It seems that Yelp thought I was trying to self promote myself by adding my contact information by using my business website. That was not my intention at all, my intention was to give readers a way of contacting me to verify my claims. So I am post what Yelp removed, but without my contact information. Thank you for taking the time to read the nightmare I lived by using SolarMax. Please save yourselves from this company, any other solar company has to be better and more ethical. I have also contacted SunPower, the company SolarMax buys the systems from, warning them that SolarMax blames SunPower for their own short comings. Here are the post that were taken down by Yelp, without my contact information: I started working with Solar Max in late November of 2012 on what I was told would be a three month installation of a solar system for my home. Well, we now half way through June of 2013 and they still are not finished with the project. This has to be the worst company I have ever dealt with. They constantly lie about what is going on the project and who is at fault. Of course it is always some else's fault, and that person isn't in the office today. Delays without explanations, failing to simply do their jobs, for instance, setting up the necessary paperwork with SDG&E, then lying about it. It has been one thing after another with this company, even trying to cause problems between my wife and me by saying "We talked to your husband and he is fine with that", or "Your wife agreed with us on that issue". My wife and I happen to live in the same house, and we talk to each other all the time. Neither one of us would have agreed to anything without the other knowing about it. Do not use this company, they are horrible, the worst. I would not even put them in charge of watching paint dry; they would mess that up that somehow and blame George Bush somehow. If you read this please pass this information on to anyone who will listen who may be thinking about getting solar for their home. And if you would like, contact me and I will verify everything I have written and prove that I am only a person concerned with helping others. I wanted to keep people up on the progress with SolarMax, or lack of it. The system is finally completely installed, which only took seven months, a lot of phone calls and complaining, to finish a three month project. However, we have still not received our warrantee or any information on what to do if the is an issue and we need something fix. I am sure that if I were to call and inquire about this I would get the standard answer of "we will have that for you in two weeks", and two weeks will go by and no explanation as to why no one has come by or even bothered to call. Save yourself the heart ache and do not use this company, even if it is watch your grass grow. They are horrible and cannot say enough bad things about them. Stay away from SolarMax!! Tell your friends, contact me personally if you like to insure I am telling the truth and not making this up. read more

Update to my SolarMax Technology, Inc. review It has been a full year now and I have gotten my first settle up with SCE. I was a bit surprised to find I owed them $150+ for the year. This was not good news to me seeing I was expecting to see that they owed me some small amount of money. I checked my figures on what the system produced and compared that to what Edison was saying and it just did not make sense to me and, the only numbers that did seemed a bit lower then I was expecting. I called SolarMax and talked to Garrett the customer service rep. After some conversation and to be honest a bit of arguing about the numbers, AND my argument was, in as short as I can make it "I paid for a system that would produce more electricity then I used in ether of the past two years and it fell just a bit short of the least year usage" Garrett said making me happy was his number one concern and if that took putting more panels on the roof to meet the number I was looking for, he would do it at SolarMax expense. So I said do it. Literally we were only talking one panel more to meet my number, I then checked my roof and knew would not be a easy just slap it in thing, and I also know my panels are near their limits already. I talked it over with my wife and we decided it just wasn't worth the hassle at this point, so I waited for Garrett to call me back on the scheduling of this new project. He did about a week later. He started with letting me know "This will not be a just slap it in" project and that new sub panels will be needed (all paid for by SolarMax) but I stopped him before he got too far in his explaining the Job needs and told him he has called back with every intention to fulfill his promise and therefore SolarMax's integrity was shown to be good, but I had already decided not to go on with adding one more panel. He said ok, then at least let me pay the SCE bill, so I agreed to that. I sent him a copy of the SCE year end settle up bill. While that was out I was still wrestling with the discrepancies between the SCE monthly billing statements and the Enlighten monthly tracking of my power production, I could not make the numbers jive! OR make any sense, so I asked Garrett for help with that. I sent him my spread sheet and he suggested we conference call the SCE net energy metering Department and talk to them about it, so he set that up and we did. In talking with them I found out how to track and make them jive and in doing so I realized that I had actually used more power this year than in ether of the past two and THAT is why I was paying them this small amount!! How cool it is the have to correct formulas and numbers! I apologized to and thanked Garrett and told him to keep the check! Because now that numbers prove they did build the system as promised! And he helped tremendously in getting the information I needed to make sense of the numbers AND was willing to go an extra mile to make me happy!!! SolarMax gets an A+ in my book... Eric D read more

