. Very poor customer service... Gary read more

I contracted these guys back in October to install my PV system. I submitted all of my paperwork and net metering agreement to HECO. I received a letter from HECO saying to wait. I spoke to Smart Energy specifically about this and was told that they had been in direct contact with HECO and that my NEM was approved. They installed my system. A month later I get an email from HECO telling me that NEM is not approved pending their completing an interconnection study. Long story short, I am now in my 4th month of a PV system installed on my roof that is turned off because I can't legally use it and now I'm paying a loan on an unused system. When I ask what kind of compensation I'm going to get from them about this massive inconvenience and screwup on their part, I get a lot of non answers. Also, my system has been installed for as long as I've stated and they still have not managed to have the final electrical inspection by the city/state completed. I understand that it may be difficult at times, but over 5 months, I just don't buy it. One other thing, when they performed the install they had one rule from my HOA, nothing can cross the peak of the roof, and this was communicated to them. They ran a conduit over the roof and when I called them on it, their reply was to let the HOA inspect it and see if it gets by them. I have since made them come out and correct it. Honestly, I wouldn't really trust these guys. read more

I used 21st Century Technologies for my Solar Water and PV System installs. They evaluated my usage and recommended the perfect solution for both systems. The staff was very knowledgeable, accommodating and professional. Installation went quick and the transition to renewable energy was seamless. read more

NIGHTMARE DON'T PAY THE BALANCE UNTIL YOU RECEIVE THE NET METERING AGREEMENT FROM HECO IN THE MAIL. I recently purchased a solar & pv system from S_ _ _ _ E_ _ _ _ _ Hawaii. I was told there's more than one sales person named Ken working for this company. Kenneth Sidwell was my sales person. His sales pitch was that customer service was very important to him & his company. They do very good work and the installation would be done right the first time. They have a special relationship with HECO that would allow our NET metering agreement to go through without any problems. He would help us with the tax incentive paperwork. He will say anything(lie) to get you to sign their contract. We have a monier tile roof. He said that their company has these special brackets which mount underneath the tile so they wouldn't have to drill through the tile to mount our solar panels. That was very important to us because we were worried that drilling through the tiles would cause the roof to leak. The brackets he mentioned during his sales pitch was for pv panels and could not be used for solar panels. I found this out when the repair crew came out to fix the leak in my roof caused by their installation. The repair guy said that the brackets used for monier tile was for pv and couldn't be used for solar because the brackets couldn't handle the additional weight of the solar panel and the rack was totally different. Ken explained that the reason for the mistake was he didn't know that the monier tile brackets couldn't be used for solar panels. He's been working for this company for 8 years. How could he not know? Sounds like bullshit to me. It was my fault for not looking at the contract more closely before we signed it. They came to the house 4 times so far for the solar panel system 1)Forgot to change insulation on pipes on the side of house 2)Cracked beam in attic 3)Twice to repair leaking roof 4)At noon the water temperature that comes from the faucet is backwards. a)Turn faucet to cold & hot water comes out b)Turn faucet to hot & cold water comes out The photovoltaic system 1)Per signed contract a)18 (300w) inverters. Installed 18 (250w) inverters without consulting home owner first b)100% of electric bill covered 2)Waiting for Net metering inspection After the pv system was installed. Ken stopped by the next morning to pick up the final payment for his company. I had the check ready for pick up. After he arrived I asked to see the permit for pv system installation and the Net metering agreement paperwork. Then he got upset because I wouldn't pay him without it. I knew he never filed for permit because I looked it up online before he arrived and didn't have the net metering paperwork approved because I never received the paperwork from HECO. Then he came back a couple of hours later with the paperwork. He tried to convince me that these were the documents I requested. He brought the permit for the solar water heater and the front page of net metering agreement. Too bad for him I can read. I said this is not the right permit. I asked for the pv system permit. I thought to myself here comes another bullshit excuse. I must have grabbed the wrong paperwork. I thought sure you did. DPP has made the permit process easier and faster. By allowing companies to file for it online. If you filed for the permit before installing the panels on the roof like your suppose to this kind of situation would never happen. Bringing the front page of the net metering agreement that's stamped with todays date and trying to convince me that's how HECO approves their net metering agreement. When I asked you for the reason why there was no signature of approval. You said HECO doesn't need to sign there. Your company does. I thought to myself your trying to collect over $20,000 and this was the best you came up with? Then he came back later that evening to try and get my mom to pay the balance. My mom is so trusting. If I wasn't there she would have paid the bill in full. After he left she said she was glad that she didn't pay him. The contract states the company will take care of all the paperwork. We can't wait to pay our bill. All we want is an approved Net metering agreement. Wow! 3 visits in 1 day. You know the old saying "3 strikes & your out". "A" for effort. But "F" when it comes to customer service. read more

We installed our system December 2012. We spoke with five companies before choosing smart energy The sales people were honest and informative They did not try to oversell and more importantly they were very honest about the tax credit issues with the State. Some companies try to oversell because they get a larger sale by installing more systems and convincing you that the tax credits will cover the extra cost. We did have to wait about a month or so to go live with the system and it did take Heco awhile to get around to changing out our meter. The final electrical inspection took five months. But those are issues with Heco and the state. NOT Smart Energy. We had questions after the system wast installed and every time we called we got prompt and courteous service. We recently had a problem with our system and they sent someone over the next morning!!!! If you want a good system at a reasonable price from a company that is honest and super service oriented don't bother looking any further. read more