Solgen Energy Group

Deplorable – originally purchased through the Mark group, of which solgen took over, rude uncaring arrogant unprofessional unhelpful bad attitude, happy to tell you you will save, when you don’t save and confront them they accuse you of being greedy  Show details

Commercial Install for my business – Thank you Solgen team - it was seamless working with you at our challenging site. Works were completed to a high standard and our Project Manager was very responsive throughout. Show details

Uncaring company – Dont care about after care, person on phone uncaring admittedly we purchased through the mark group but solgen took over warranty claims it was just out of warranty and your company was uncaring. I will keep switching inverter on and off and will eventually purchase new system locally. Show details

Another useless warranty issue – We have hotspots on our panels and after contacting Solgen, have also been left in the lurch. Numerous emails and leaving phone messages and still nothing done even though the email trail has an internal email statement saying they "cannot keep replacing these crap units". All of a sudden no reply to emails and people have left the company.… Read more

Although bought through Mark Group, Solgen took over the business and therefore should honour warranty cases. What's the use of offering a huge warranty period as a sales gimmick if you don't honour it? A disgrace this company, it has already cost me a lot of money trying to chase these repairs and it is like hitting your head up against a brick wall. Looking elsewhere, but then you wonder, is it all really worth it now.

What a dishonest and unprofessional bunch!!! – We purchased our system from a company called the Mark Group and service was fairly good, the installers they used where average and I believe they are now non-existent. The system is still under warranty and worked fine for 4.5 years when the Fronius Galva inverter failed. I spoke 3 times to a person called [Name Removed]. He was extremely rude… Read more

and unhelpful. When their 0800 number became dysfunctional I found out that Mark Group had sold out to Solgen Energy Group. It seems as if they are equally useless. It is impossible to track down any person, agent or technician to talk to. This leaves me no option other than to approach Fair Trading Australia. This drama is now in its sixth week.

Unprofessional support – Our domestic solar panel system was installed by Mark Group, since absorbed with Solgen. A problem with one panel not reporting power was thought to be due to a faulty Microinverter, recently replaced under warranty, thanks to the Engineer at Solgen, who was very helpful, but has now left. However the outage is still happening. Despite leaving… Read more

several messages, due to nobody answering in Technical Support, and sending Email with the job number, as well as trying through the switch (also answered by a message), there has been no contact from Solgen after 10 days. This is totally unsatisfactory. I have even checked online to see if Solgen has gone out of business. With such an unprofessional response, it wouldn't surprise me. The good star ratings are for the original Mark Group and subcontractor installation The bad one is for the current Solgen Domestic Technical "Support".

Poor repairs – We purchased our system from a company called the Mark Group and service was fairly good, the installers they used where average and I believe they are now non-existent. The system worked fine for 4.5 years when the Fronius inverter failed, and this is when I found out that Mark Group had sold out to Solgen Energy Group. It happened over Christmas… Read more

so I could not get anyone until early January. No problems still under warranty will fix it. Well it took several weeks and phone calls to finally have an Electrician examine the inverter and say it's buggered and the several more weeks and phone calls to have the inverter replaced. I had Solgen blaming Fronius and the Electrician blaming Solgen about the delays in getting the new inverter and it wasn't until late March it was finally installed. Three months it took, and my power bill was 300 dollars above what it should have been. We have a new project coming up where I will need more solar, and I think I will use a Local company so if there are issues than at least a local company might be more responsive than one from interstate.

