MidKnight Solar

My review will be based on the last 3 months of my experience with MidKnight Solar, SunPowers project management, and the Maxeon panel installers. February 2023 I was interested in solar from advertisements, people knocking on my door and my Kissimmee Utility Monopoly-I mean Authority- bill continuing to rise. SunPower had an advertisement so I called in to get more information. The person over the phone couldn't find my house because it was a newly built home and asked if I had blueprints but I couldn't find them. At first she wasn't going to schedule the consultation but I was really interested so she gave me a phone number of someone that could help... This is where the story really starts and let me say I was NOT prepared for it. I called Andrew with MidKnight and we spoke for sometime over the phone before we got to talking about solar. After formalities I told him what I told the marketing woman over the phone. I don't have blueprints handy and my house isn't on Google maps. He said not to worry and that'll he come out and fly a drone along with teaching me how solar works. A week passes and I get a knock on my door right at 10am with Andrew and a UCF student that was shadowing him to learn more about the renewable energy industry. We walked around the house and Andrew noticed I got a new pool pump. He talked about how the pump I got was 1.5 horsepower and it was a variable speed and recommended to run it at certain hours based on the season and the timer to get at Home Depot and on and on and on. He was really impressed with the pump and I look at the intern like 'its just a pump' and the intern gives me one of those 'yea well thats how he is' looks. After walking the whole house he flys the drone and shows me on the screen my house. He starts telling me where the most efficient roof locations are for solar production based on the roof angle and how its pitching towards the sun and the asphalt roof shingle color with how much light it will reflect and the geolocation of my house compared with the equators distance and on and on and on. At this point I'm going to need some damn sunscreen, we are 30 minutes into this and we are STILL outside. Finally we are inside in the AC and when we get to the living room he says 'your kitchen lights are on... why are they on?'. Alright buddy, at this point I don't know if I like you anymore. I might have sunburn and now you're telling me to turn the lights off in my own house. I'm about to make a fake doctors appointment I forgot about. Andrew starts talking about solar and I will admit I had no idea it was this complicated; panels, inverters, racking. Thats all surface level stuff. Andrew gets technical about manufacture warranties, annual degradation, AC/DC conversion based on the microinverter paired with what type of wattage the panel is rated for. It was a lot to take in but he did a good job of not making me feel overwhelmed. One thing to point out is I did do my research in the 1 week before the appointment. The Maxeon panels are the best on the industry from what I read about. Best warranty and best technology by far from any competitor. So coming into the consultation I had background knowledge but of course not the extent to a someone who works in the industry. After about 1 hour we wrapped up the education but the design was taking a bit. Andrew said he had to go because the intern had class but he said the production design from the drone footage is going to come back in the evening. He gave me a verbal estimate but told me not to hold him too accountable because the engineers make the design and what it cost. I appreciated him for his honesty and I was happy with the cost so I told him to come tomorrow morning to finalize next steps. The following day he came and we sat down to discuss business. The lease SunPower offered was great. I didn't have to worry about the system and my only obligation was the monthly payment just like the electric bill. I was saving a little bit of money and I was helping the environment at the same time. To me it made complete sense; the quality of the material was the best, the service from reviews I read were great, it helped my community by using clean energy, and it was the same cost as paying my electric bill. After reviewing and signing the contract my next question was the overall cost of the system but at the time Andrew or the engineers didn't have that knowledge. After the site survey which was in a couple days we would have more that information. I have never had a home owners association coming from New Jersey. Now that I live in Florida it seems like it is illegal to not have one. When I submitted my application to the HOA with the solar option marked I got a call from the representative from my community the following week. She told me we work with a 'different' company and to use them. I told her NO because I did my research on SunPower and I already signed a contract. Even after explaining that, I was second guessed by her about if they really are Maxeon panels or not. I was assured in my decision and turned down the option to hear the HOAs 'suggested' vendor... The following day I was given a call by the sales representative of Titan Solar saying my HOA called him to come out and give a quote. He told me he could come that same day or tomorrow. I kept trying to tell him I was happy with my choice and did not want a consultation. He kept pushing and pushing. Asking me information about my contract like 'How much is it? How many panels?'. I did not know any of that because the site survey was just 2 days ago and I needed to wait until my system was designed. Finally I said 'You can come and tell me what you want. I'm happy with my choice and I have a contract signed. I'm not changing my mind'. He said he would be at my house Monday. With all these details I started to get unsettled and called Andrew to see if he can speed up the design que. If the overall price was something I could afford I wanted the option of buying it outright. Andrew told me to give him a couple hours and see what he could do. Got a ring back at 4pm on Friday and he said he had a limited window tomorrow morning at 8am so if I could work with that he would come by. Long story short I liked the price, put the panels where I wanted them, cancelled my appointment from the Titan Solar sales harasser, and looked forward to my Sunpower Solar panels. During the last 3 months I have been communicated more than enough from SunPower by both phone and email. Permits were certified with the county and approved. My HOA approved my solar application surprisingly even though I didn't go with their vendor. At any point during these 3 months if I had questions I would reach out to Andrew via text message and he would respond within a minute or a day. One thing I did want to say was great design work was done by moving my panels just slightly over. I am really picky about alignment and centering so at install I told Andrew and the Maxeon installers to move it over. A redesign was generated to an engineer and within minutes Andrew got it certified and approved. One thing I did want to mention as a critique was my install could have been coordinated a bit better. Meaning I got called Monday May 8th to have my install Tuesday May 9th. I couldn't do that because I needed time to prepare my affairs so Andrew called to rearrange the date. The install was finished in one day and within 4 hours by the crew along with sweeping around to find no garbage. From start to finish I would like to say it has been a soap opera journey to get me some damn solar panels. Andrews world changing BS, my HOA selling my information off, and the constant harassment from solicitors. Honestly it's great I'm saving money but the core reason I got solar was so all the door knockers that bother me can LEAVE ME ALONE. It has been fun and look forward to a healthier environment for my children and grand-children to prosper

