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

Bright Planet Solar Services and Installation

The process of going solar is relatively straightforward with Bright Planet, although there is potential for delays and hiccups according to customer reviews. We’ll include a breakdown of the process you can expect below so that you’re better prepared for each step.

Solar Installation Experience

Going solar with Bright Planet Solar is similar to what you can expect from other installers, although the timeline can vary. Below is the process specific to Bright Planet.

Step 1: Request a Free Quote and Consultation

The first thing you’ll need to do is fill out the company’s contact request form on its website to request a free quote for your solar system. You’ll need to provide some basic contact information and answer some questions about what kind of solar project you’re planning.

A sales rep or project manager will then reach out to you to set up an initial consultation call. You should have your most recent electric bill ready to discuss on the call. You’ll also answer questions about appliances in your home and your expectations from your solar panel system and provide information about your heating and air conditioning equipment.

Step 2: Home Inspection

In most cases, Bright Planet will need to send a technician to your home to take measurements and confirm your information. The company might also need to send an electrician to inspect your main panel and decide how components will be connected. You should plan to discuss any specifics about the placement of your solar batteries and panels during this inspection.

Step 3: Design and Installation

Next, the Bright Planet Solar design team will begin to design a system that fits your home and meets your energy needs. This process typically takes a few days, but delays on Bright Planet’s end could mean it takes longer. Once you approve the design, the team will start pulling permits. This is where some customers begin to have issues with Bright Planet as permits are not always pulled correctly or closed out, according to reviews.

If permit pulling goes smoothly, the installation team will then schedule a date for the installation — the point at which many other customers experience problems and delays. There are reports of some systems taking months or even more than a year past the installation date to complete.

Step 4: Commissioning Your System

The last step is a final inspection and system activation, which lets your solar panels begin producing energy. This is also when you should start experiencing energy savings. Unfortunately, this is another step at which many customers have issues with Bright Planet Solar. Some reviews state that the system is never commissioned due to unexplained problems with permits or inspections not being passed. Bright Planet has a reputation for leaving partially installed systems on properties despite in many cases receiving payment.

Bright Planet Solar Customer Service

As you’ve probably gathered by now, the customer service experience you can expect from Bright Planet is severely lacking. A large majority of Bright Planet Solar reviews are negative specifically because of the lack of communication from account management, abandoned installation agreements, incomplete installations and unanswered customer phone calls and emails.

The customer service phone number doesn’t appear to be monitored much of the time. Overall, the customer experience with Bright Planet is well below average and does not represent what we have come to expect from big players in the industry.

Regional Installer

3/5

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Bright Planet Solar Costs and Financing

The cost of installing solar panels varies from customer to customer and is based on numerous factors including your energy needs, the system size that suits your home, your home’s energy efficiency, the direction your roof faces and more.

The average price per watt for solar equipment is around $3.33, and Bright Planet typically falls a bit under this average. While it’s impossible to say what your system will cost without completing a property assessment, most homeowners pay between $18,500 and $23,000 for solar power systems. Your cost via Bright Planet Solar is likely to be toward the lower end of that range, so they are a relatively cheap option for solar panels.

Bright Planet accepts cash purchases and solar loans via its financing partners, which include LoanPal, Dividend, Sunlight Financial, Mosaic and California First. It does not accept solar leases or power purchase agreements (PPAs), although these aren’t options we recommend anyway.

Financing Options Through Bright Planet Solar

The table below offers a quick at-a-glance view of the different financing options available from Bright Planet Solar.

Finding the right financing option for your needs and your budget can be confusing. If you’re unsure if the options above or another option is right for you, we suggest you check out our solar financing guide for help.

Bright Planet Solar Solar Panel Warranty

Most solar customers look for warranties on their solar systems given how much they spend on converting to renewable energy. Solar warranties usually either cover the workmanship or the equipment. Equipment warranties can further be broken down into coverage for physical damage and a guarantee of power production.

Bright Planet Solar does not provide any warranty at all, so the only coverage you’ll get is from the panel or equipment manufacturer. Coverage varies depending on the brand and the equipment type (including panels, batteries and inverters). Coverage for inverters and batteries can be as short as 10 to 12 years, while panels more often have coverage of around 25 years.

Regional Installer

3/5

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Bright Planet Solar Reviews

The solar industry can be challenging to navigate, especially given how many options there are for solar panel installation companies. Many customers turn to online reviews of companies for unbiased reviews. These are great, as they give you a sense of what kind of experience and service you can expect. We’ll include some of the positive and negative reviews for Bright Planet Solar below.

Positive Bright Planet Solar Reviews

Unfortunately, the positive reviews for this company are virtually nonexistent, so we cannot provide any specific ones. There is a single five-star review on Google Reviews, but there is no text. The positives shared by a customer named Liza include “professionalism, quality and responsiveness.” There are no other positive reviews listed on the major review sites.

Unless you have trusted friends and family members who have used Bright Planet and recommend them, we’d suggest staying away from this installer.

Negative Bright Planet Solar Reviews

While positive reviews are lacking, negative reviews of this company are plentiful. Most of the reviews are one-star and complain about installations not being done in a timely manner, misrepresentation of savings and solar incentives and non-operational solar panel systems that were partially installed and then abandoned. The Better Business Bureau has a complaint warning on the company’s BBB page about a pattern of negative reviews and customer complaints. Below are some of the more telling negative reviews of Bright Planet Solar.

“Your company has lied to me, points fingers and places blame, tells me there’s nothing you can do, and gives me a different story every time I call. Nobody […] cares to listen and provide actionable support. […] I can’t get any updates on my project without having to repeat my story every day to customer service staff who aren’t even given the tools to help me. I’m still paying my PG&E bill and my loan for the solar and I’m not happy. This has been the most frustrating process.” — Leslie via BBB

“This company continues to make promises it can’t keep. We have been charged for our solar panels that are non-operational for a number of months now. They continue to say a technician will be out to fix them and push through our inspection, yet nothing has been done. I have not been able to get through to a representative for the last three times I have called this company. I have sat on hold for at least 15 minutes.” — Rob via BBB

“Horrible customer service and support. You will never talk to someone that treats you with respect, and basically they will call you a liar. We have been getting the runaround since installation back in October. We are now paying a monthly payment on a system that wasn’t working! […] I even told the sales rep that I didn’t want to be stuck paying for two bills (solar and electric bill). But here we are on month two of paying both!! Funny how tricky they are when selling you the system. Would not recommend Bright Planet Solar.” — Robin via BBB

Solar Energy Provider Comparison

There are many better options for solar panel installation companies than Bright Planet Solar. The below table provides a side-by-side look at Bright Planet and two of the best solar panel companies in the country, SunPower and Momentum Solar.

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.