One Block Off the Grid – 1BOG

This company cold-​called me even though we are on the National Do Not Call Registry. I politely said that I was not interested and hung up. Thirty seconds later the phone rang again and it was the same salesman calling me from a different phone (that my caller ID said was a cell phone) and he immediately launched into an explanation of how I misunderstood and he was trying to help me. NO. This is not how to get new customers. Don’t call again from a different number after I’ve said I’m not interested. Super shady.

We talked to a few solar companies before settling on 1BOG/​Pure Energies. The sales person was very helpful in negotiations and eager to get us signed on with a package we were comfortable with. We were offered a promotional for a set amount of money back if we signed by a certain date so we did.
Then silence — we had to pursue them every step of the way to get this going. The solar panels weren’t up until 5 months after signing. The operations team acknowledged how messed up the installation process was for us and offered financial reparations for the delay in addition to an extended insurance policy on the panel installation guarantee. It is now 8+ months after signing and we are still waiting for their promises to come through. Emails are not returned and when we happen to get our contact on the phone, we get assurances it will be worked out «within the week». Every phone call has this promise, months go by and still nothing.

Extreme pressure sales tactics trying to get you to lease solar systems. Dozens of emails and phone calls per week. PE pushes the lease very hard. It’s a no money down and you pay you lowest energy bill for the entire lease, 20 years plus. Sell your home and you’re still on the hook to pay each month. You’ll also get an additional bill from your utility company. You’ll loose you tax incentive of 30% and PE gets to keep your carbon credits, also not a good thing. If you purchase a system, most will be able to pay off the amount within 7.5 years, wiping out 90% of yearly electric costs. If you want to buy a system PE will ignore you, just like they did with me.
Before you enter a contract, talk with you utility company. You’ll get unbiased information so that you can make the right decision. All utility companies want you to go solar.

I’ve never experienced a constructive and useful response from a business owner to my Unilocal review, but in this case I have.
After posting my experience, I received a call from one of the executives at Pure Energies/​OBOG. They apologized, addressed my concerns and took responsibility for the problems that occurred. I was compensated for my inconvenience and my installation went smoothly. They also said that they will be making changes to the way they communicate with their customers.
Any company doing business can have a bad day, but it’s what they do to respond to the unhappy customer that will make them successful.
My solar system is installed and functioning well. Well done Pure Energies!

Since Leah M responded to say I’ve been removed from the mailing list I have gotten THREE MORE EMAILS and ONE MORE AGGRESSIVE SALES CALL.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?
To top it off, NONE of the emails offer unsubscribe options, which is ILLEGAL in the state if not the country, and this last email came with a nearly 2MB attachment.
Terrible business practices. Thanks to all this AND what I wrote previously if they were the last solar company on Earth I still would refuse to do business with them. You can trust them. Don’t be fooled by the name change. New name, same old aggression and deception.

What they don’t tell you is that they don’t install on condos. After wasting my time — I sent them all my electric usage data and recent bill, and answered a series of questions — they informed me that ‘none of their solar companies’ will work with home owner associations. I know that this is untrue, as we already have a bid from a major solar company, and there are other units with solar in our community.
Don’t waste your time with these people.

Do not be fooled into purchasing your solar panels from this company. We got onboard, signed the contract, and then didn’t hear from anyone for 2 months. Every time we emailed or called, we were given the run around. Then one day, the installer called and told us he was going to be installing the panels the next day! Proper paperwork and approvals had not been filed and we never really knew what or who was involved with the whole process. In the end, SunEdison cancelled the contract so it was a complete waste of time and energy. The worst customer service I’ve ever seen. I would not recommend this company.

So, we recently decided to take the plunge and buy a new home out in the Sunset. Even though we know that there wouldn’t be huge return on solar right away, we needed a new roof, and theres really not a better time to do it. I called 1BOG back, and found out there were a lot of good tax incentives and rebates at the time. Needless to say it was totally seamless and easy, and the installation company that they contract with were very courteous and professional. And, not that it was needed, but the guys at 1BOG were willing to be involved to check on the progress every step of the way. Our power bills are like $ 60/​month for everything, including gas. Sick.

