Steer clear of Sun Electric

[bnlfan]

Hello all,

I am new to the site and just purchased my first piece of equipment for going off grid.

I thought I might give you a little feed back on a company that is selling very low cost panels.

This company is Sunelec.com. I recommend you do not purchase from them. Now, if you are very familiar with solar panels and don't need any customer service you may do okay.

Last week I called to place an order for 230 watt panels that were running at 99 cents a watt. During my call to place my order I was told that the panels I wanted were in stock and I could place a deposit on them. I paid my deposit and ordered 7 panels. I was also told that the panels were 12 volt.

Now, the issue with the panel voltage was really my mistake. I read over the specs and found out they were 24 volts.

Anyway, I sent an email to 3 people and called the Miami office twice. I was finding it impossible to get my paperwork so I would have it as proof when I drive down to pick them up and pay the remainder. Finally I called the owner of the company and he took care of it.

Then this past Monday I get a call from the salesman telling me they sold a large order to another customer and gave them my panels because I didn't pay for them in full. Then he told me I could purchase the 220 Watt panels for the 99 cent per watt but I would have to pay for them now, in full. If I did not, he would have to refund my money back. I can't remember how much, but I asked about having the 7 panels shipped freight and was given a very large rate.

Now, I have my money back and I contacted Northern Arizona Solar and talked with Robert. He not only answered all my questions and pointed me in the right direction, 20 mins. later I made my first purchase.

I paid a little more per panel but the trade off for good customer service, informative sales staff, and helpful honest attitude is worth it. Plus, oddly enough, I will be paying $300.00 less for freight for the same number of panels from Arizona verses Miami.

So, steer clear of sunelec.com. If you would like to know the names and phone numbers of the people the "helped" me, send me a message. I will be happy to treat them with the same respect they treated me.

[Cariboocoot]

Welcome to the forum.

There was a bit of a delay in posting this thread due to problems that have arisen in the past when discussing this particular company on the forum. Therefor I will remind people in advance to keep strictly to facts regarding their dealings and leave out the hyperbole, rancor, and/or personal remarks.

[rollandelliott]

I used to think Sunelec had the best prices, but i can get panels from Jetion in Charlotte, NC for about the same price and Ontility has prices around a $1/watt too.

That being said, I suggest you post What you are going to buy BEFORE you buy it on this forum so people can help you for free.

[niel]

i have to clarify that the purpose of this forum is not to direct people where to buy stuff cheapest as we are hosted by a solar store. this forum is for solar (actually renewables in general) discussions to help enlighten on the subject matters and discuss some of the ins and outs we encounter with it.

[Photowhit]

I suggest you post What you are going to buy BEFORE you buy it on this forum so people can help you for free.

Likely the best advice you will find on this forum! (hope that doesn't end up sounding oximoronic)

I think the original poster is about perfect, I always recomend dealing with the more knowlegable people at Northern Arizona Wind and Sun, at least the first time out. Other 'cheap' sources of panels don't understand what a '24 volt' nominal panel is and regularly post wrong information. SunElec just posts the facts and in that way are better if you know what your buying, but it has been noted in many places that they have very poor customer service.

That said I have done 2 purchases from them and they both arrived, I even had a panel broken in transit, which is actually the buyers responsablity, buying FOB Miami, and they replaced the panel with out charge, including shipping it!!!

[fix_it_guy]

I don't know about you guys but, I appreciate a sales site that lists it's current prices and doesn't insist you "call for pricing". I understand that prices, especialy solar equiptment prices change rapidly, but being too lazy to update your website doesn't look good. I should clarify that I do understand the call for price on things like entire systems, but when you have it for everything you sell it is anoying. BTW I really like the NAWS site

[dhsola]

Northern Arizona Wind & Sun (NAWS): A+++

http://www.solar-electric.com/

[2manytoyz]

I have purchased a couple of items from Sunelec in the past. My Prosine inverter, and a couple of solar panels. I got what I paid for at a decent price.

The issues I have with them now:

They don't respond to emails. Several attemps in two weeks, NADA.

Very poor follow up on an order. I paid for a product. No confirmation email. No letting me know it had been shipped, or a tracking number.

They've jacked up their shipping costs in the past two years. I'm 200 miles from their Miami warehouse. They charged about double what it would cost to ship from anywhere else. I told them their shipping calculator must be faulty. Shipping from FL to FL is the same price as shipping from FL to Alaska!!! Uh, no response.

Eventually the owner sent out a bulk email appologizing to customers about their poor email response. Last I heard from friends wanting to buy from them, nothing had changed.

Business must be REAL good for them. Not a problem. Others sell for reasonable prices, and when I factor what I saved in shipping from half the country away, rather than fairly local, it was cheaper to buy elsewhere. Shame, I liked their prices.

I now buy from several places, including the parent company of this forum, who are EXCELLENT to deal with.

[Ian S]

leave out the hyperbole, rancor, and/or personal remarks.

Yeah, there's another solar forum where you can get all you want of that. LOL!

[fix_it_guy]

Hi Ian, daveb here, much nicer atmosphere here. Good to see you.