Sunnova Reviews: What Are People Saying About this Solar Company?

Interested in purchasing solar power through Sunnova but aren't sure about the reviews?

It can be a long and potentially overwhelming process to do all of the research necessary to go solar. These days, there are a wealth of installer options available if you want to go for a leased solar option. Today, we will sift through the sea of Sunnova reviews from a variety of different sources to see how they compare to the other players in the industry.

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Identifying the common complaints, as well as the compliments, of this business in the past will help determine what your experience could be like in the future. All numbers are current as of the writing of this post.

#1 Overview of Sunnova solar reviews

First off, let's look at a handful of review sites to see how actual customers rate their Sunnova experiences.

Best Company: 4.6 out of 10 (64 ratings)

According to these ratings, Sunnova sits in the "Slightly Below Average" category as a whole. There are relatively few reviews here at Best Company, but remember that they do have a strict moderation for their comments, so it is likely that these are bona fide reviewers. If we take a look at the star breakdown, we can see that they do paint a pretty clear picture of what you can expect if you choose this company.

If this breakdown was muddied with an equal percentage of each rating, then we could start to blame the lack of reviewers as a possible culprit. This, however, is not the case here. Adding the bottom two levels and the top two levels together show that you are much more likely (53% vs. 40%) to have a bad experience with Sunnova than a good one.

Solar Reviews: 3.31 out of 5 (86 reviews)

Sunnova fairs a little bit better over at Solar Reviews with their "Slightly Above Average" rating of 3.31. So, where did everyone stand with their reviews?

As you can see, things are looking much better for these reviewers. Based on these reviews, you are more likely to receive a good experience than a bad one with Sunnova. It should be pointed out, however, that the field is still pretty polarized. You are likely to either love Sunnova or hate them!

If you take a look at their own detailed breakdown, reviewers tag the sales process as being the best part of the company, while the after sales support is the worst. It seems as though their sales associates have no issue getting the deal, but they aren't able to fix issues that arise after the solar panels are installed.

Better Business Bureau: 3.5 out of 5 (15 reviews, 98 complaints, BBB rating of "A")

As a substitute for Consumer Affairs, who didn't have reviews for this particular company, we checked out the Better Business Bureau for Sunnova in their home base of Houston, TX. They tally their score a little differently, using a variety of factors. So we'll take their composite score of 3.5 out of 5 as a good indicator of their overall satisfaction levels.

They score differently because most people come to leave a bad review or a complaint about the business rather than to share a positive review. So 67% of their composite score is the "A" rating and 33% of the score is from the review breakdown.

It looks like a pretty dim outlook for Sunnova based on the BBB reviews, but it should be noted that Sunnova was quick to reply to any complaints and seems to be on board with helping out those customers that have complaints!

#2 What are these Sunnova reviews really telling us?

Before a major purchase, it is incredibly important to do your due diligence to ensure that you will get what you're paying for on the deal. Reviewers are often very candid in their reviews, and they will tell you exactly how happy or upset they are with the business in question.

With Sunnova solar reviews, there is no overwhelming majority on either side of the aisle regarding customer satisfaction. About half the time they are 100% positive with their evaluation and half the time they are 100% negative.

So, what should we make of these results?

Sunnova is a company with a wide coverage area comprised of over 15 states and territories in the USA. This means that it is highly unlikely that any of the reviewers above were even talking about the same customer service representatives, installers, and support team.

It's clear that you can absolutely have a great experience, as evidenced by the enthusiastic and positive reviews. They wouldn't be writing that review unless they were really blown away by their experience. The same can be said about the negatives. The only real way to figure out what you can expect in your community is to get out and find someone local that has been through the process personally.

A lot of businesses and individuals are only out to serve themselves, and unfortunately, that can have a significant impact on customer satisfaction. If a salesperson is willing to say anything to get the sale, you will likely be paying for their lies in the long run.

So, after sifting through the mass of reviews, we've uncovered what look to be the trends for Sunnova solar reviews, both good and bad.

#3 What are the typical complaints about Sunnova?

For people thinking of taking on a solar lease, it can be a complicated equation to determine what is right for their needs. Unfortunately, it seems as though Sunnova had issues with system performance, deceitful sales practices, and poor after sales support.

A customer review on Best Company highlighted their system's performance issues:

Here's another one on Solar Reviews complaining about how much their sales rep said they would save:

A Yelp reviewer had a horrible experience with the support team:

#4 What are the typical compliments about Sunnova?

Of course, it's not all bad with Sunnova, and there are many, many reviews of positive experiences with the company! Comments are all over the place but many customers complimented Sunnova's professional installations, timeliness, and concerned sales representatives.

A customer on Solar Reviews had a glowing review of his installation experience:

Over on Best Company, someone found that Sunnova's sales rep was great compared to other local installers:

Finally, another Solar Reviews user couldn't believe how quick and easy the process was for them:

#5 How do Sunnova reviews compare to other similar installers?

To put a little more emphasis on the fact that everyone's experience is going to be a little different, we'll actually take a look at how other similar installers' reviews compare to Sunnova's.

No matter who you contract for your solar lease, an installation team with low standards or a sales rep with poor integrity can ruin the process for you quickly. Let's look at a big Sunnova competitor, SolarCity, to see what their customers had to say:

Here's a Best Company review about poor system performance:

Another one from Best Company highlights SolarCity's excellent timeliness and professional installation:

As you can see, either one of these reviews could easily have been swapped into Sunnova's list of customer experiences. This will typically be the case across the wide range of big-time solar installers that routinely please some customers while irritating others.

Still skeptical? Check out our review analysis of Sunrun and SolarCity - very similar!

#6 Should you choose to do business with Sunnova?

At the end of the day, unfortunately, we can't make this decision for you. We have taken the time to pour through reviews so that we can save you some of the legwork, but it is clear that regular folks can't come to a definite conclusion about what to expect with Sunnova's customer experience.

Before committing to any contract, put your boots to the pavement and do some digging locally to see what others have been through with their installation. You might be pleasantly surprised to find that your local community has some of the best installers around and there haven't been any problems with after sales support.

Of course, you're just as likely to discover the opposite. Either way, a personal, face-to-face recommendation cannot be beaten!

Be sure to take your time in reviewing the terms of any solar contractor and pay close attention to production guarantees, price changes over time, and stipulations that govern how you can potentially move your system if you sell your house.

As always, caveat emptor (buyer beware)!

Image Credits under CC License via Flickr - 2 & Courtesy of Solarreviews