I knew Solarmax Company is by reading Chinese World Journal newspaper. It is a very big solar panel company in California, providing the green electric energy for resident and commercial use, headquarter is located in Riverside city. I call the company, their sent out the solar panel sale associate to visit us. They are professional explained all detail, and how it work of the solar electric system. They bases on my monthly Edison electric bill, designed how many solar panel that I need to have, for generating the electric power for use in my house. The company has their own individual finance service, after several time communication, we decided choose this company for providing the solar electric green power to us. The service is good, the sale associate is very nice and responsibility, they take care all of the paper work from the beginning to the end, as submitting to HOA and the city for get the permits. Installation is fast and professional, only thing that is waiting permit from the city is bit long. However, my system already installed since last year and running until now is smoothly. Generated the green power for protect the global environment, saving the electric bill. It is the good thing to use the solar electric power. After sale service is also very good, recently, I got the problem with my HOA; they noticed me to move my solar electric converter into the garage. (Because the converter was installed outside my town home wall) My HOA is very picky! They were asking me to relocate my solar electric converter back to my garage. I call SolarMax service department, the service representative, Hinuch Hui is very nice person, he is helping me and confirmed with his manager that SolarMax can certainly come out and move the electric inverter for me with no cost, I am realy appreciated. I sincerely recommand this company to my family, my friend and all the people that who want to have the solar green power, and you will find thousand of good from them, and reliable and trusted. So call today, the SolarMax! read more

For almost a year, my wife was saying we should go solar but I thought it was too expensive. I regret I hadn't looked into it sooner. As it stands today (2018), there was no money down and my monthly payments are lower than my average bill to SCE over the course of a year. Because of rising utility rates, I have no doubt that within a few years, my monthly payment (which will remain steady over the course of the loan) will be less than my lowest SCE bill which is usually in January or February. The payment is close to 1/3 of my summer month bills. My first step was to contact three solar companies. I did my research on a few websites including yelp. After meeting with 3 sales reps, I felt SolarMax was far superior because of the panels they offered, that they didn't hire out contractors, the warranty, the price, and the salesman, Pete Herrera, who made me feel really good about his company. He was very knowledgeable about solar in general, the process, and his company. He walked me through every step and he was always available by phone. Early on, a team came out and inspected and measured the roof. Then I was asked where I would like the panels and the engineer reconciled what I wanted versus what was most optimal for the angle of the sun throughout the year. We found a good match. Installation was a two part process. The first team installed the mounting system on the roof and I was surprised it only took a few hours. The second team led by Jake and Elvis installed the solar panels and hooked up the electrical system to the grid. I was really impressed how nice the panels looked on the roof. A couple days later the company inspector, Brad, approved the work done and waited for the city inspector to come out and give final approval. Everyone I dealt with at SolarMax was a topnotch professional and I really enjoyed meeting them. I am very happy with the work and craftsmanship. I highly recommend. read more

We interviewed 3 solar companies before we made up our minds on who to go with. All except for SolarMax wanted to talk to us about leasing from them vs. buying, even though we had made clear from the very beginning we wanted to BUY not lease. SolarMax agent Sergio sat down and heard us out and listened to our wants and needs and put a bid together that suited us. After quoting us, he went back to his office and fought for to get us even better pricing. Anyone looking for a real good solar sales agent ask for Sergio Ramirez, he'll take care of you. The installation process went painless and very smooth. SolarMax has an excellent team both in house and field. The in house people called and scheduled the appointments within 5 days after agreement was signed and off and running they went. Installation team was awesome...! Roofing was very punctual, courteous, clean and fast. After completing the work, you would of thought that the house was built with the brackets. You could not tell that they did anything to the roof. Electrical team was great as well. I know they must of been a little annoyed with me because I was out there asking a bunch of questions, but they were very nice to answer everything and even spelled it out to me like if I was a 4 year old so that I could understand the lingo, as I'm not an electrician. Final inspection went smooth, SolarMax rep was at my house 20 minutes earlier than the inspector and went through all the installation to make sure we would pass on the very first time. You can't go wrong with SolarMax, they are very friendly, knowledgeable, very competitive with their pricing and reliable. They even have their own in house financing. You know that a company that has their on in house financing is going to be around for a long long time. Call SolarMax...! Zulma read more