Most people don’t understand solar and what it can provide. More than not, the person trying to sell you solar doesn’t have a clue either. This is not the case with Midknight Solar or the Sunpower system they represent. I started looking into solar 4 years ago. The 2 companies I saw were Freedom Forever and Momentum. Both companies had aggressive sales people who tried to get me to sign the contract even when I told them I didn’t feel comfortable with it. They all ‘pitch’ the idea of this new monthly electric bill. Neither company went into what I was buying. When I asked about system components all that was said to me was they are ‘the newest ones’ or ‘these are the black on black ones’. That doesn’t mean anything about the warranty, or efficiency, or any piece of what I’m buying. I work for Ford on the R&D side. Our division is specifically made to engineer the different heads up displays that go into all vehicle models. My job is to review every screen and the material it’s made out of. The brightness levels and drain on the battery that might yield. Response time and integration with the rest of the car’s controllable features. Once I find the manufacture of the display that falls within parameters we decide to move forward. That’s why I got turned off to the idea so long ago because it was not really how business is done or how I make my decision. 2 years ago I saw plenty of solar advertisements about free solar but I didn’t believe them. I did see a solar panel on a Tesla at Whole Foods and that got my interest. There was a QR code so I scanned it, put my information in and got reached out by Dean. Not only was he very polite and kind, he explained how solar worked scientifically, how he has had solar for 6 years and why he regrets buying the Tesla solar panels, and most importantly why he created the company. I also shared with him my experiences and he said that is the problem with the industry. ‘Everyone is trying to make a buck and not sure what they are doing’ we’re his exact words. At the time, COVID started to spread again so I opted for a virtual consultation and Dean assigned Randy as my energy consultant. The Sunpower system was great and the way Randy explained every system component was great too. Putting a car together is pretty complex so when you have to outsource for a part you always run the risk of it not being in stock when a repair is needed was my concern for the solar. The Sunpower system comes with the panels, inverter, rails, install, monitoring, service all from one phone number if there are any issues. Before the webinar I read on google Midknight Solar had repeat customers coming back because of how happy they are with their service and the system never having an issue. I chose right then and there my design and got approved for financing within 30 minutes since Sunpower does the financing as well. Randy kept me informed step by step every 2 weeks with a phone call as the project made it’s way through designing, engineering, permitting, and then to installation. 2 months from signing to install was my experience. The Sunpower work trucks showed up at my door at 8am and left everyday at 3pm (it took them 2 days to install the panels and 1 day to finish the electrical work). Randy was here on the final day and brought a gift basket which was a nice touch. Dean also called me again to let me know how the step by step is with OUC which is a more friendly utility company as he put it. The city needs to do an inspection, then get my meter swapped out, and then I can have my system energized. I was really looking forward to this working because all the supporting facts and service I received so far has been superb so there’s always ‘something’ that happens. Once the energization occurred the something was FPL did not take me off budget billing. So even running fully off solar I was getting my bill averaged out ~$350 while still paying for the solar $322. Texted Randy my situation and he reached out to FPL to make the adjustment. That was my only hiccup and it wasn’t anyone faults really, just the utility company taking another couple bucks which is nothing new. There’s a lot of consumer misinformation going around and a couple of my family members bought solar from other companies. They regretted it because it wasn’t what was represented along with the vanishing salesmen that signed them up. That was also the main reason why I didn’t feel the need to look at anymore companies because I researched all of them already. LG, REC, Hanwha. They all had decent panels but none provided the turnkey system we all want in a company. There’s really only one company providing microinverters and thats Enphase but there monitoring software had many issues upon reading online. The majority of companies subcontract out which is always a toss up on the service because who knows who is going to pass by. 

I’ve seen people write about leaky roofs and the problems of getting the company to honor a repair or any warranty service tickets. I just rather not take that risk and roll the dice with a company with very little track record. My goal in writing this long review is for Randy, Dean, the Sunpower coordinators to get the recognition they deserve but also to let people know solar doesn’t have to revolve around finances too. I am saving a marginally by switching from paying one bill to another but the good is the green energy part. Solar is for the person that doesn’t care if recycling makes sense or not. It’s the right thing to do. We all care about what we live in our legacy to our family/children and it mostly centers around finance but solar leaves a healthier planet. That was the bottom line for me

. Matthew

Neighbors, friends, brother-in-law all talk about going solar and its advantages. My BIL is building a fully green sustainable house with solar so I decided to look at it myself. I was reviewing solar websites and found the SunPower name to be the best in the industry in terms of reliability, warranty, and technology. I spoke to a marketing coordinator and shortly after Andrew reached out. We went back and forth with setting up a consultation, not kidding. He drives between Orlando and Miami so catching him (when he doesn't fall off his motorcycle) and healthy is hard. We finally saw each other after 3-4 weeks and I am very excited about this project. A complexity I knew was that my roof was 17 years of age and I am due for a new one. I called a couple solar companies to come out but not a whole lot did because they didn't want to deal with the roof aspect. Andrew still came out, looked at my roof, determined it was necessary but still did the consultation... it was 3 hours. The product is manufactured in America, it is fully serviced, and installed by them. What I found interesting was they have every single roof type attachment installation video. Metal seam, shingle, clay tile, and flat roof which helps with the visualization of how the solar system is kept up. Our follow up for the site survey is in about 2 weeks. From that point I know I'll be in good hands.