Granite State Solar

We did a fairly large residential roof mounted solar array (placed on our barn). Our experience was top notch from beginning to end. Andy Spiegel was my first contact. It was clear he was extremely knowledgeable and spent a lot of time discussing the pluses and minuses of different approaches. He also carefully assessed the structure of the barn to ensure structural integrity. We then worked with Zach, who was the project manager for our project. He came to assess the best way to get get the solar power from the barn to our home, about 80 feet away. He was meticulous in his approach and answered all of my questions thoroughly. The actual project took 2 days, involving trenching and instillation of the array. The installation team was very attentive not only to the mechanical aspects of the installation, but also made fine adjustments to the physical positioning of the panels to make sure that the array would look good from afar, given that our old (but very well built) barn was certainly not completely "straight". They were extremely meticulous, asking me also to look at the array for my input. Zach came back again within a few days after installation, having arrange for the required town electrical inspection. All was good to go. In summary, Granite State Solar was extremely professional from beginning to end. Definitely an A+. George Shaker

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These folks did an excellent job on the install, in and out in two days and everything handled very professionally.<br />The system has been working for us for a couple of years now with no problems at all and is exceeding our expectations. The system was designed to match our average energy usage and it is doing exactly that. We enjoy our $12 monthly electric bill (that is the connection charge that Eversource charges us) and are actually running an energy credit with them as we are generating slightly more power than we are using.

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I started looking at rooftop solar panel installations in January (for reference, it is currently May). They've been dropping in price so much lately that I figured it was time to see just how much money they could actually save (don't worry, I'll answer this for you at the end). I contacted a few of the highly-rated companies out there for quotes and consultations, GSS being one of them. After speaking with them all and comparing their offers, their online reviews and the behavior of the associates they sent out to my house, I decided to go with GSS. The rest of the review is my story working with them but if you want the summary: these guys are an incredibly professional team that really know their stuff and work with you every step of the way. I have zero regrets about choosing them and I would absolutely recommend them to everybody looking to go solar.<br /><br />Here are the details about my experience with them.<br /><br />I called GSS up and explained my situation: “I'm interested in rooftop solar, I have some electric cars that eat a ton of power and I want to charge them with renewable energy so I need a pretty big array.” Eric Kilens was the rep that responded to my call. He came out and took some standard measurements; roof size, angle, azimuth, tree cover… the usual stuff. That took all of twenty minutes. He then proceeded to stick around and talk to me for an extra half hour about the whole process, the technology behind solar, the net metering policies in New Hampshire, electric vehicles, and just about every other relevant topic that came up. I'm the kind of guy that wants to know everything that's going on and he was more than happy to answer. This extended past the initial consult because after each company got in touch with me I proceeded to flood their inboxes with more questions. Eric was the only one that didn't eventually get fed up with me. He responded quickly to each one – usually that same day or the day after. If he didn't know the answer, then he knew who to ask. He got me in touch with other experts at GSS who traditionally work behind-the-scenes like Alec the warehouse manager or Erik (with a K), one of the owners, when I had detailed questions about panel specs or inverter choices. <br /><br />Eric and I went back and forth quite a bit about array design, number of panels, brand, power rating, and even the microinverter size to go with them. It wasn't just a “here's what we're going to do, take it or leave it” kind of situation… the whole team was very flexible and accommodating, even if I made unusual requests that went against their typical installations. To give you some perspective, we started the paperwork in February and we were still making changes to the plan in mid-April as new technology became available and replaced the old stuff. Eric, Tanya and Emily were always very courteous and cheerful when taking my questions and requests. This was especially appreciated during the permitting and paperwork review processes. It shouldn't come as a surprise, but you have to get a lot of people to sign off on a solar installation before you can actually install it. These guys held my hand through the whole process though. They kept me up-to-date every day on who would be showing up to inspect which parts of my house and what that meant for the project. They took care of all the coordination between the town inspector, the utility company, and the PUC for the state tax credit. I know it was a lot of work, but I never had to deal with it. They did it all.<br /><br />After three months of preparation, the permits were finally in place and the parts we decided on had arrived. Now, my setup involved 14.4 kW of power from 48 panels in six rows across two roofs. GSS brought a team of five to my house and they managed to put the whole array together in a day and a half. These guys were just as polite and respectful as the staff I'd been coordinating with so far. The installation crew has been in the game for a while and they are masters of their respective trades – that much I gathered right away – but what really surprised me is how well they worked together as a team. They kept communication constant, they didn't argue about anything, and they had a rhythm to their work so they all finished the important parts at the same time. I shadowed them throughout the whole process, asking questions about what they were doing and why they decided to go with one technique over another. Each one seemed happy that I was taking an interest in their work instead of just leaving them alone. I learned about electrical engineering from Phil and Troy, mounting rail construction from Nate and Brandon, the microinverter map from Darren, and panel laying from Jake and Zach on the second day. Not only that, but they told me the company's story and a bit about their team dynamics as well. GSS is a fairly small team compared to most companies, so they have a very important advantage: they all know each other personally as friends instead of just colleagues. That was pretty apparently when I saw how they worked together, but hearing them say it was a key value of the company really made it clear. These guys are a tight-knit team, and they all believe in the mission. This is definitely the crew you want doing your solar installation.<br /><br />Eric told me early on that GSS aims to “under-promise and over-deliver”. Well, my array has been active for about two weeks now and I can confidently say that they pulled that off. The panels take care of all of my power needs and they ended up costing about $100 per month less than my old power bill. These guys started saving me money the moment the array got switched on. My roof is beautiful and slick, it's generating more than enough to power our home and our cars, and I learned a ridiculous amount of stuff about the world of solar throughout the journey. GSS made it the experience an absolute pleasure. I strongly recommend them to anyone that wants to look at getting a solar installation.

