2024 SunPower Solar Review Guide (Costs, Quality, & More)
By Kristina Zagame /
In this TriSMART Solar review, you’ll learn:
Each product and or company featured here has been independently selected by the writer. You can learn more about our review methodology here. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.
It comes as a surprise to most solar customers that the most complicated part of going solar is determining which solar company you should choose to handle your solar project. Our TriSMART Solar review below will give you some insight into this company and the service you’re likely to receive, which should help you narrow down your options a bit.
TriSMART Solar is a great company overall and a great fit for most customers. The company offers high-quality solar equipment brands at below-average prices, and it also has a reputation for providing outstanding customer service. Most solar customers agree that TriSMART Solar is a wonderful company to work with for clean energy solutions.
TriSMART Solar was founded in 2013 in Houston, Texas by Mark Bench. Prior to starting the company, Mark worked as a manager for four years for Vivint Solar. Mark’s previous experience in the solar industry is a great sign and likely helped build TriSMART into the reputable solar company it is today.
The company strives to make solar accessible and affordable to everyone, and it also prides itself on bringing knowledge about solar energy and the industry to consumers. It achieves these goals by maintaining below-average pricing for high-quality equipment, providing access to no-money-down loans for solar equipment and educating those interested in solar via its TriSMART University.
TriSMART Solar Fast Facts | |
Year Started | 2013 |
Service Areas | Texas, Arizona and New Mexico |
Services Offered | Solar panel and solar battery installations |
Types of Solar Equipment Offered | REC, Enphase, Tesla |
Certifications | Accredited by the Better Business Bureau |
Better Business Bureau Rating | A+ |
Average cost
Pros
Cons
The process of going solar with TriSMART is very straightforward, primarily because the team is so committed to open communication and completing the complicated steps for you. Below, we’ll provide a breakdown of the different milestones you’ll hit with TriSMART, and we’ll also touch on the customer service experience you can expect when choosing this company.
Going solar will be relatively similar among different installers, but there can be some minor differences. Below is what you can expect from TriSMART Solar.
Your first step will be to reach out to the company to ask for a free quote via the online contact request form found on its website (www.trismartsolar.com). You’ll need to fill in some basic information in the company’s solar savings calculator, including your address, phone number, email address, roof material and more.
Once you complete the form, a sales rep from TriSMART Solar will reach out to you — usually within a day — to conduct a consultation. You should have a past energy bill handy to discuss your average monthly electricity consumption, and you might need to answer some additional questions about your home and your energy usage.
TriSMART Solar will schedule an in-person property inspection with an electrician/energy consultant to take pictures, measure your roof, figure out where your electrical connections will be placed and more. The information gathered during this step will be used to come up with your final solar panel price.
Next, the TriSMART Solar design team will create a system customized for your home, expectations and monthly energy usage. At this point, you’ll get your final cost estimate, which you’ll need to approve before continuing with the process. Depending on your financing method, you might need to get approved for a solar system loan or make a down payment if you plan to pay in cash.
Once you approve the final design and cost, TriSMART Solar will pull permits and wait for the approval. Your local municipality requires that permits are pulled and approved before any work can begin. This part of the process can take several weeks in some cases.
As soon as your permits are approved, TriSMART will contact you to schedule the installation of your solar power system. The actual work usually takes one to two days, although unexpected weather can cause delays.
Finally, the installation team will activate your system so that the panels can start producing energy. From this point forward, you should enjoy energy savings thanks to your panels.
While the installation process varies minimally among installers, the customer service a company provides can make a world of difference in your experience. Thankfully, TriSMART Solar has a record of outstanding customer service. The large majority of customers are overwhelmingly pleased with the service they receive from TriSMART Solar, and most rave about the communication efficiency, rapidity of the installation process and overall attention to customer satisfaction.
The price of solar panel systems varies a lot between individual homes, even in the same area. Pricing depends on many different factors, including how much sun hits your roof, the system size required to offset your utility bills, the size of your home and much more.
Although it’s impossible to say what your solar system from TriSMART Solar will cost without completing a site assessment, we can say that TriSMART generally comes in below average when it comes to pricing. It provides high-quality equipment but maintains great affordability, so you’ll spend less going solar with TriSMART than you would with most other companies.
TriSMART is a bit limited in its financing options, which include cash purchases and solar loans. It doesn’t deal with solar leasing or offer power purchase agreements (PPAs), although we typically recommend against these options anyway.
The table below gives a quick look at the subtle differences between the purchase options accepted by TriSMART Solar, except, of course, for the upfront cost, which is much higher with cash purchases.
Cash Purchase | Solar Loan | |
System Ownership | ✓ | ✓ |
Upfront Cost | ✓ | ✓ |
Added Property Value | ✓ | ✓ |
Eligible for Tax Credit | ✓ | ✓ |
Payment Due to | Solar Installer | Loan Provider |
If you’re not sure of the best way to pay for your solar panel system, you can check out our solar panel financing guide to help find the best option for you.
