New England Clean Energy Review

New England Clean Energy was great. They simply said what they would do and then did it. They made the process simple and easy.

New England Clean Energy installed our solar panels in July 2018. I appreciated their informative and no-pressure sales tactics (especially compared to a couple other companies we had contacted for estimates.) They were very good at keeping us informed about all the steps of the planning and permitting process. When the installation happened, I was incredibly impressed by how well they managed to customize the installation to fit all the quirks of our older home -- the inverter is hidden in a formerly-useless exterior cupboard, the panels are mounted on a rack system because of our widely-spaced metal roof trusses, and the electrical connections worked out beautifully in a very cramped space. New England Clean Energy was also so on-the-ball with the utility company that I was able to switch the system on within a few days of installation -- this was a full month ahead of my coworker whose own solar installation by a different company had happened at the same time. So far, I've been getting the amount of electricity produced that I expected, and am very happy with the system, and would highly recommend New England Clean Energy.

I bought a system from NECE last year during COVID. My contact at NECE, Roy, was very knowledgeable and always answered my emails and phone calls in a day or less. The install went super smooth, and the guys that did the installation were very polite. They left my house cleaner than when they arrived. How many contractors can you say that about?

Now, there are several comments posted here about slow inspection processes, permission to operate, inadequate signage, and slow responses from NECE on these issues. I too suffered all of these issues. It's an expensive project with at least four separate parties involved. You should expect a hiccup or two. NECE stayed with me the whole time and was happy for me to withold the final large payment till it was all settled. They understand the process.

Its important to keep in mind that you the system owner and NECE both need to deal with the utility and the town. Both the utility and the town have folks who are overworked and underpaid and have a say in this process. Have some patience, the system will get installed and you'll get your free electricity. You'll own the system for 20+ years, so go with NECE and you'll have a system that looks sharper than the one on your neighbors house and that you'll be proud to have on your house the whole time, long after you forgot about the permitting process.

I didn't buy a system from this company it came with the home I bought. I've called them sent emails and Jumped through every hoop that they've rasked me to to get them to service my account with no avail! Every time I call the person who deals with my issues is either out of the office or on vacation. This company goes from town to town putting solar on houses as part of a deal to get large groups of people hooked up. If you don't get auto reporting or want to add th the system with your own system later your on your own. Zero service from these guys Go with Solar City after SRECs are not offered any more next year they will be out of business because service is all you get from a company and they don't give you that!

I began my process with New England Clean energy in July of 2020, and was finally approved for electrical use in Feb 2021.

The team came in October to do the initial install, which was done without measuring the roof, and could have fit an additional solar panel.

After installation we had national grid come and look at the install in November, and the way they connected the meter was wrong. After changing the way the meter was connected national grid came out again to look and there was another problem with the way they had installed the meter again in December. Then in January when national grid came again to review they had incorrectly labeled the meters. They tried to then relabel them and send a review which failed, and needed to send someone out again. Finally in Feb I was fully approved.

During the struggle with National Grid New England Clean Energy didn't seem knowledgeable about the issues that were going on and what was causing National Grid not to approve this install.

Between the stickers mishap I turned on and the meter to track how much usage I was losing due New England Clean Energy mistakes. I calculated it at 150ish dollars and asked New England Clean Energy to pay me that sum. They agreed to pay that sum, but it's now been two months and they've stopped all communications with me.

I wouldn't hire them again nor does it appear they know how to correctly perform an install in RI.

From the start it was not a good experience. First, I got an automated email saying NECE does not service my area. Then they called and we set-up an appointment, which was subsequently rescheduled. Then a no show, which ended with me being late to work. All of this does not give me any confidence that NECE can manage a project well. Based upon my experience, I would not recommend family or coworkers consider NECE either. Unfortunate.

I have met with a couple other solar companies and they have been great. Responsive and respectful of my time and interests in solar.

I had a pole mounted Enphase microinverter system installed in my backyard by another company. It worked well, but when time came to move/expand, they were not interested - they changed to only doing central inverters (big, monster company, lousy customer service, I was not surprised by this response because earlier calls for system service were refused, they suggested I call a local electrician). I ran across New England Clean Energy at a local building show and was impressed with their knowledge and the lack of a "hard sell" while talking with them. My system is different in some respects from what they are used to dealing with. They analyzed it, accommodated it in a new expanded system in a location where I wanted it. They helped me to determine all the trees that would affect performance so I could clear the area and worked around my schedule to get it all done. My price quote varied a bit because of the length of time involved and the volatility of the solar panel market, but they kept me informed and I feel I got a good deal. I ended up with different solar panels than we started with, but I am happier with what I got than what was available when I got my first quote from them. My poles are from Techno MetalPost out of Connecticut (they screw into the ground - NO concrete! and you can move them too - which I did). They have taken over my Enlighten web site upon my request (it is provided by Enphase and shows power production and micro-inverter status) and have done a great job supporting me. I had a couple micro-inverters fail (they were replaced free by Enphase, under warrantee) - New England Clean Energy stepped up to the task of replacing equipment that they did not install and did it right! My original system of 2 poles/28 panels was installed in 2009 and it was moved/expanded in spring/summer 2013 to 3 poles/42 panels. In 2014, N.E.C.E. added a 4th pole with another 14 panels on it for me. Great work.

New England Clean Energy installed my panels 7 years ago and I've reduced my annual usage from 9,340 kWh to 930 kWh! Not one problem in 7 years. The professionalism of their crew was extremely good. I highly recommend them.

