Prime Solar Energy Reviews
About Prime Solar Energy
Prime Solar Energy is an Australian-owned and leading solar business, it has developed a vision to deliver clean energy solutions to residential and commercial properties. Our goal is to provide clean energy solutions and high-quality solar energy systems to homes across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and especially in Canberra. We take immense pride in working towards a cleaner future for our beautiful world while saving our valued customers money on every bill. With a quality system and a workmanship guarantee, our customers are happier and more efficient in their energy usage with Prime Solar Energy. We have more than 25 years of experience providing quality solutions for businesses and homeowners in the area efficiently.
Additionally, We provide ACT Government Interest-free loans to local Canberra residents. For NSW residents we provide a $0 upfront Virtual Power Plant (VPP) solar system to save electricity bills.
Workmanship Warranty
10
All Reviews
You get what you pay for!
The person selling the system is different from the one who does the site inspection and is different from the install supervisor and the installer, and none of them communicate. The installers turned up two hours before the agreed time and blocked our driveway. They unloaded all the panels against the house, and after looking around for 30 mins started complaining about the job and packed all the now unboxed panels into a metal trailer (scratching the panels/edges) and then asked for another $3,000 or they'd walk away. After arguing with the sales rep the panels were pulled back off the trailer (scratching them further) and installed on the roof. The battery was installed in the wrong place (because they didn't communicate with the other guys) and a bollard was bolted into my garage floor. After some heated discussion the battery was moved to where it was supposed to be. Throughout the day the primary sparky was in a foul mood and was stomping around and at at least one point was throwing things. I asked for the inverter network connection to be hard wired to a data jack which was along the path of the cable trays, and provided the network cable for this. I was told repeatedly that the inverter did not support hard wiring and I had to use wifi. After finding the inverter manual online and showing it to the installers my request was refused and they proceeded to close up the cable conduit trays. The install was only partially finished on the first day, and they promised to be back the next day to complete but didn't show up until a few days later. After the job was "finished" I was responsible for cleaning up the site and wiping down the equipment (e.g. black handprints all over the battery/gateway). The sparky asked me to sign off on a STC claim form saying that he was present for the whole install (which he wasn't). After the physical install was finished I noticed that the inverter was showing incorrect figures (like generating solar at midnight) and the sparky came back to make further adjustments. After his visit the system no longer recorded solar at night but now doesn't show correct solar input, can't see the AC coupled system and is not working properly. When I tested the promised backup, the whole house lost power and when the battery kicked in it was not across all three phases. Things like my stovetop and my AC had no power at all. Inspecting the panels on the roof I confirmed the scratches, and hosed off the clods of dirt and other debris they had just left sitting on the panels. I also collected a number of metal off-cuts and other dangerous debris which may have blown/washed into my yard (I have gutter guards) and injured my children. I then received a bill with a note to pay immediately, and this was followed by several calls from the sales guy pushing for immediate payment. As a gesture of good faith I paid 25% of the total cost and asked them to fix the technical issues and the non-technical issues (like those extra holes in the polished concrete that they drilled unnecessarily). I was told that the system was working as intended and that they would not be back. I mentioned issues with the battery backup not working and they said "oh but you only asked for backup, you didn't ask for 'full backup' that costs extra". Note that I had stressed previously that my legacy solar/battery system provided only single phased backup with a notable delay in the system kicking in and I was promised that the new system would be both instant and cover all three phases... They are denying this and now claiming that the system does not support these features (despite it being a major selling point for the sigenergy system). Fastforward a few weeks later and nothing has changed. Steer clear of these guys. Pay a little extra for a reputable company that does it once and does it right, saving a few dollars is not worth the headaches. I'm going to have to pay an independent sparky to come in and fix the bodgy job that has been done. I'm dreading have to deal with this company for system support for the next 20 years, assuming they're still around.
Solar Panel - Jinko
Brand is ok, same brand as my old panels. Unlike my old panels these ones were installed dead flat on the roof and have a notable lower generation output as a result.
Solar Inverter - Sigenergy
Sig was reputable. What they don't tell you is that the battery/inverter stack is VERY hot and VERY loud. My garage now sits at about 40 degrees during the day time, when it's only 28 outside. I can't comment on the accuracy of the inverter figures as my current system is wired incorrectly. App seems decent, although could be made more responsive and more intuitive.
Battery - Sigenergy
Battery performance seems ok. See note above RE inverter for more details on things like the heat output.
EV Charger - Sigenergy
25Kw DC bi-directional... Magic! it allows you to tap RFID cards to authorise charging, or disable that capability and just work for everyone. It does charge at that speed, although the responsiveness of the app makes it a little harder to just stop the charging when you need to use the car. This is probably linked to the fact that it's wifi-connected, instead of hard-wired. Could use a start/stop button on the charger unit itself.