Solar panels very often come with warranties, which most solar customers look for from solar installation companies they’re considering. Warranties help provide peace of mind that your large investment in renewable energy will not only pay off over time but won’t need constant service and additional investments for repairs going forward.
TriSMART Solar provides a 25-year warranty for its REC solar panels that covers energy production and physical damage. It also provides a 25-year warranty for performance and damage for its Enphase inverters, and a 10-year standard warranty for its Tesla batteries. Unfortunately, the company doesn’t offer a workmanship warranty to cover labor.
Choosing a solar company can be intimidating because there are many providers out there who bring suboptimal customer service to the table and could end up causing more trouble than benefit to you. Turning to online customer reviews is a great way to get an unbiased look at how a company operates. Below, we’ll go over some of the positive and negative reviews we found online for TriSMART Solar.
Most reviews for TriSMART Solar are positive, and countless customers have nothing but great things to say about the company’s communication and overall service. Below are just a handful of the positive reviews for TriSMART.
“[Our rep] David had the project in control from start to finish. The knowledge and the presentation of the real-time savings the system could produce were amazing. Also, David went above and beyond his obligation to ensure the customer was satisfied with the product and the service. I will definitely recommend David to anyone in the market for solar.” — Shaun via BBB
“My husband and I had been considering investing in solar panels for a while when Charlie from TriSMART came knocking on our door. He was very patient in answering our questions about solar power and tax incentives, and he offered us a price match against any comparable panels [from] any other vendor. Of the three vendors we spoke to, TriSMART had the best product and was able to make the price competitive. We’ve been so happy with their service since installation, and the energy production reduces our energy costs dramatically.” — A. Simpson via BBB
Every company, including TriSMART Solar, will inevitably have some negative reviews. The negative reviews tend to focus on delays in the installation process and system underproduction, which fails to offset energy bills entirely. Below are some of the negative reviews we found for TriSMART online.
“I first spoke with TriSMART on May 21, 2021 and began the process of installing solar panels. It is now September 27, 2021 and I have a half-finished system installed on my roof (rail system only – no panels). The rails were installed on September 6. No one is able to tell me when they will complete this installation. No one answers their phone or returns messages in a timely manner. I am regretting my decision to go with TriSMART.” — Scott via BBB
“Don’t go with this company. They promise you savings that you never see. Panels are producing significantly less energy than was promised, took forever for meters to be turned on, customer service never answers and no savings realized! They respond with emails insisting that panels are working appropriately. Don’t go with this company!!” — Lily via BBB
TriSMART Solar ranks fairly highly in our ratings of the top solar installers, but how does it compare to the best of the best? The table below pits TriSMART Solar against our top two solar companies, SunPower Solar and Momentum Solar.
TriSMART Solar | SunPower Solar | Momentum Solar | |
EcoWatch Rating | 4.5 | 5.0 | 4.5 |
Year Started | 2013 | 1986 | 2009 |
Services Offered | Solar panel and solar battery installations | Solar panel, solar battery and EV charger installations; solar monitoring | Solar panel and solar battery installations |
Service Areas | Texas, Arizona and New Mexico | Nationwide | 11 States |
BBB Rating | A+ | A+ | A+ |
Payment Options | Cash payments, solar loans | Cash payments, solar loans, solar leases, power purchase agreements (PPAs) | Cash payments, solar loans, solar leases, power purchase agreements (PPAs) |
Below, we’ll answer some of the most common questions we get about working with TriSMART Solar. If you have specific questions that aren’t answered here, reach out to our team of solar experts at solar@ecowatch.com.
Yes, TriSMART Solar is a legitimate company. Not only does this company provide excellent customer service and a commitment to customer satisfaction, but it also installs high-quality solar equipment for lower prices than most competitors. TriSMART Solar is a great option to handle your solar conversion.
Yes! TriSMART Solar has lower pricing than most other solar installers, and it still brings wonderful customer service and high-quality equipment to the table. Based on the positive reviews online, most customers agree that TriSMART Solar is a great deal.
In most cases, yes. The solar panels TriSMART Solar uses are high quality and from some of the top manufacturers in the industry. The team designs your system specifically for your home and to cover your energy consumption, so it’s very likely you’ll see a significant reduction on your electric bills. If your electric company provides a favorable net metering program, you might even eliminate your energy bills altogether.
TriSMART Solar certainly isn’t the cheapest solar installer out there, but it is more affordable than most other options. With TriSMART, you’ll pay less than you would with most competitors and still get great customer service and durable, efficient solar equipment.
TriSMART is headquartered in Houston, Texas, at 15200 E Hardy Rd., Houston, TX 77032. It serves eight cities and the surrounding areas in Texas via its other offices. These locations include Houston, Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Lubbock, Midland and San Antonio. It has also recently expanded to Arizona and New Mexico.