Nicholas K.
Michigan homeowner and DTE customer…
Michigan homeowner and DTE customer here. Spartan Solar/SpartanX left me feeling misled by the sales presentation and disappointed by the installation and follow-through. Our agreement is a 25-year LightReach power purchase agreement, not panel ownership. It starts at $122.77/month, with a 16-cent/kWh solar rate increasing 2.99% annually. DTE charges remain separate. The representative described exported solar as “crossing out” DTE usage and said we would “no longer have a DTE bill.” When my wife specifically asked about paying both companies, his explanation focused on us increasing consumption beyond solar production. But under DTE’s Michigan inflow/outflow program, WHEN you use electricity matters. Excess daytime solar earns a lower credit than the full retail rate charged for electricity drawn later. Producing close to your annual usage does not automatically eliminate DTE charges. We were also discouraged from adding a home battery. The representative quoted $14,000 and said, “I don’t think that’s worth it yet,” because prices were falling. The discussion centered on outage backup, and I acknowledged we had a generator. What was not made clear was storage’s separate role in everyday savings: keeping daytime solar for evening use instead of exporting it for less and buying electricity later at retail rates. A generator does not solve that mismatch. Batteries have costs and do not automatically pay for themselves. But before steering us away from one, Spartan should have shown us TOTAL costs with and without storage based on our usage patterns. To be fair, the paperwork DOES disclose inflow/outflow billing and two bills, and the representative briefly acknowledged a lower return for excess power. My complaint is that the spoken presentation repeatedly framed this as replacing DTE with cheaper electricity. I was also told excess power would be refunded in April at 16 cents/kWh, which does not match DTE’s current credit-bank explanation. The roughly $77,000 in projected 25-year savings depended on assumed DTE rate increases, including 6% annually in the long-term comparison. Those are projections, not guarantees. Installation brought more problems. Tracking showed Orlando while our home is in Michigan. Scheduling messages were confusing, and timely clarification was lacking. Cutting and drilling locations were not adequately explained, preventing me from protecting belongings. Mortar and dust were left behind, plus black sealant on a freshly painted wall that I scrubbed myself. Attic storage panels were cut without discussion, with removed pieces and wood shavings left over my belongings. Discarded zip ties, metal, and wire were left around the property, including the backyard our dogs use daily. Monitoring initially showed one panel producing nothing. A crew later returned without advance notice, leaving my wife, home alone, to receive two unfamiliar workers needing access inside. That should have been scheduled. We had two project managers within weeks. Since the handoff, replies have been limited. Monitoring has shown disconnection and no production, without clear answers about why the shutoff was left off, what approvals remain, or when operation should begin. Qcells support has been more responsive than Spartan. I understand inspections take time. That does not excuse poor communication, unannounced visits, or installation debris. Keep copies of sales presentations, projections, and messages, as I have. I retained a transcript of our sales conversation. Michigan homeowners should insist on written TOTAL solar-plus-utility costs, with and without storage, based on their utility and usage patterns. Clarify conflicts with the contract before signing. I am not claiming a full year of measured financial losses. I am saying the sales explanation left me with a materially different understanding of this commitment, followed by unacceptable cleanup and poor communication. I cannot recommend Spartan/SpartanX.