Native

I bought solar panels through enPhase and they contracted with Native to install them. The product is fine and the installation went fine, and after the panels were operational for a couple of weeks, they began to function only intermittently. A technician came out in a timely fashion and reinstalled an electrical component that had malfunctioned. So far so good. Service was excellent.
On May 23 when the violent storms came through Austin, a tree came down in my back yard, and took out cable, and electric. After both were restored, my Envoy device ceased to communicate with the enPhase internet application that reports how much solar energy is being produced. The simplest hypothesis would be that connection between my Envoy and my internet has not been reestablished, but I cannot get anyone from enPhase or Native to come out and test that hypothesis. I keep being passed back and forth from Native reps to local enPhase reps to the customer service phone reps of enPhase. At one point, Native reps came out and unlocked the box containing the Envoy on my outside wall so that I could report its condition to the enPhase phone reps, but having made that trip, they did not take a little more time to check the internet connection which is what the enPhase customer service reps are now telling me to do.
I had engaged in a chain of correspondence with one local enPhase rep, and when I wrote today telling him that someone needed to come an reestablish the wifi connection, I got an automatic response in which he stated that he would be out of town for the next week and referred me to another enPhase representative. I sent this representative the chain of correspondence and his response indicated that he had not read it, not even the last communication which was the operative one, and instead inquired if the Envoy box was not yet open.
In short, enPhase and Native have a good product and excellent installation, and good customer service immediately following installation, but their system is woefully unprepared to deal with customers further on.

This update is for service long after the house is done and there is really no reason for them to keep working hard for our approval. But they keep doing it anyway.
We’ve been in the house 3 years now. Long enough to find all the little things that inevitably show up. There were precious few of them. So far we’ve had exactly one thing that we thought might be Native’s responsibility to resolve but when we called them to see if they would be willing to discuss it they just sent two guys over and fixed it. No charge. No discussion. Just fixed it.
Now we have had some stuff that we wanted to change, like a door that opened out that we felt would be better opening in. We contracted them to do it and they took care of it quickly, professionally, and at a cost slightly less than the quote from a local general handyman.
Recently we had a crack in one of our big picture windows. It gets a lot of bird strikes and this looked like what happened this time. We called them and they came out, took the measurements, and a couple weeks later the replacement window showed up. We’re waiting until it gets warmer to do the install, but it will be Native doing it.
They are also going to do the solar upgrade later this year. One more string should make our house net negative, meaning we’ll actually be able to sell energy back to our Co-​op. We’ll be a power plant!
Seriously, ask anybody you know that has built a house. Ask them if they are still on good terms with their builder. Then ask them if their builder would be their first choice for any repairs. The answer for both will be ‘Hell no!’ I promise you. Our answer with Native is Hell Yes!

I contacted this company both through phone call and their online consultation form. One guy called me back, but he was extremely unprofessional. During our short conversation, he said «big deal» more than 10 times. It was bothersome and I asked him what was the meaning of that. He didn’t answer me and continued with his every sentence ending with «big deal». He said he would send me an email with a general cost of the projects, but he never did. I would not recommend this company to anyone.

07/​01/​2014
The installation is complete, and the unit seems to run fine. I have yet to be contacted regarding the monitoring on the PV unit, but I will let that slip. The installers that they contracted out were quite professional and courteous, and I believe this is more for them than Native itself, but kudos to Native to get good people as their partners.
Also wanted to add that the project manage (Joshua) proved to very helpful.
Would recommend Native, I believe they understand also that it is important for customers to know timelines, so that all can go well.

I was very pleased with their work of installing a modest solar PV system on my roof. Everyone in their organization was very professional. Since I was the first solar PV install in my town, I was especially glad to have Native’s expertise as they worked with the City through the permit process and the inspection afterwards. I would definitely recommend them to others. And, I love to see my meter go backwards. And, I actually look forward to receiving my utility bills each month!

I contacted Native regarding a solar system install for our home and the information and commitment to being fully informed that we received was second to none.
Amy was very professional and answered any and all questions we had. Although the break even price vs time left in the house did not work for our situation, I am looking at Native for other avenues of cost savings on utilities.
Their presentation along with the break down was topnotch and easy to understand.

I had Native install two separate PV arrays, a 6.2kw ground mounted array in 2012 and 9.2 kw array in 2013. Working with the City of Austin through their PV Solar rebate program can be challenging. The whole team at Native worked diligently to dot all the ‘i’s and cross all the ‘t’s. Lloyd the owner, Chris Renner the PV supervisor, David Dixon dealing with the city and everyone else involved. Thanks
I am extremely excited that now the total PV we have is 18.4 kw and the home/​office is now Net-​Zero. I plan on working with them on the future for other clients and replacing an HVAC unit with a new Geothermal unit.

Two years ago we saved up enough money to install a cooling system in our old house. We had a slew of professionals come in and give us bids and recommendations, including traditional high-​efficiency HVAC and geothermal solutions. Hill Country Ecopower was the highest quote we got — but we realized that the another geothermal guy specked out a less robust a system with an insufficiently deep hole. Ultimately, we went with Lloyd because he and his crew were so smart, responsive and honest. Checking their references confirmed the quality of their work — nothing but glowing reviews. Finally, they helped us secure a multitude of rebates to drastically reduce the final cost.
Two years later and we’re still very happy with the work Hill Country Ecopower did. The solar screens and insulation they recommended & subcontracted have held up very well and kept our house much cooler. The geothermal system itself is amazing, and has seen us through a biting winter (2010-​11) and a ridiculously hot summer (2011) without any problems. Our bills are much much lower, year-​round, than those of our neighbors with similar homes, so we’re confident that the system will pay for itself before too long.
Clearly, we recommend Hill Country Ecopower without reservation, and will definitely go to them when we’re ready for solar!