Get the Full Picture—Not Just a Price

We contacted Valley Solar late in 2023 in anticipation of our move from TX to MA. The request was more complex: install and connect solar panels to our newly purchased property in MA, install and connect our Tesla Powerwall we will bring from TX, and connect our car charger to the infrastructure in this 1962 cape. Long story short, it was a fantastic experience. Valley Solar “held our hand” throughout the process. Every permit and every piece of paper was provided upfront, reviewed, and then filed on our behalf. The team kept in touch with us to ensure everything was on track from beginning to end. The crew that came for the installation was particularly friendly, professional, and efficient. If you want a top-notch experience installing a solar system, look no further. These guys have it down pat. Highly recommend.

In this day and age it has becoming increasingly difficult to find contractors who walk the walk after they have talked the talk, but it has been my experience that Valley Solar is one of those contractors who knows what they are doing, and that what they say they will do is in fact what they do.

I researched three solar companies for an installation of a solar system on our house. One company promised a lot but barely delivered on the first deliverable in the discovery phase. Another came in with an extremely high quote and a questionable design (installing 5 solar panels under the shade of a tree). While we cannot claim to be solar panel engineers, we have lived in our home for over 15 years and we have some sense of where the sun hits best on our property.

Valley Solar came in with a design that was spot on which would allow us to generate the maximum allowed power from our location. They gave a design. They gave us an estimate. Everything was very clear. As we planned to purchase the system and could not afford one outright, they connected us with UMass5 to help finance the system with a custom solar loan that helps us take advantage of tax credits to optimally fund the cost that translate into manageable monthly payments. When coupled with low to no electricity utility payments, we should be able to pay for the system well before the term of the loan with nearly no impact to our monthly cashflow.

In terms of the installation, the crew was amazing. There were three crews that came in to install the system over approximately 3 days. The first crew came in to install the framing for the system. The second crew came in to install the panels. The third crew was an electrician who worked through all phases of the project to connect the system to our existing electrical service. While I was impressed with everyone, I was extremely impressed with the electrician. He did a great job. We have an old house and our electrical service is not new and certainly could have been more neatly installed over the years. When he was the done, I feel the Valley Solar electrician greatly improved the state of our electrical service. Super professional.

When it came to turning on the system, we had to wait to get the green light from the power company. When we got it, all I had to do was literally flip a switch. We are using Tesla equipment for converting the electricity to AC and for tracking the flow of electricity into the house and back out to the grid. Despite it’s majority owner’s reputation ( and rightly so), the Tesla equipment is pretty darn impressive. I have a mobile app that monitors power generation and usage down to the hundredth kilowatt hour. In one month, with record heat and humidity and running the air conditioner more than we normally do, we still are making more power than we are using.

I guess I could have made this review shorter by simply saying Valley Solar has been nothing short of incredibly professional and making our investment into a supremely wise investment that will return us a direct financial and environmentally sustainable benefit for the next +25 years.

I have to say my experience with everybody at Valley Solar was thoroughly enjoyable and their professionalism was always in the forefront. From meetings to present their proposal, to regular and informative communication during the time leading up to the installation, to the awesome crew that spent a couple of days at my house turning my garage roof into a generation plant, to managing all the paperwork behind the scenes (that seemed ridiculously complicated each time I received an email of what they were up to), to making sure I was happy with the installation after they were done, and finally getting me set up so I could readily receive my solar credits, the people at Valley Solar hit a grand slam! I’m really happy with the outcome, and it’s all new enough for me that I still enjoy looking at the app that tells me in real time how much energy that roof is producing. I can’t say Valley Solar is the best alternative energy company in the Valley because I haven’t tried the others, but I can say that you won’t be disappointed with the service and the installation. They’re great!

The installation crew was impressive. The men on the roof, the electricians, and the support staff were all friendly, proficient, communicative, and responsive to all our needs. I’m retired, but if I were still in business, I’d be tempted to lure these guys onto my team 😉! Top shelf professional staff goes beyond the folks at my house, including the salesman Carl who was pleasantly persistent without being pushy, Penny, Alaina, and everyone else. They all impress Value into the name Valley Solar!

My family offers Valley Solar an unreserved recommendation for any solar/battery storage system that you might want for your home or business. They will do quick, excellent, and reliable work that will exceed your expectations, and someone is always available for any questions you might have before, during, and after your installation.

Google says I need to omit the quoting/initial part of the permitting process due to review length… Sam was a great expert that was thorough and patient as I learned about solar power.

Slightly more than a month after calling Sam during an “Easy Quote” (impressive with how many other people were doing the same thing I did), I reviewed and signed a full proposed construction agreement. However, Eversource delayed my project for a technical review of their own, and they demanded that I pay over $11,000 for a grid infrastructure upgrade that “would be needed to prevent overloading of secondary transformers.” Instead of hiding this or asking for more fees of their own, they immediately had me work with the vice president of sales. I was honestly ready to cancel the project until I talked to Mike; he knew there was a way to negotiate with the utility to make the project happen. Sure enough, less than 3 weeks later, they re-submitted the application for my system with an “export limit,” and Eversource approved the installation to proceed sans grid upgrade.

Now, at this point, Mike was sounding a little nervous; I was tentatively scheduled for early January with a “high likelihood of moving up.” Little did I expect Dawson to call me in the middle of November, asking if this team could have a head start on November 19th. Of course I accepted, and the men who arrived at my home on that day did amazing things in less than 7 hours. I do need to point out the dedication of this team; a solar installation with battery backup can take up to a week of electrical and structural work. The racking, hidden conduit, and swap-out of my entire electrical panel was done on that day, and I need to thank Andrew for refusing to leave the job site until he knew the power was back on after his full panel swap.

The team returned in early December (just like they said they would) and installed/wired the battery, every panel, disconnect, conduit, and wire (there was a lot of wiring) in just two days. The team was hard-working and meticulous; they even moved the 300 pound Powerwall from one mounting location to another over uneven and half-frozen ground, just because they were worried the fire department might not like it! Andrew even pointed out how much better the new location would allow him to hide conduit. Look at the pictures; everything looks great with ZERO exposed wires or conduit outside of my home. It’s a joke in construction that electricians are the messiest trade, but Valley Solar’s electricians respected my home and cleaned up every wire and sheath that they could. On December 11th, with hands freezing in the cold wind, Andrew and his team flipped the breaker going to my Powerwall, closed everything up, and then we watched the Tesla app report the first solar AC production occurring at my home.

In conclusion, Valley made the best system; it exceeds my expectations and reasonable production estimates from PVWatts and Gemini AI alike. They installed it quickly and at the best time, at the best price. They used highly efficient bi-facial panels, which are more expensive than what national competitors might use, but allow me to have much more production, including on cloudy days. They used construction practices and design practices (including certifications from outside contractors) that make me believe this system might actually last 25 or more years, like they warranted.

I am glad I called Valley Solar. I’m very pleased with their work. I would hire them again for any major electrical projects, and I trust that they will stand behind their work for a long time to come. If you call Valley Solar for your project, I hope that you find them as ambitious, excellent, dedicated and reasonable as I did.