StraightUp Solar - Bloomington, Illinois

John B.

It was a good experience. I worked with several people at Straightup and I found each of them to be very competent. Those planning to go with solar should know that the lead time for all the paperwork and assessment of your site takes quite a while. The actual install (12 panels in our case) only took a day and a half. The good thing is that the interaction with the power company, the town for permits and inspections was all handled by the SUS team. In addition to the education about how our solar system works, they also handled the paperwork after the install to get our solar energy credits from the state. They provided information for us to get Federal tax credits as well. SUS was always paying attention to our project, they explained what was needed or going on in layman's terms, and they were very responsive when questions came up or if there were problems. 5 stars to the entire team!

Sarah P.

I cannot express how happy we are with our solar system. The company mentioned our payoff timeline should be around 8 years, and at the rate we are producing, I completely agree with that. Jeff, our project designer/sales guys was informative and very knowledgeable, but never pushy. Then the installation crew just knocked our socks off. The Power Rangers were our crew and the team was incredibly professional. The foreman and rest of the crew were very timely, polite, and communicative. On the one occasion where the timing was slightly off, they made sure we were well informed and answered any questions. The app they utilize for solar output tracking is really cool too, especially if you love data science like I do. All of our state and federal rebates were handled efficiently and most of them actually got back to us quicker than the expected time to pay date. Any time we have people ask us about our system, we give rave reviews about StraightUp Solar and highly recommend them. I don't write a ton of reviews, but these guys definitely deserve an A+!

Mark W.

I went with StraightUp Solar back in August of 2022 and I can't tell you how disappointed I am with them. I worked directly with the original sales person to resolve my issue. I was told that the system they would be installing was sized large enough to generate enough energy credits to cover our electric bills in the winter. I was also told I could easily had additional panels as needed.

After 2 years, I've never come close to producing enough energy to have credits for the winter. So this August, I setup a conference call with the sales person and their manager to discuss the issue.

In the end, they kept insisting I was using more energy than what was originally estimated from my 2021 bills. I talked with Ameren and they verified I was using the same amount of energy each year (2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024).

So I setup another conference call and asked about adding additional panels. They said I couldn't add additional panels without a new inverter ($15,000 to $20,000) and because Illinois just changed how credits work that I wouldn't get the benefit from the new panels.

In summary, they didn't size my solar system large enough to generate credits in the winter and did nothing to resolve the issue. I do not recommend working with StraightUp Solar.

Update 1/14/25:
I've been working with StraightUp Solar for the past few months to get my issue resolved. We were able to come up with a resolution that I'm happy with (adding 4 new panels). I'm changing rating to 3 stars and will change it to 4 stars if the installing and results go well.

Anthony F.

After multiple vendors knocking on my door to sell/lease a solar system for my home, I decide to research various solar companies. There was only one clear choice for me - StraightUp Solar. From my initial contact with Nathan Gwillim (Residental Project Developer) to the entire team involved in the installation, I found a team those sole purpose was to develop a system I had confidence would meet my energy needs. There are numerous news stories about solar systems gone wrong, the underlining story is solar systems gone wrong because of the company they contracted. Do your homework and you will learn why StraightUpSolar is the only choice and the right choice for energy dependence.

Rob J.

I needed snow guards on my solar panels to prevent gutter damage from snow sliding off the panels (again). StraightUp Solar was one of the 3 or 4 solar companies I contacted regarding this. They were the only one who actually responded.

Very pleasant to deal with, I sent them my requirements and pics and diagrams of my panels and they gave me a reasonable estimate. They arrived on the appointment day right on time and were done in just a few hours. Installers were very quick and pleasant.

I live in the far west suburbs of Chicago, a bit outside of their general area. They still did the job even though it meant a long drive for them.

All e-mail correspondence was responded to promptly and in a friendly and professional manner.

We'll see how the snow guards hold up over time, but so far I have ZERO complaints about StraightUp Solar.

Ann S.

Straight Up Solar is a fantastic local business. They are clear about the process and the technical people are the best. Definitely get a quote if you’re thinking about adding solar and/or backup batteries.

Court S.

StraightUp Solar did a fantastic job through the entire process of getting solar on our house. They were extremely communicative and responsive. Workmanship was top-notch with explanations and information provided throughout. Great company to work with to get this installed.

D L.

Having had a great experience with Straight Up Solar and the installation on my own home, I didn't hesitate to recommend a local non-profit use them. Big mistake.

The installation team is stellar. The design team made a mistake, but we were given a refund to compensate for it. Not a perfect situation, but they rectified the mistake, so okay.

But let's talk about rebates...there are no words to indicate how unbelievably frustrating it is to deal with Straight Up Solar. They have dropped the ball time and time again, insisting we need to file documents we don't need to, and re-asking for the same documents again. The project developer provided grossly misleading information about what rebates we qualified for before we signed the contract, and then he actually ghosted me and wouldn't reply to any of my emails asking for a status of the rebates until his management got involved.

Avoid this company at all costs for commercial installations.

(And no, we still haven't seen a dollar of the rebates five months after our system went live.)