I had an exceptional experience with Brandon Mezzanato at Solar Max. From the very beginning, Brandon did an outstanding job explaining everything in detail, ensuring that I fully understood the process. He set proper expectations and then exceeded them, which truly impressed me. Brandon is not only ethical and super knowledgeable, but he's also incredibly patient, taking the time to answer all of my questions thoroughly. Thanks to Brandon's expertise, my solar system was designed with the goal of ending each year at a breakeven or with a slightly positive financial impact. In fact, 14 months after going live, I ended the year with a credit balance on my Southern California Edison bill, which rolled forward to the next year. Since I lease my system, I was able to lock in a fixed monthly payment for the next 25 years. This price is significantly less than what I was paying before going solar, and I now have high confidence that I can absorb electricity price increases much better than I would have without solar. Even more impressive is the continued support I receive from Brandon. Over a year later, I can still pick up the phone and call him directly, and he greets me, knowing exactly who's calling. Solar can be a confusing topic, especially when dealing with the complexity of our electricity bills, but with Brandon on speed dial, I always know I have someone in my corner to explain things properly. It's also great to know that Solar Max is a local company based in Riverside. Their commitment to quality is evident, as they manufacture their own panels and operate out of their impressive 165,000 square-foot building. I have no hesitation in recommending Brandon and Solar Max for anyone considering solar energy. They truly stand out in the industry! read more

Since the beginning of the solar Installation process my sales representative, Pete Herrera, has made my experience a tranquil and credible one. He came to my home and sat with me personally to discuss all of the options SolarMax had to offer; followed by reviewing what options would personally work and fit best for myself and my home's conditions. Pete was so dependable and knowledgeable on the topic of solar that I couldn't help but to pass on his expertise to my mother who lived directly across the street from me. We walked over to my mother's home the very same day I signed my contract. The process for my mother was just as easy and smooth as my own. So smooth and trustworthy that my mother then signed her very own solar contract the same day! We were both very happy with everything and everyone throughout the process. Everyone we came in contact with from SolarMax was friendly, reliable, and responsible when it came to their work. Unfortunately, soon after the process began, my mother passed away. At this point, the one thing I couldn't stop thinking of is what I was going to do with this extra solar system on my mother's home??? The stress began, so I then called Pete for his suggestions and recommendations. All I could remember from his call was him emphasizing "not to worry about it, it'll be fine." Just when I thought things couldn't go more smoothly, it actually did. Pete was able to make the transition process as simple as could be. He was able to transition the solar system from my mother's name to the new found owners of her home, leaving me stress free. If everyone at SolarMax is as awesome as Pete and the crew we were introduced to, I highly recommend working with SolarMax Technology, Inc.! read more

My family decided to go solar this year and had called over 7 companies to receive quotes, one of them being SolarMax. I have to admit I was put off by so many of these so called professional companies and how pushy and slimy they seemed to be. It felt like they were trying to take advantage of us. That was until Sarah Turner walked in the door and blew everyone else out of the water! Going with her and with SolarMax was the clear way to go. She spent over two hours with us first explaining every last little detail about solar and we signed right on the spot because of the incredible price she offered us!! BUT GET THIS: while we were signing everything, when she heard I was looking for work she immediately offered to put me in contact with some friends she knew who ran a company in the industry I work for! Not only that but she called them, recommended they set up an interview for me and I ended up getting the job!!! First solar savings, now helping me financially support my family, could she get any better?!?! Well, yeah, she did! She spoke with us often to keep us in the loop on what was going on with our project, what phase it was in, and how long we could expect everything to be completed. She did tell us at our appointment that she takes care of her customers and that we could expect constant communication, and she went above and beyond. SolarMax installed everything perfectly without a hitch and now we get to enjoy our solar system while paying over 65% less than what we were before!!! We were treated like family and that is the reason why I tell EVERYONE to go with my girl Sarah at SolarMax!!! read more

