Elevation Solar Review: Costs, Quality, Services & More (2024)

Elevation Solar Services and Installation

Elevation Solar stands apart from most other companies by offering a unique set of services that complement each other. It offers grid-tied and off-grid solar power systems, but also provides general energy efficiency upgrades like duct sealing and insulation services to go with energy monitoring and energy management services. 

While homeowners are the primary clients, Elevation also provides energy solutions to utility companies by offering virtual power plants that help reduce and supplement their need to operate gas- or oil-powered peaker plants to manage peak energy demands. 

Solar Installation Experience

The experience of working with Elevation Solar is as unique as the company’s offerings. The company focuses on a whole-home approach for energy optimization. Here’s a quick outline of what you can expect when going solar with Elevation.

1. Once you’ve connected with Elevation on your interest in exploring solar, its team will schedule an energy efficiency audit of your house.
2. If the team identifies areas where energy can be conserved, such as leaks or hot or cold spots, it recommends fixing those before installing solar.
3. Once you’ve covered the energy efficiency issues, Elevation’s design team will move on to a solar analysis. Elevation recommends sending in 12 months of electricity bills so the company can better understand your home’s usage patterns and needs.
4. Based on your electricity bills, roof size, and roof orientation studied using an AI tool and satellite imagery, the team will create a design that’s customized to your home.
5. If you’re satisfied with the quote and decide to move forward with the purchase, the company will have you sign a contract. Elevation will apply for all the necessary permits and incentives on your behalf. You’ll have the project manager’s phone number and can always be in touch about the status of your applications.
6. When the local governing bodies and/or utility company grant you the necessary permits, Elevation will schedule an installation date with you.
7. Elevation’s installation crew then completes the installation process after which your clean energy generation and electricity bill savings begin.

Elevation Solar Customer Service

Elevation Solar promises to provide an unparalleled customer service experience by assigning every customer a dedicated concierge that’s always available for queries throughout the process. The company has received multiple customer service awards, but as it has expanded rapidly a few customers have experienced incidents of miscommunication, especially with the sales staff.

Outstanding Regional Installer

4/5

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Elevation Solar Costs and Financing

Despite Elevation’s valuable and unique offerings, its costs are notably lower than those of the average installer. When the company is done improving your home’s energy efficiency, you might find you need a smaller solar power system than you previously thought – which makes the pricing even more appealing. 

On average, homeowners in the U.S. pay between $19,980 and $39,960 for their solar systems before any incentives. After the federal tax credit, those numbers can come down to between $13,986 and $27,972. We’d expect a system from Elevation to cost just under that amount, likely between $12,000 and $25,000. Of course, prices fluctuate based on many factors, so keep in mind that these are just estimates.

If you’re pleased with your service, you can also earn money back by referring new customers. Elevation offers a referral bonus of $100 when your referral schedules a consultation, and another $400 if it leads to a system installation.

Financing Options Through Elevation Solar

Elevation offers loans, but doesn’t have available leasing or Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) options. We don’t typically recommend leases or PPAs anyway, but it would be nice for customers to have more options.

We do love that Elevation provides in-house financing for customers, as this makes the loan application more straightforward. Additionally, while cash purchases are the most financially beneficial for homeowners, solar financing options like the ones offered by Elevation are going to become more and more valuable in the future, in our opinion. California just recently rolled out net metering 3.0, which decreased the value of excess energy and cut into customers’ net savings.

The result of that new policy being adopted throughout the country is very likely going to be that solar batteries become the norm. These offer effective net metering at the retail value for electricity, although they add between $10,000 and $20,000 to your installation costs in most cases. Financing options like the ones offered by Elevation are a great way to keep upfront costs low and still be able to afford a panel system plus batteries to maximize savings.

You can take a look at our solar financing guide for a detailed overview of all the purchasing models.

Elevation Solar Panel Warranty

Elevation’s warranties are among the best in the industry. Here’s an overview of the two types of warranties the company offers.

1. Equipment Warranty: Elevation installs equipment from reputable brands, typically high-quality solar panels by Panasonic, Qcells and others, and batteries and inverters by Tesla and Enphase. The solar panels come with a 25- to 30-year warranties. The inverters also come with 25-year warranties, while the battery systems are warranted for 10 years. 
2. Workmanship Warranty: For decades, solar providers have been offering minimal five- or 10-year warranties on their installations. However, some installers, including Elevation, are backing up their installation quality with impressive 25-year workmanship warranties.

Outstanding Regional Installer

4/5

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Elevation Reviews

Having installed over 13,000 systems in less than a decade, Elevation has managed to garner a lot of positive reviews. However, like with any company, the reviews are not unanimously good.

Positive Elevation Solar Reviews

“Elevation had the best price and they got back to me in a good amount of time. Everyone was really right on top of things. I would send an email and I would get an email back. Working with the people there was really easy, and they answered all my questions…”

– Patricia via Consumer Affairs

“We chose them because of their price structure and their type of equipment. So far I have had no issues. I like the option to install a battery pack and I like the microcontrollers for all the research and the twenty-five year warranty. They got it installed in three days and were friendly, despite there being a hiccup. Customer support is really great to work with. I still have questions and they’ve been great other than a few anomalies.”

– Richard via Best Company

Negative Elevation Solar Reviews

Although not too common, there are negative customer reviews for Elevation. Most of them refer to communication issues.

“My husband and I signed a contract for solar from the company Elevation in October of 2021. The company came in January of 2022 to put the solar panels on.Then we had to wait for the inspector to come out. We called and called [and] they [kept] telling us the inspector would come out. But it never happened. Then […] the inspector finally came on April 7,2021. [The system] failed and now we have to go back to where we started. We are sick and tired of waiting…”

– Shelly M. via BBB

“The project is coming up on a year since it started with Elevation and they still can’t seem to figure out how to install and/or turn on the system. Literally every time something was scheduled to be done at my home there was some kind of mistake made, mis-scheduling, or miscommunication…”

– Azunderg via Yelp

Solar Energy Provider Comparison

The following table compares Elevation Solar with two other reputable renewable energy companies.

The cost information presented in this article is derived from a comprehensive analysis, incorporating data from multiple industry sources. The average cost per watt per state was calculated based on figures from Consumer Affairs, Energy Sage, and Berkeley Lab’s Electricity Markets & Policy Department. Additionally, monthly energy consumption and the average monthly cost of electricity were sourced from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, ensuring a well-rounded and accurate representation of the information presented.