Suppliers beware! – If i could give NO stars I would. Solgen Energy engages small operators without providing any avenue for dispute resolution. They simply short pay or do not pay at all and after two years of avoiding handing over direct contact details nor actually advising reasons for not honoring payments I'm finally commencing legal proceedings. Terrible relationship management. Show details

Great customer service for rectifying faulty inverter from manufacturer – We bought a house with a ABB solar panel installed by the previous owner, who mainly used this for charging his Tesla car. Once we settled and got the house in Sep 2018, we realised that the solar system was not working with an error shown in the panel. We do not have a Tesla car but we only want to use this for our home electricity consumption.… Read more

The only document I got from the agent was the invoice showing it was installed by Mark Group. I rang the number and found that Mark Group was taken over by Solgen Energy Group. Luckily Catalina, the reception pass my call to Arvind who was very helpful, who looks after the Mark Group ex-customers' warranties. I told him my story, he was very patience and explained a lot of the characteristics of the solar panels to me. He also checked the invoice and confirmed that my solar system is still within the warranty period of 5 years (with a remaining 2 years). He asked my husband to check a few things to verify the faulty error and assisted us to contact ABB to submit the request for the inverter replacement. His communication with ABB was transparent and we were copied on those emails. Arvind was very patience and follow up my case pro-actively nearly every two weeks, to check the progress from ABB. ABB was slow and not responsive with our initial submission, Arvind assisted us to follow up the case and found out that ABB required a technician onsite to verify the faulty again before they approved for the replacement. Arvind quickly arrange a technician onsite and took some photos to verify that. Since then, ABB approved for the replacement, and once they have entered this faulty unit claim process, ABB has a protocol to follow and we get call in few days to arrange for a replacement within 2 weeks. Now we have a refurbished inverter replaced and is working. We are happy with the service provided by Solgen group and especially thanks to Arvind who assisted us along the way, given we have no knowledge of the solar system and the faulty unit claim process. Now we are enjoying a low electricity bill because of this now-working solar system. I have seen some poor reviews written earlier in this blog , but certainly with my experience I would highly recommend Solgen Group especially their after-installation service care. With an expensive solar system, i value the customer care service group as highly important. They have placed very good employee in customer care area, and certainly they are improving a lot from the past.

Very good outcome – Solgen energy group installed two systems for me and they were easy to deal with and their work was high quality. The follow-up was also spot on led by Arvind. Show details

Fronius inverter problems – We have had ongoing difficulties with a Fronius inverter. Fronius were unresponsive, unhelpful and that went right to the top of the tree to their CEO, who after an initial response then went to ground. Arvind from Solargen was brilliant. Whilst Fronius remained slow and unresponsive he eventually was able to get replacement with the new Fronius… Read more

model of inverter, which also has wireless/remote monitoring and is half the physical size of the old model. I recommend Solargen and Arvind.

Worst service in Australia- potential buyers be aware – My solar system was installed by the previous owners, Mark Group in September 2015. The system brings up an alarm, Error State 475, after it rains. I contacted the Mark Group and they would send out a technician. Since Solgen have taken over, I made repeated phone calls about the problem, but no response. I then was given an email address to [Name… Read more

Removed], I did not receive any acknowledgement from the 6 or so emails and a number of phone calls. I finally connected with [Name Removed] and she told me that [Name Removed] had moved to a different department. I now had [Name Removed] email address and felt that the service would improve. How wrong I was, not a beep to my emails or phone calls. I have gone on to their web site and written to Solgen making my complaint, but no response. My next move is to go to Fair Trading to resolve this issue. I have never in my 65 years on this planet dealt with such a poor company for service. If you were thinking of getting a Solar system or any other products from this company I would highly recommend that you steer very clear from them.

worst ever company that i have to dealt with – Might have to say that i'm almost giving up trying to contact this company just so i can let them know that the brand new inverter they had just instaledl for me is faulty. it's took almost a month for me to keep calling them before i can talk to the actual person who can help me and when i get to speak to her she had no ideas about my case at… Read more

all. I have been waiting since the end of Febuary to get the new inverter and once i have got it installed in the first week of April it's actually a faulty one. I have to find out myself that it's faulty by calling the installer otherwise i wouldn't have known it at all. I used to be a customer services myself it's not very hard to pick up a phone and contact your customer to acknowlegde them that you realise the problem and just let the customer a time frame. I think whoever the owner of the company should know if you can't deliver don't promise and please put yourself in the customer's shoes so you know how your customers actually feel.