Wow ! Entered this field pretty much clueless,,, Had around $16,000 in my money market account,,, ( was looking for a way to build my money.... )( savings-accounts only lose you money !!!! ) Then I thought about it,,,, My $ 16,000 was making me nowhere-near $ 150 a month in interest ! So I had to figure out how to make that money earn me MORE !!! I had only heard radio-commercials from competing companies. Had a friend who had rented solar-panels on their own roof from a different company! ( really ? ) I didn't like THAT idea at ALL !!! ( F.U. ) So I decided to go -w- Solar Max,,, Jeeze !!! ( I had heard their radio-commercial ) "Pete" from Solar Max really helped me to understand how many panels I needed to buy,( versus my avg. usage ) then he showed me the website that would help me see the difference between sunny days and cloudy days... ( cloudy days suck,,, but not too many here in the high-desert,,, It took a little while for Edison to catch up ! But finally,,, they did, and finally I saw that my new usage was around $10-$20 a month ( as opposed to to $ 150-$400 a month ) I guess I am fortunate, because I could afford to pay my entire loan off all at once,,, But regardless, even if I couldn't have, I think, in the end, I would have saved a BUNCH of money !!! Thanks, "Pete" ( Pete Herrera ) Again, Thank You ! PPs - I might spend my new money on a new boat !!! Steve read more

Just over a year ago I had a solar system installed by Solar Max, during the initial conversation with the sales agent, I was very clear what I wanted, a system that would be large enough to grow into. I asked that the system be at least 30% over what was needed. I wanted this system to meet my future needs. As it stands now the system just covers my current needs. After many phone calls and conversations with service and sale, I was told, "you signed for what you got". This is not acceptable; the system is not large enough. Several problems with the battery backup, installer not knowing how to connect it correctly, took weeks to get that fixed, and then it failed as well, had to be replaced. Installed a panel in a shaded area on the roof that was not necessary. The roof has a lot of space to install panels where none would be affected by shading. The monitoring system was offline for 3 months before it was fixed. I have made several calls to get this resolved but no one returns calls or tries to fix the problem with the under sizing of the system. I have no problem paying for additional panels to get this system to where it should be, but no one will return calls or emails. This is customer service at its worst. Why does it have to be this hard to get something fixed and done right. I spent a lot on a system that is under sized and not working as it should. Customer service should be A -1. read more

5 stars!!! I am updating my review: My system looks great, my main service panel as well. SolarMax has been fantastic with their customer service. I would especially like to thank Edgar, my project manager, for taking care of any issues I had and a special mention also goes to my Solar Rep, Sergio, for taking care of us every step of the way. Now I can clearly say that if your going to go solar...go SolarMax!!! They'll stand by their work before, during, and after your system is installed. SolarMax does not honor their contracts! Very unhappy that I decided to go with SolarMax instead of my original contract with Sunlux. I was very upset when my representative, Sergio Ramírez, came back to try and charge me more money for a Main Service Panel Upgrade , especiawhen my contract specifically indicates clearly "Main Service Panel 225/200 upgrade is included in this contract" But hey...typical shady contractors...they promise you one thing and then later try to do the "bait and switch" and charge you more money. The only reason I cancelled with Sunlux was because my daughter had a system installed with SolarMax and we felt more comfortable with Sergio when he came over, despite his pricing being slightly higher. I feel like I've wasted my time when I should've stayed with Sunlux, gotten my main service panel upgrade and my panels would've already be installed. Buyer beware! read more

