Reviews
Don't just take our word, hear what our customers have to say.
Kat in Honolulu
HECO bill reduced from $300 to $27
Kat was ready to start saving money on her monthly electricity bill so she reached out to Mālama Solar for a quote. She explains her experience starting with her initial consultation through final installation. Kat was able to finance her system as well as take advantage of state and federal tax incentives. From the point of signing her paperwork, Mālama took care of everything. She was especially pleased with the team of project coordinators who kept her informed at every step.
Kat went from paying $300 on her monthly HECO bill to just $27 after her system was installed.
Keola in Manoa
Kick back and relax with low energy costs
Keola from 102.7 switched to solar so he didn’t have to worry about using his air conditioning at home. Tune in to Da Bomb to hear him tell his experience getting solar with Mālama Solar.
#1 Solar Provider in Hawaii
BJ Kealaiki2023-06-24 From salesman Austin to installation crew (Jay and his crew), I have zero negative feedback throughout this whole process. Definitely a company you can rely on to get your solar needs analyzed and installed. Mahalo Malama Solar. Jody Haynes2023-06-16 Long review. TLDR; Malama Solar has excellent customer service and average prices. My house uses about 2,000 kW a month (about $850 average monthly bill), so we needed a large system to get us to zero. We started with sunrun since they're endorsed by Costco. Their reps are nice enough. Their price is not. We were quoted 56 Hanwha Q-Cells (the 2nd best panels available. First is LG but they are not warrantied for salty air) panels, 4 inverters, 4 batteries. A system size of 22.40 kW which gave us an offset of 142%. The large offset is due to living in Kaneohe, so between the rain and shortened solar hours, we would still produce a fair amount in winter. The price for all this was $174,687. A 25 year loan at 4.99% brought our payments out to about $740 a month, and that's with applying our full tax credit to the loan. If we didn't, the monthly would be $1,056. A bit eye-watering. I reached out to Tesla Solar, RevoluSun, and Malama Solar. Tesla Solar was the cheapest. I don't have access to the quote anymore, but the build was about the same as sunrun but with more panels since Tesla uses Tesla panels. Tesla panels do not produce as much per panel. Their price tag was about $85,000, nearly half of sunrun's quote. You will get frequent emails about completing steps of the process if you do not do them within a certain timeframe. I found the local rep less than helpful in answering my questions. RevoluSun did not call me during our scheduled time nor anytime after, so I did not move further with them. Finally, we have Malama Solar. The process starts with a few questions on their website, and you get a very rough quote and a Google Maps image with panel location overlaid on your house. The next day I had a presentation of our actual proposal. She was very thorough during her presentation and answered all my questions. She even steered us away from some less than favorable options. We were quoted 46 Hanwha Q Cells (same as sunrun), 2 inverters, and 3 Tesla PowerWall batteries. A 16.79 kW system. I do not have the quote anymore, but the offset was about 110 to 120%. This came out to $113,000, and this was offered with a 3.84% APR for 25 years. The payments with full tax credit application would be $437, almost half our monthly bill! The full amount without the credit would be $625 which is still less than our current. I asked the same questions about the roof and shed, and Malama Solar was able to work with us to fit all the panels on the new section of roof. They also were able to design the equipment location without moving the shed. With all these options, we went with Malama Solar. Their friendly and responsive customer service made up for not being the cheapest option. Permitting was a breeze since they took care of that entire process, and we chose customer self supply (CSS) (no feeding excess to the grid, what you make is yours). Once all our ducks were in a row, installation was scheduled for 2 weeks later. Malama Solar sends you a video to watch to understand what to expect during installation. We only had to move our cars out of the garage for equipment storage (panels, inverters, etc.) and clear the area where the inverters and batteries were going to be. Every person seemed happy and friendly, and they were more than willing to answer any questions and explain the different parts of the system. Due to the size of our system, all the equipment took two days to install, and day three was hook up day. They have to turn off the power to connect the PV system to the main panel, but that lasted less than an hour. The crew setup the monitoring portion including firmware updates and all the other technical stuff. Before they left, they showed us on the app our home use and solar generation, and on a partly cloudy day, we were at 12kW producing and using about 3kW. Hoo Brown2023-06-14 Huge Mahalos to Braddah Patrick and his crew Kaluna, Mycah, Keoni, and Dan. They showed outstanding service and professionalism at my home today. They showed my family and I what truly Malama solar stands for and really appreciate the Aloha. Thank you again Braddah's and proud that i went with Malama Solar. Bernard Graner2023-06-09 This review is regarding the folks who are out in the field doing the hard work. Bravo to the crew who came to my house today. Shawn Little, superintendent. A very kind