Just a warning to a new customer or whoever that thinking of becoming a customer plaese do your reserch about the company before you manke any decision. Don't want any one to ever have this kind of experience like me.

Terrible service. Worst I have ever experienced – The Mark Group was taken over by this company and so was their warranty repairs. My experience has been similar to the other negative reviews. Long delays, poor communication and rude. They promise but do not deliver. Will not recommend this company to my worst enemy. We had problems with our system not generating the correct amount of power… Read more

and rang them to organise someone to come out and look at it. After giving them all the info they requested, we were told it was fine. It was not. We paid another solar maintenance company to have a look and they found that 1/3 of the panels were not working. They serviced the system and repaired the parts. (our cost) It worked fine for a while but then the inverter stopped working. We rang them again and were told it was out of warranty. It was not. Finally after many weeks the inverter was taken away for repair. We waited weeks again and were then told it would be replaced. Solgen take no responsibility for when it will be installed. They act like they are doing us a favour. In the meantime the sun shines and we are not generating anything.

A formerly pleased customer with a warranty issue – First call Sept 18, pictures sent Sept 27, advised warranty claim lodged 16 October due to staff being on vacation. I have been advised that a part is required and it would take 6-8 weeks. Still waiting. Disappointing response time that is undoubtedly costing $!

No After Sales Service / Warranty – Had our solar system put in back in 2014 and had no problems with The Mark Group. 4 weeks ago, the fan on inverter stopped working. Contacted Solgen who sounded extremely helpful and told me it was generally a simple problem and their contractor would call and let me know when he would be out to repair. I have phoned/emailed them 4 times… Read more

since and am being told the same thing - "contractor has recently lost staff and is behind and therefore the delay is out of their control". They refuse to give me the number of their contractor so I can contact him direct.

We have been saving at least $50 per week since installing the system and are so far $200 out of pocket. We believe the problem is simple to fix but are concerned if we pay someone to come in and repair ourselves it will void our warranty.

Very disappointed with Solgen's so called after sales service and recommend you go elsewhere!!

They took over Mark Group and don't Honour their warranties – We had 16 solar panels put in in May /June 2012 by Mark Group and in 2016 we decided to have a service done on them because we were not happy with the input from panels We contacted Mark Group in June 20 August - September 2012 saying we were not happy could they send someone out to look at the panels. They just looked on the internet and said… Read more

they were fine. . As per the warranty we called their service number to request assistance. In June 2016 I contacted their service man 4 times to get day and time he never got back to me so I went with another group. The document also states that the maintenance should be undertaken by an CEC accredited Installer, and they would pay for repairs, and from our investigations Solar Service Group are accredited installers. They came out and checked everything and found something wrong with D/C ISOLATOR. [name removed] said it was cracked when it was put up and water was half way up inside it was rusty, also 2 screws were put inside through back, which were not supposed to be there because water could get in there also. [name removed] told us he had been to house fires caused by this problem. I attached a report it clearly indicates that he had to replace the faulty D/C ISOLATOR on rooftop that had water ingress through a crack in the housing and screws that had been penetrated through the back of the Isolator. I also sent photo’s to back this up. We had the installation of the D/C Isolator and the stainless steel rooftop isolator cover which is now regulations and the cost was $230 we weren’t asking for them to pay for the full service just for the replacement of the broken part and cover. It has been another 12 months since last contact so now I am going to consumers Affairs my daughter was working for the environment minister in ACT. Last year and he said let them handle it.

Information that solar installers don’t want to tell you – Before you sign up, you need to understand this…. There is a difference between kW and kWh, just like there is a difference between km and km/hr. At a point in time, you consume “power”, measured in watts, with the symbol W, it’s a bit like speed in a car. One thousand watts is a kilowatt with the symbol kW. Your hairdryer consumes… Read more

about 1000w or 1kW of power. Your aircon unit consumes about 4kW of power. You might get a solar solution that can produce 5kW of power. Power is measured at a point in time.