We've had our system up & running since Dec 2012 and over all I'm very happy with it, I've learned a thing or two since becoming a solar owner. 1st if I happen to move in the future and purchase another system I will only do so if I can get a tracking system. The difference is now not so apparent in the summer months with the sun "high in the sky", but during the winter months when the sun is at a much lower angle it makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE. During the winter I only get maybe 1-2 hours a day of peak generation, sad...a tracking system would completely resolve that problem. With a tracking system your generating peak power all day long (unless, rain, clouds etc etc...). 2nd make sure that they mount the inverter in side your garage. As an ignorant 1st time owner I didnt realize that if your inverter get to hot it will actually throttle down to keep within operating specs. When I found out I contact Garret @ customer support @ Solarmax and they bit the bullet and paid to have the inverter moved into the garage where it belonged. Regarding SolarMax I have nothing but praise for them, from start to finish it was very professionally done from beginning to end. The job it's self was very clean, and I have no complaints what so ever. What can I say; they came thru and did what they said they were going to do, when they said they were going to do it!! read more

I talked to customer service last week and Garrett told me that Delta will call me to explain about my issue with the inverter, so I told myself that I'll probably have my issue resolved and he told me that he will throw 30 LED's instead of 10 to offset my issue with the unit and in exchange of referral. Talked to Delta people, beleive it or not it was the same person who I talked to 2 weeks ago who told me that the inverter should pull in only . 01 amp during night mode, a week later he told me that it is normal after he talked to solarmaxtech and said there is nothing wrong with my system, ok, now I order a mechanical kwh meter so I can verify if pulling an extra 300 watts of power or may be my $300.00 meter is lying to me, will post the result. When I talked to Garrett yesterday he mentioned that I will get my 30 LED's once the dept completed their energy analysys on my house so they order the right led, told him that all my lights are LED since 2009, he said they cannot release my LED without any energy analysis, that means I'm not getting my LED plus my referall.... Well, unitl now I havent received any replacement yet for my missing extension cord that was accidentally taken by one of their worker. When she talked to Frank he said they will send us a replacement but nothing happen yet, looks like I will not get my extension cord also. read more

My wife and I decided to buy our 1st home and we are Happy to say that we closed Escrow on July 4th, were are beyond blessed to have a home for our kids and Grand kid as well. Since we got our house right away we thought about saving money and we as a Family decided to get Solar Panels. Suddenly i made a call to SOLAR MAX IN RIVERSIDE. Immediately they call me back with a representative name Pete Herrera, he came to our house very well knowledgeable regarding what Solar Panels was all about, He explained to my wife and I in English and Spanish, regarding Solar Panel and with no doubt we knew were made the right choice to hire Pete Herrera with Solar Max. I would for sure RECOMMEND SOLAR MAX TO EVERYONE THAT READ THIS POST. Company was very respectful with our busy Schedule and right away they were there to help us out. No Money down. No Money out of our Pocket, NOTHING. Installers came to do the work very knowledgeable and respectful but the most important fact about the Installers very Clean and made sure they didn't leave any trash behind. We are beyond HAPPY with Solar Max. Thank you for making our House warm with love and care. Thank you Pete for coming to us and being part of our Family. and to all the crew from Solar Max from the Office and the out side crew. I will recommend you to friends and Family. Thank you once again. read more

SolarMax, Riverside This is to let you know how great your crews were. Didn't have much contact with the 1st crew on Monday. How ever our son is a P/M, finishing up a Marriott Flagship Hotel in SFO and said that the rails (?) for the panels looked nice and even from the ground, which was very important to us. I'm sorry that I didn't remember their names. What I did observe was that they were very professional and that made us feel good about the project. The Friday crew led by Efrain with Donald and Jonathan worked their butts off and it was up to 119 degrees on our water front patio, cannot imagine how hot it was on the red roof. We did not hear any complaints or profanity from them. They deserve a lot of praise for their outstanding work in those conditions. At the end of the day and after the long hours they put in, they still maintained their personalities and professionalism with smiles on their faces. Again a great crew, can't say enough about them. Then on Monday a very personable and professional young man, Frank was here for the inspection and told me all about the equipment and what to expect next. He told me that if I didn't get the PTO sticker in 3-4 days to let you know. It was 21 days from the HOA approval to the power turn on. I would like to thank you Edgar for the installation in such a short time! read more