We used 1BOG to find an installer — back when there weren’t very many. I’m pretty technical, and I was already drowning in too much detail. Getting a recommendation based on the overall «big picture». They recommended Solar City (who wasn’t, at the time, the big kid on the block). We are totally thrilled with our installation. They used every square foot of roof we had available, and the installation was the most beautiful I’d ever seen. The panels are flush against each other — essentially seamless — with no visible supporting gridwork. I couldn’t be happier.
As far as the cost, I think that we saved about 10%. However, the big benefit to me was having someone else do the research and recommend a reliable installer who «just got the job done», with no worries to me.

I had a great experience with 1BOG. They reviewed my home’s positioning & location along with my electricity needs and then connected me with Luminalt. The entire process was incredibly easy, and I am delighted with the system.
Great customer service from both 1BOG and Luminalt. They held my hand through the entire process and were very respectful of my busy schedule, doing everything they could to minimize the time I had to personally spend on the project. Highly recommended!

In March 2011 we installed a 24 panel system (Sunpower 230W SPR-​230E-​WHT-​D modules with a SunPower SPR-​5000m (240V) inverter) via 1BOG using Luminalt in San Francisco and had a near perfect experience from start to finish, and are thrilled with the the ongoing performance — which actually has exceeded the estimates we were given every month since the install, sometimes by 30% more than predicted per month. 1BOG provided estimates that were right on target for the estimates we got from Luminalt for systems of varying sizes — and we ended up «super-​sizing» the system to get production to completely exceed our use most months.
And we got a substantial discount from using 1BOG (over $ 5000 off for our Gross System Cost with Sales Tax — which was $ 38K), but after all rebates, grants and tax credit incentives the cost came down to under $ 24K.
The discount would have been proportionally less to some minimum point depending on how large or small a system we chose.
I think the 1BOG rebate from a business standpoint comes out as more of an «advertising budget» for the installers because of all the steady referrals they get.
Though I had done some research on my own ahead of time, and was already leaning towards going directly with Luminalt as the installer I would have chosen anyway, 1BOG provided motivation, information and general support to make us comfortable proceeding with the process sooner than we probably would have taken on solar — but that is an important role — so in the end I felt it was worth going through 1BOG.
Keep up the good work 1BOG — getting more people to invest in solar is a great cause and needs the momentum you provide!

S. B.
What crawled up your #ss? This is a fantastic organization. They effectively mobilized, organized and delivered on all they said they would. I am enjoying incredibly reduced utility bills as a result and so are my neighbors. Keep up the great work 1BOG!

I first got interested in solar panels because my neighbor had them installed. One day I was googling solar options, as I was starting to get overwhelmed, I came across 1BOG. I liked the idea of an organization whose sole purpose is to help connect consumers with installers and help smooth out the process, so I figured it didn’t hurt to sign up for more info and see what they have to say. It seems that’s how my neighbor went solar as well, as I could see their logo on their house on their handy solar map.
Within an hour, a real person actually called me, and talked me through what they are all about. I was really surprised because when was the last time you contacted a company online and someone patient and helpful actually call proactively?
What I appreciated the most was that Matt from 1BOG didn’t push me on solar at all. He actually helped analyze with me whether installing solar is even a good idea. I live in SF, and use relatively very little energy already, so he told me installing solar in my case isn’t about saving money, it’d only make sense if I really care about the environmental benefits.
We did the math, and I decided that for the price of a fancy computer, it’s worth capturing all the rebates and incentives that are still available. It doesn’t hurt to add value to my property either. 1BOG had negotiated a 15% off group rate with Luminalt (Another fantastic operation) and I honestly couldn’t be happier how it all turned out.
Matt from 1BOG made sure that Luminalt got in touch with me, and then check back later to see if we actually went solar.
Without 1BOG I probably would have been too intimidated (and lazy) to vet various solar installers myself and ultimately probably would not have gone solar without their help. So thank you 1BOG and keep up the great work!

