
Solarcoaster: The Promise and Pitfalls of Rooftop Solar Jobs - frgtpsswrdlame
http://capitalandmain.com/solarcoaster-the-promise-and-pitfalls-of-rooftop-solar-jobs-0413
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protomyth
_The company did not provide its workers access to bathrooms during worktime,
requiring them to urinate in bottles or buckets while on the job, according to
the lawsuit._

 _that SolarCity failed to compensate installers for travel between jobs_

 _Zazueta also alleges he was fired by SolarCity after he refused to perform
electrical work under conditions he deemed unsafe. His charge echoes Estrada’s
claim that, when he worked out of the San Diego warehouse, certified
electricians “would get fired if they asked too many questions.”_

Do you want a union, because this is exactly how you get a union.

Frankly, I get the whole profit motive, but if your morals are so poor that
you create a company with standards that would not be a fit place to bring
your children up through the ranks, then you should be sued into oblivion or
forced to fix it via a union.

~~~
tcdent
No access to restrooms is the norm with any short-term on-site construction
work. Industrial products exist (in the form of bottles and buckets) to serve
the need.

If a porta-potty is needed on-site, it's the customer who ultimately pays the
cost, and it's easy to find the expense hard to justify, even on multi-day
projects.

~~~
91bananas
Yeah it's real hard to justify. Those guys up on the roof have to pee,
shocking right?

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sxates
Personal Anecdote - I just had solar installed on my roof by SolarCity. I
found them to be very professional to work with, they pushed the process
forward very rapidly (days from call to initial survey, another week to actual
install (then a week delay due to rain), another week to completed inspections
and green light to turn the system on). Everyone seemed to be enthusiastic
about their jobs and about renewable energy. My rep called me frequently to
check in and make sure everything was to my liking, and was very responsive to
calls and emails.

The installers all seemed competent, and the job was completed in half a day
(19 panels). One asked if he could use my bathroom, which was fine. The first
install attempt had to be rescheduled due to weather, and it was the install
team's call to postpone. I didn't see any attempt to pressure them to do work
they weren't comfortable with.

Safety seemed to be a big concern for everyone from the surveyor to the
installers. Everyone had a phone and photo-documented every step, every
change, even the fact that they had installed their safety equipment. Probably
CYA in most cases, but I also appreciate the attention to detail.

Certainly a limited view of the company and it's workers. As a customer so far
I've had a good experience.

~~~
city41
Good luck, see my other comments in this thread. In my experience, SolarCity
will be very helpful and supportive when first working with you. Once locked
in and/or they have your money, they will stop caring.

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Jeremy1026
Good read. I contacted Solar City about going solar at home and after their
hour quote pitch thing they did I told them no as they were too expensive. I
now get called at least twice a week to see if I would be willing to talk to
them again about the possibility of going solar. This was 6 months ago now.

~~~
city41
I inherited a SolarCity lease after buying our house. It's been a six month
nightmare of my account and the previous owner's account mixed together in
their system. They keep trying to charge me for the previous owner's other
solar system, and I'm unable to pay my bill because the statements are always
incorrect and I have no idea what I actually owe them.

This has been going on since last November. SolarCity is horrible.

~~~
city41
For some reason I cannot edit my own comment. I finally got a response from
SolarCity on this matter just today. They say my account will be fixed in
"winter 2017". I bought the house in winter 2016, so they are basically saying
it will take them one year to fix the problem.

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fpgaminer
My personal experience as a potential customer of the solar industry has been
pretty weird so far.

I'm at the contracting stage of getting solar. I used Yelp to narrow down our
options to three different companies. I contacted each, gave my information,
and ... then nothing. Never heard back from _any_ of them. So I tried calling
each again.

The first of them got back to me and has been the most helpful so far. It's a
small local company. They use some kind of solar quoting software that pulls
info out of Google Earth/Google Maps. It maps out your roof and everything. So
this company was able to send me a quote with prospective panel placement,
estimated generation by month, and estimated electric bill pre and post solar.
Really cool!

When I got ahold of the second company I ran down my list of requests for the
solar system. They balked at my request for Tesla PowerWall batteries. The rep
went on a 2 minute sales pitch for some other brand and said "Tesla batteries
won't power your home"...I ... I didn't know what to say that. I ignored the
ignorance and requested a quote anyway. It's now 3 days past when they said
the quote would come (why would it take so long for an estimated quote
anyway!?) and I haven't heard a peep.

The third company apologized for not getting back to me and said they'd tell
their solar rep to get back to me ASAP. Still nothing.

All three companies were very highly rated on Yelp (and all with at least 40
reviews). And yet all I have to show for my requests so far is ... 1 quote.

SolarCity may suck, but their competition doesn't seem to want business
anyway.

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bronson
We can thank Sullivan Solar's PR budget for this article.

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aisdufh
This post seems wayyyy too long for someone's blog. The author probably got
paid per word or something.

~~~
sp332
It's designed to be published in an actual magazine - you know, on paper. I
figure it's sized to fill four pages including the pictures.