Over a period of time, you have consumed “energy”, measured in kilowatt hours, with the symbol kWh, it’s a bit like distance travelled in a car. On the example above, if your aircon is on for 4 hours, it will use 20kwH of energy. Energy is measured over a period of time.

Information that solar installers don’t want to tell you.

Before you sign for solar, you need to understand more than your electricity bill. It probably says…”Your daily consumption is on average 45kWh”. When it comes to installing solar, it a pointless piece of data, but solar companies trick you into using this numeric to justify your purchase.

The bill is showing your energy consumption of 90 days, over 24hrs of the day, that’s day and night. What you really need to know is….what do I consume during the day and what do I consume during the night.

What you need to do is read the meter inside your meter box at sunrise AND sunset. From this, you’ll be able to calculate your daytime and night time usage. The more days you collect, the more accurate your results. Only when you have your daytime usage, then think about talking to a solar install, not before.

To explain what comes next, it’s best I use my house as an example. The data below was taken in June 2017, the middle of winter on two consecutive sunny days.

Before installing solar, I was using above 50kWh a day in the summer, that’s heaps so installing a solar system that could produce 30kWh per day in summer should have been awesome. Only after the install, I measured what I used from the grid during the day (solar turned off) and during the night. The results were shocking.

On one winters day, I was using 20kWh during the day and 25kWh during the night, a total of 45kWh for the day. This means, and benefit of installing solar was only going to be during the daylight hours, that’s fair enough! It would be nice to think the 20kWh used during the day was covered by my solar system. If that was the case, my bill would have reduce by 44% (20/45) giving me a saving of $1000 a year, and I’d pay off my system in 10 years.

But solar doesn’t always work 100% from sunrise to sunset. To be precise you have to look when the sun shines on the roof where your solar panels are going to be installed (solar starts) AND when the sun does not shine on that part of the roof (solar stops). The times you need it most is just after sunrise and just before sunset, that’s when the panels are in the shade and not performing well. In the middle of the day, they are producing heaps, but no one is around to use it.

Back to my house. The next day (similar sunny winters day) I turned on my solar system and it generated 20kWh (the inverter provided this info). Ironically that’s the same amount I used during the day previously. My feed of power back to the grid was 15kWh (a new meter in the meter box provided this info). This means only 5kWh of solar generation was fed to my house during the day, and I had to purchase 15kWh during the day (the normal meter provided this info). The other 15kWh of solar generation was not required so sent to the grid (I got $0.06 per kWh, so a credit of $0.90 for the day).

In summary, my daily usage was 45kWh. I purchase 25kWh for the night and purchased 15kWh for the day. Solar only gave me 5kWh. That means only 11% (5/45) improvement in my electricity usage, saving me $250 a year, so I’ll pay off my system in 40 years.

In my case, I installed a $10,000 system with Solgen, 8kW of panels producing 30kWh in summer and 20kWh in the winter. After 12 months of usage, one thing has become clear, I was fooled into believing it would be paid off in 3 years, it’s going to take 40 years. Shame on you Solgen and probably shame on you most solar installers to deceiving customers like myself.

Don’t make the mistake I took. Stop researching panels and inverters. Start measuring your daytime usage while the sun shines on your roof!

Best of luck, John

Bad after sales service / warranty issues – Inverter was reported faulty on Dec. 7th 2016. Claim was sent to Samil. From the 9th to the 22nd. Dec there were phone calls sent - most with no reply. Inverter was finally sent here on the 11th. Jan. Called Solgen and was told someone would install soon as he was waiting on a reply from the installer with a time. The inverter was finally… Read more

installed on he 23rd. Jan. The newly installed inverter looks like it had fallen on the bitumen and didn;t look anything like a new inverter. It is hard to see the green light as the case is so marked. On a good note - the service lady was pleasant.