I have wanted to install solar panels at my home for years. Groupon offered a great deal, so I bought it. I contacted them, had one phone conversation, and without ever coming to my property, and probably because I expressed an interest in buying not leasing, they sent me an email saying they cannot install their system in my home.
???
I get sun all day on my roof. No trees, except in front of my house.
I emailed the LA main contact, then received an email from the Director of the Community offering me a refund. I already requested one.
I say go to another solar company. I have spoken to 4 other companies and each one wants to come and see the property, like a normal contractor.
Bad company.

I am completely happy with what we got from 1Bog and SunRun and the installers that put the panels on our roof. 1Bog got us a great deal on the installation of our solar panels, Sun Run made the financing very affordable and GroSolar was efficient and informative about the installation of the panels. The installation was last October and as of today, we have generated about 60 kWh more than we have used during the past year. And we still have the rest of sunny September and part of October to get further ahead. We are very happy that we signed up with 1BOG.

Even though we are only one household, it is important to us to do as much as we can to help our planet. We were looking into installing a solar electric system and learned about 1BOG. I called them immediately and could not be happier. It saved me a ton of time in researching and evaluating installers and solar panel options.
Solar City, who was contracted by 1BOG, did a fabulous job. Our solar system was connected into the grid in July 2009. In July 2010, we received our «trueup» for the year from PG&E which was a bill for under $ 400. In addition, the continued customer support from Solar City has been great. At one point a component in our inverter failed. Solar City detected the problem, contacted us and came out and fixed it within 24 hours. It was remarkable.
1BOG is a can’t miss opportunity to go solar without taking any risks.

Searched the web when we were deciding to go solar. Found 1Bog and found a really nice and easy way to break down solar costs. We got a few bids to see what was out there, and got quotes from the usual big solar companies around the area. the 1Bog installer’s quote was right on with their up front 1Bog pricing numbers and there were no hidden gimmicks. Very straightforward. Using their installer, I was confident I did not have to go thru a bunch of screening out of good/​bad installers. Brad from 1Bog also helped me smooth over a misunderstanding with my installer which was nice, to have a 3^rd party help me out (for free).
So far I’m impressed. After installation GroSolar (now SolarCity) provided me with a CD rom of all the electrical permits, plans, drawings and installation photos too!
UPDATE: fast forward about a year after installation. System is still running great, and I still feel the price was right. This year PGE so far owes me $ 200 for electricity and we’ll see how that works given the coming winter production, but I think 1Bog may have helped estimate the exact amount of electricity I would need to do my install. Compared to other $/​watt estimates I still see out here, I still think I got a great deal on the system.
I’m happy that I found 1Bog when I did, as at the time I had several quotes all of which were much higher.

I love the idea of 1BOG. They connected me with luminalt. I liked the people, they seemed very knowledgable. I got their quote. Then I got 3 other quotes from equally reputable, well known, and experienced solar installers who do a lot of work around the city and have great reputations. The Luminalt quote was the highest of the 3, even though the base price was the lowest. Unfortunately, 1BOG has a series of «adders» each of which increases the price until it is higher than their competitors. I am hurt that 1BOG’s idea of gathering a bunch of people together to get a better price turns out to be, at the least, ineffective. Buyer beware. If you use 1BOG, be sure to get other quotes.

Learned about 1BOG when I was looking for a job. Saw the information on their site. Signed up. And eventually, signed up for solar via Luminalt — which has been a great experience. 1BOG got me a good rate on the panels and a free Sunpower Monitoring kit to boot. Matt at 1BOG provided information and questions that we should ask as newbies. Thanks. The PGE bill dropped from $ 200 down to $ 34. Cool

I love the concept of 1BOG but not the experience. Their marketing is all about getting groups of people together to get volume discounts on Solar installations.
The reality is that the «base price» is lower than other installers but the full price (including all the required «add ons») was much higher. The add-​ons were all standard things that will be required in any solar installation.
Good idea, bad execution… if you are going to have them give you a quote, make sure you get another quote as well.