NE Clean Energy installed solar on my home in 2014. Everything went as they said it would, including my electric bill savings and SREC checks. The only glitch was during installation, the panels (on my back roof) were showing just a tiny bit at the top of the front roof. The installers fixed that and made it perfect. I love my solar!

I had my solar installed in Oct of 2014, so I''ve had it for about 2 years now.

I dealt with Mark Durrenberger during the initial consultation and quoting. He was very knowledgeable and responsive while explaining everything and we never felt pressured in any way. He provided detailed quotes for different sizes of systems, explained the advantages of micro-inverters for our particular situation, and explained options as far as how the cabling would be run from the solar panels to the basement. Overall this part of the process was a great experience.

The only somewhat negative part of the experience was that the estimated date of install kept getting pushed back. This was a little frustrating, but also understandable as there isn''t a lot you can do about the weather, and it''s hard to plan out exact times for installations months out.

My wife and I were having twins and the new, pushed back, install date was getting dangerously close to when the babies were due. I was concerned that we might not be able to do it at all as being new parents, handling 2 babies, we didn't want to be dealing with installers coming through and people making noise on the roof. When I brought these concerns to Mark, he was very understanding and they worked it out to move things around and get our install done earlier.

The install itself went great. The whole crew of guys were friendly, polite and professional (and really nice to our dogs, which gets them lots of points with me, haha). I'm non expert on solar installs, but all the work I see looks very nice. Anything visible, from cables in the attic, to the boxes in the basement are neat and look good. They talked to me about options for mounting the panels and such to make sure it was to my liking.

Afterwards, they had someone come by and do a "walk through" with us. Showing us the system and answering questions and such. It''s a pretty simple setup, but it was nice to have the extra attention to detail.

The energy production has been just what they said it would be and there have been no problems with the system.

Overall, I would highly recommend New England Clean Energy. I was very pleased with the experience and I love having cheap to non-existent electric bills.

Have had two separate systems installed by them. Great people to work with. Excellent workmanship. Cleaned up site well. All positive!

The process started with a great estimate in July. It took two months to get the panel installation scheduled. The installation took two days. The power was shut off by the contractors after the first day and wasn't turned back on as they should have (and we didn't know if it was safe to turn it back on). Then we waited...

A building inspection was supposed to happen in November but some engineering documents were missing. There seemed to be a lack of promptness to get the process moving. The electrical inspection did not happen until late January. Turns out another time was needed to install the wi-fi communicator properly through the proper electrical box. There was another hold up with their engineering partner provide proper documents for the building inspection (which was supposed to take place early November). It took several weeks to get the final document from the city and I had to reach out to the city myself; I would I have expected them to handle it without me having to support. Then, the utility said the signage on the system was not adequate, so they had to order new signage and install them, which delayed the process.

The contract we signed with them said the work would be done in 6 months and it wasn't. It took about 9 months. The COVID-19 situation probably extended the work but that was already 2 months after they promised to get the work done.

With that said, I'm not sure if this was a one-off thing for this company but I wanted to share my experience. I plan to update this if any future work is required.

They did a great job. Scheduling & setup was easy, the installation went smoothly and we've had an easy time (and no electric bills) in the year we've had our panels up.

NECE did a great job, they were very nice to work and they were happy to answer my questions throughout the entire process from proposal to post-installation. I have no hesitation recommending them.

Overall, I m extremely happy with the system installed by New England Clean Energy. I've had the system for just over a year. I installed my panels mostly for environmental reasons to reduce my impact on the environment and less so for financial reasons so the cost of the system wasn t a top priority. I place the most emphasis on a job done well. I m willing to pay more to ensure the job is done correctly. During my research I learned from several other people about long-term problems with other companies. Although these other companies offered a less expensive solution, the potential drawbacks just weren t worth the savings.

Pros
1. Sales process was nice and easy. No pressure. All details were clear and all questions answered.
2. Although the initial installation plan had to be changed at the last minute, the process was easy.
3. The electrician was great to work with and explained things as he went.
4. The panels have worked flawlessly.
5. No roof leaks. No problems of any kind with the roof.
6. The system has easily generated more electricity than the amount they guaranteed.
7. The SolarEdge inverter monitoring and self-reporting is simple and has worked flawlessly.

Cons
1. The initial installation plan/design was incorrect. I was told all of my panels would fit on my main roof but when the installers showed up the plan had to be changed.
2. They suggested I connect my inverter to my router using Powerline network adapters devices which let you run ethernet over your household wiring. These devices worked initially but eventually kept failing. I have replaced them with a hardwired connection which is what I should have asked for in the beginning.
3. The communication among the installer, our power utility and me wasn t as good as it could have been. My net meter was installed without NECE knowing. Not sure who dropped the ball.
4. Getting my questions answered has been somewhat of a hit or miss proposition. I asked many technical questions during the initial few months. Sometimes they were answered right away and other times the questions were never answered. It wasn t clear to me who was the contact person.

Outstanding service in the design and implementation of our solar array. Interviewed a number of vendors and New Energy stood out above the rest for efficiency, responsiveness, and understanding of customer needs.

Two installations, the first in a field, the second on the barn. Both went in quickly, no fuss, have worked reliably and I have no electric bills to pay. Who could ask for more?

Nicest people ever but the slowest process on the planet. Regardless of National Grid, they need to drive the process, not the owners chasing them. I have had a system on my roof for 4 months and no hook-up. To put it into perspective, we had our last system up and running in less than 3 months start to finish. I won't divulge how long this has been going on...