and personable person. Sounds like he could do an entire install by himself, top to bottom. He supervises and interjects if needed. Kaluna, electrician. Busted his okole in the hot sun all day to make sure everything was right for me. Delivered an excellent final presentation/explanation of my equipment. Kean, electrician. Quiet, kind, and just works. I mean a real, old-fashioned worker. Knows his stuff too. Dan, rooftop installation. Humble, quiet, just works. Had all 12 panels up by 1:00. Keoni, rooftop installation. Humble, quiet, just works. Had all 12 panels up by 1:00. First guy on the job, very friendly, eased my concern about making sure my roof was going to remain water tight. I recommend Malama Solar, and suggest you ask for this crew specifically. They probably will say something like "all our crews are just as good," as office/admin tends to do, but I'm pretty sure as the customer they will accommodate you if you insist. It just may take longer for your install because of scheduling. Kapua Silva2023-05-28 This is the best solar company out there in Hawai’i. They are very professional, great customer service and locally owned on O’ahu but has an office here in Keaukaha. We rather support local businesses since COVID and we’re glad we found Malama Solar. Brandon met with my husband and I in our garage and walked us through the entire process and answered all our questions. The entire process was fast, painless and also gave us clarity. The permitting and HEC took the most time to get approval before installation but Cheryl and Ella were awesome in communication and following up with me on the next steps which made it stress less and care free. Diedrick was so wonderful during installation and a very hard worker even though he was short handed he got it done. We were home during the installation and he was very respectful to not to be intrusive. I feel so wonderful for choosing Malama Solar then the other businesses out there and will recommend them to anyone. Communication is a must and I knew every step of the process from signing the contract to permitting and getting approvals to installing the system to maintenance and servicing the system. Most companies are focused on just getting the work done and skipping out but not these guys, Malama Solar don’t, cuz dea mo’ bettah! My Volleyball Lyfe2023-05-25 Working with Malama Solar was a breeze. Jay and his team were professional, knowledgeable and super helpful. They communicated with me the entire time on what was going to happen, what they needed to do and did an all around great job! It was fast and efficient, everything looks great!!! Matt, who is a part of the team went above and beyond when he saw that our water solar panels were in really bad shape and how dangerous it potentially was. Then he went as far as to check out our hot water system, with his past expertise in the area, he was able to tell me the problem and even give me options on what we could do to fix. On top of it all, he is saving us money on our water bill that we didn't realize we were paying. I would recommend Malama Solar to anyone looking to install or upgrade. What's more is they are a local company, support local!!! THANK YOU JAY, MATT & LEE!!! Arona Amosa2023-05-24 Malama Solar is the way to go! In the beginning of our process, we ran into some issues with Sunnovas emailing system which almost took us off the hook.That is when Karson, our sales representative, reeled us back in with reassurance that the finish line was near. On May 22nd, 2023, Jay and his crew showed up to our house to begin the installation of our system. They were very professional and respectful. They did a great job with informing us about any changes that were necessary. The work they completed was exceptional and one of the best things about them was how clean they kept the work area(we've worked with messy "contractors" prior). Today May 23rd, 2023, our system is up and running and we are extremely happy with the final results. A locally owned company that provides honest work is not common, so I'd like to thank Malama Solar, Karson, Jay and the crew for helping my family GO GREEN! - DA AMOSAs Ted Lunasco2023-05-20 All I can say is Jay and his crew of installers were awesome! Highly recommended! Installers are skillfully trained and master at their art! Not to forget Abner and Daniel who are the sales guys! What and awesome experience! Also a big mahalos to Vivian from the office. All in all everyone kept us informed. Thank you!🤙🏽🤙🏽🤙🏽 Edward Nuuanu2023-05-19 If you are considering getting solar, I would 100% recommend Malama Solar for your solar energy system. Ke’ali’i Mahoe was my sales representative and he went above and beyond to make sure that my experience with Malama Solar not to stressful. He made sure that all permits and documents were updated, even with DHHL, he recommended CJ’s roofing (Charley) to repair my roof for a more reasonable price, 100% recommend CJ’s roofing, and he always kept me informed. When it was time to schedule the installation, I was contacted by Virginia (I think that was her name) and she confirmed my installation date and sent me an instructional email of what to expect when the installation crew arrives. The day before my scheduled date I received a reminder via email. The crew arrived as scheduled, contacted me of recommendations and finished installation with no problems. I am very happy with the job that Malama Solar has done from start to finish. Mahalo Ke’ali’i and mahalo Malama Solar!!Load moreGoogle rating score: 4.9 of 5, based on 116 reviews