Excellent System, with a very good performance – I have now my new Solar system and Tesla Powerwall installed just over 2 weeks ago, the installation team were super, very friendly and professional. After the Installation the whole place was cleaner than before, the communication from Solgen was excellent kept informed during the whole process. If I have to rate the Process and install on a… Read more

scale 1 to 10 (10 being the highest) I would give them 10+, normally I give that number very seldom. The System consists of 16 SunPower Solar panels with a maximum of 5.23KW connected to a SolarEdge Inverter coupled with a Tesla Powerwall Battery. So far the performance is impressive, the only time I had to draw power from the Grid, is when I had the Air Conditioning running, since this is a ducted 16KW system, this is quite understandable. Even on cloudy weather the Solar panels generated enough power to charge the Battery and power the house during the day.

Sofar I am quite impressed, will keep monitoring and further adjusting our household habits on using electricity.

This is not the cheapest system, but you get what you pay for.

Thanks very much Solgen

Regards,

Wolfgang Schobel

Green Point, NSW

Bad Warranty response after sales – I have been reporting issues with my Solar System since mid September, AU3118523, I even have sent power bill showing issues with it. I have spoken with: Service team who passed me to [name removed] [name removed] took over the case (29 of September), then sick for 2 weeks, no calls, no email from the team, no update, weeks later he said a… Read more

technician will attend on 14 of October

17 of October after talking to [name removed] and [name removed] am told [name removed] has left and [name removed] (technician will review system)

21 of November, after several calls during this time, [name removed] said Inverter will be changed, if I don't receive it by 24 of November to let them know.

5 of December, rang and talked to [name removed], still inverter not shipped, it may take 2 more weeks.

I wonder what kind of warranty support is this?

If I don't call or send email, I don't know what is happening.

It is quite frustrating it takes more than 5 weeks (atm), to deliver an inverter as a Warranty.

I really would like someone to take ownership on this case, how long more do I have to wait for the warranty replacement?

Thanks!

Gave up waiting! – After weeks of research by my father & my parents actually going through Solgen I got in touch with them. When I called the sales guy my parents dealt with had gone (only a month had passed) Quote came quickly, that afternoon. However, the follow up and customer service was poor. 2 weeks passed with me telling them 'I want to go ahead' and… Read more

sending emails, waiting, leaving voice messages, waiting. Eventually I gave up and glad I did. I have never felt so undervalued as a customer.

Found another company, friendly, professional, super responsive, T1 panels, expert engineering advice, very competitive price & willing to share research on their products I could follow up on, I gave up on Solgen last Wednesday 19/10/16 after getting the quote 5/10/16 & this Wednesday 26/10/16 my solar system is being installed by Energus & on experience alone so far, I feel 100% better about giving my money to a solar installation company.

Prompt service & receptive to feedback – A mistake in installation a year ago lead to a problem arising from the recent storms. Ovi ensured that it was fixed within 1 business day. More importantly, the electrician, Kane, took on board what the problem was, and used his initiative to devise a better, long term solution. Great to see the quality of the workmanship match the high quality… Read more ·  1

of the products supplied. It doesn't matter how long the panels and inverter are capable of lasting, if installation does not follow 'best practice'. Thank you Ovi and Kane.

Value and service working for us – .We purchased a property where the Solgen Energy Group had installed a solar system. In a highly competitive real estate market, the system’s performance provided a clear differentiation in value in our selection of the property. The owners evidenced the low cost of their energy and spoke highly favourably of Solgen. We have found this to be… Read more ·  1

true for ourselves.

Today we contacted Solgen to obtain more information on the system and the organisation. Varna could not have been more helpful and insightful on the things which mattered to us – using our solar generated power cost-effectively and reducing the cost of our energy bill.

In an increasingly costly energy world, it is assuring to know that we have value and service working for us.

Excellent service – I want to thank the team from Solgen for efficient and informative installation. It wasn't straight forward and they consulted with me at every step. They arrived on time and set to work. Making sure I was informed about aspects of the system before they left. I loved how they cleaned up the mess in my garage.  Show reply