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I can't express how happy we are that we made the switch to solar using Granite State Solar. From the very beginning, GSS was great. Andy was our salesman and we felt immediately comfortable working with him. We interviewed 4 different companies and the other 3 seemed to focus more on us signing with them rather than informing us about solar. Andy was the only salesman to take measurements, check the basement electrical panel and go up in the attic to look at the rafters. Other companies would tell us one thing and then write up something different in their quote. I was able to reach Andy by phone to answer any questions we had before making our decision. He was great, as he answered everything....and we had a lot of questions! Install day came and 4 guys came and explained everything as they were doing it. Everyone was polite and courteous and workmanship was great. I do not have wires running down the side of my house, like I see at others. The panels look great on the house...my wife was very worried about that, and she likes them. Andy came back for a final walk through and showed us everything. I still text questions to him and he answers right away. The last text I sent was that our 1st bill from eversource came in....just $13...the customer fee. This was Feb/March when the sun was not the greatest. We have since generated over 800 kwhrs above what we have used. If you are going solar, Granite State Solar is the company to use. You will get honesty.

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Our panels are working as expected generating a good amount of electricity for our use. GSS workers were fantastic,efficient, pleasant, hard working. We appreciate their flexibility working around a family event. Would go with them again.

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The entire process proceeded as planned for the entire process. No hitches. Any questions were immediately addressed by the staff in the home office. The installation was completed in 1 day! The installers were professional, courteous, and answered my questions without hesitation.

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NH Solar Up Program - GSS services has been superb in every aspects from proposal discussion, permit acquisition, actual installation, inspections to final walk through. The performance of this roof-top system speaks for itself now that it is turned ON.

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The work was done quickly in one day. Customer service was excellent.

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[I installed solar with GSS via the Londonderry, NH SolarUp program]<br /><br />I had on-site consultations with at least two other providers over the past couple years and ended up not pulling the trigger for various reasons.<br /><br />The whole process with GSS was efficient and effortless. Eric acknowledged that I had done a bit of my own research from the beginning and didn't try to sell me but instead answered all my questions, technical or not, and made me comfortable with how GSS operates and the costs of owning the panels. He didn't assume I knew everything (I don't) and still filled me in on the basics when I needed it. In addition to his suggested amount of panels for our usage he humbled me with a couple other options so I could understand price differences. He was always on-time (usually calling and asking if we could meet early) and was able to get on-site to meet with me within a day at most. After the sale Eric helped me understand the meters and worked with Tanya to make sure all my paperwork was lined up for rebates & tax incentives.<br /><br />Nate, Mike & the rest of the install team were kind and professional, and ended up needing to get access to an area of my attic for the install that was closed off by the original builder. They handled it without an issue, cleaned up after themselves and all wiring/conduit/etc was installed very cleanly. Nate kept me up to date on what they were doing throughout the install and reorganized the mounting space by my breaker panel so it all could fit and look clean.<br /><br />At the end of the day GSS did a great job and I'd highly recommend their services. Although I hope I don't have any issues with my panels or inverters I have high confidence that GSS will be just as professional with maintenance as they were for whole sales & install process.<br /><br />I'm just crossing my fingers that our new POTUS doesn't do anything to prevent me from getting my tax incentives when I file in 2017.

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Everyone I interacted with was very professional and courteous. Both our sales person (Ryan) and the crew were very knowledgeable and answered all our questions. The installation turned out better than I ever could have hoped! The craftsmanship is evident just looking at it! I highly recommend GSS to anyone looking to go solar.

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