We have had our solar system since January, 2018 and Dan C. from Solarmax was very helpful. Thus far we have saved over $1000 on our electric bills INCLUDING AFTER WE PAID FOR OUR EQUIPMENT. I can't believe I didn't do this sooner. We chose to buy a bigger system, and we are so thrilled. Currently, our year-to-date cumulative bills (that apparently comes as a surprise to others) is currently -$97. Yes negative $97. It's the summer, so both the use and production are higher. My current use is 86% below last year, and topped off one month at 117% below last year, meaning we used NO additional energy and contributed. This has kept us completely out of the on-peak, very expensive, usage band. Just doing this has lowered our bill a ton. Because our costs are down so much, I have begun to pay down my equipment loan at a much faster pace, so soon the savings will be well over $2500 a year. I have seen no change in the consistency of our power supply. As a side issue: the installation was exactly as described. The crew was quick, polite and cleaned everything. They painted the conduit to match the house (I did buy a quart of paint ... a quart; about $10.). We got a new electric panel, and our power was out on our house for ...... almost an hour! That's it! Thank you so much. read more

The company is very well organized, people were always on time for appointments and schedules were met as promised. Received PTO (30) days from my approval of plans and about 45 days from my initial contract. They even checked for broken tiles after they finished and are replacing the ones that were damaged. (This is common for any walking on my roof) I noticed on some review website that they didn't place as high as you would want and I almost didn't select them because of it. After I spoke with Jacob Richardson who was kind and very knowledgeable, I read the rating criteria, and realized they were knocked down in the service area category because they had a smaller service area, basically SOCAL. The firms that went all over CA got ranked in that category higher. I felt this was an advantage for me since they would be very familiar with requirements in my county. It's been exactly one year after my solar system installation and couldn't be happier with my Solarmax experience. I referred two of my near neighbors to Jacob, who explained they their experience with Jacob and Solarmax was flawless. To anyone considering solar, discuss it with Jacob. Would recommend highly. read more

I've purchased two 6k systems in the last 3 years for two separate homes. The first purchase was comprised of Panasonic panels and the second installation was done using LG panels. The most recent installation was completed in November of 2021 and I can say with unwavering confidence that this company is truly remarkable. This process through its entirety has been seamless and a couple key factors as to why can be summed up into one man and that is the experienced sales representative Jacob who was the main reason I came back for my second system. Not only was his pricing competitive beating out 5 other company's but he also navigated the paper work and permits needed to get it signed off with ease. It's also worth noting that Yvette in financing is extremely kind, competent and yet another Major reason why I chose Solar Max. 3 years of over performing above and beyond what they quoted for energy output and efficiency with Zero problems to date is why I strongly encourage anyone reading this review to rest assured they are the right choice. Thank you Solar Max and thank you Yvette and Jacob for all the work you've done for me, it has been greatly appreciated. read more

My husband and I had been thinking about getting solar for some time. However, our home was fairly new and had many cost saving and energy saving appliances. My parents went down the solar path and loved their sales rep, Dan. So we followed suit and gave Dan a call. Dan made an appointment to come out to our house and teach us about solar. He took his time and went through 12 months of our bills to create an accurate plan of action for us. Dan was informative, knowledgeable and extremely kind. He answered all of our questions and when he left we were part of the solar max family. I live in a community where we have a HOA. The staff at solar max did all they could do to ensure that we had all of the information to meet the requirements of the HOA. Once the we received our HOA approval, solar max got back on the job, pulling the permits and giving us an install date. Everyone was extremely friendly, professional and more than helpful in this transaction. However, the one who stands out the most to me was Dan. If you have any questions regarding if solar panels GIVE DAN COOLEY a call @ (951) 313-1229. I promise you will not regret it. read more