Alternative to Brooklyn Solarworks
Hi there,
We are looking at the getting solar on the roof of our landmarked brownstone in Park Slope. We got a quote from BSW. The quote seems very high to me… more than twice the cost of the materials!! Obviously there is some labor involved, but they install this in 2 days …
Even if just as a sanity check – does anyone know of alternative companies that can install Solar on a landmarked property with a flat roof?
shollander91
in General Discussion 3 years and 3 months ago
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RobertGMarvin
in General Discussion 3 years and 2 months ago
A Johnny Walker Red level contractor might be fine. You need to avoid the wood alcohol types 🙂
stevecym | 3 years and 2 months ago
Good for you. Smart man. From what people have said, it sounds like bsw is johnny walker blue. Ysg is johnny red. You want johnny black or green.
shollander91 | 3 years and 2 months ago
Ha – true! I am getting a third guy to quote, expect it to be on the lower end but lets see
stevecym | 3 years and 2 months ago
When someone charges 1/2 of another contractor, the best thing to do is get a third quote.
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 2 months ago
so dennis. you now know what you do about BSW and YSG. you might be tempted to take a lower priced contractor and if you do, i would expect it to go just as others have said – both what my neighbor said and what is on yelp. you might think you’ll get lucky and it will go better but bear in mind, it could also go worse. i would say it has a better chance of going worse because something tells me that if someone can charge 50% less than a proven good contractor, something is wrong.
i have seen this a million times over. when people pick the lower price, they often end up being unhappy. i’ve been called to fix or complete dozens of unfinished jobs that contractors could not complete or abandoned and one thing is common denominator to all of those jobs: the homeowner picked the lowest price. and then they end up unhappy, complaining about the contractor who was their cousin or a friend of the family or someone who they shopped out trying to get the lowest possible price. those homeowners do understand that ALL businesses have problems, some people ar e better estimators (and some are not) and some people manage money better (and some don’t), etc, etc. sometimes the customer falls for a good story (I “had leftover material” or my “guys are standing around doing nothing because its slow”). if a contractor’s price is too low, if he does not have the money or credit to buy a new machine or get the van fixed if something breaks, he is going to short change your job – he is not going to not feed his kid. that is the reality with money.
knowing what you now know, if you go with the lower price and something goes wrong, you have to accept responsibility for that. it is sort of like this, when i worked for buildings, i wanted to pick a lower priced contractor for built in unit. my bosses said “no, this will be on you if they screw it up”. i am not saying the contractor bears no responsibility but if something goes wrong, it becomes your problem – you own it.
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 2 months ago
eman, since the neighbor was a bit young and probably does not know the difference between good and bad service, i was a little skeptical myself.
i often feel that with yelp, people go on there to gripe when things go wrong but do not post when things go right. so let’s take eman’s suggestion of checking YSG’s yelp reviews a step further and compare those to BSW’s (i just did) and that will provide a clearer picture. op, you might want to take a look.
keep in mind, YSG subcontracts. my neighbor said something about the sub contractor that did not sound right, but he did not state anything specific and i do not think he checked them out any further so i cannot say anything. something sounded “iffy”. if i were considering YSG, I would check the sub out, their experience and their insurance and see what you can learn about them.
Lurker | 3 years and 2 months ago
not sure if Brownstoner will post a link, but google angi dot com and YSG solar. https://www.angi.com/companylist/us/ny/new-york/ysg-solar-reviews-6254963.htm. They may be fine, I have no experience with them and people usually only post complaints anyway, but my experience is that with any trade whenever someone is significantly cheaper than the competition, it’s because they either are cutting corners or don’t know what they are doing.
Guest User | 3 years and 2 months ago
read the yelp reviews of YSG….not too wonderful
shollander91 | 3 years and 2 months ago
That is great feedback!! Thank you so much.
Good to see I am not the only one who did the math and concluded that BSW charges TWICE the market price. Could you please get me some contact details for YSG?
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 2 months ago
so i spoke to my neighbor who had solar put on his roof. he told me that BSW was the first company he called as it was easy to find as they have an internet presence. But, their price was double of the people he ended up using, YSG (almost exactly double).
My neighbor is young and not as experienced at doing things around the house as people on this board and he also may not be as discerning as some folks on here would be. He told me YSG was strictly a contractor who subbed the work out to another firm (and i question the professionalism of that firm by a few things he said). He also told me that there were some hic ups. The installation was done in July and the system went operational in late January. There had been a problem with the control box (not the contractors fault, it was a manufacturer issue) and it took some time to get the inspections (con ed did not come until about about the first of the year) and he told me with YSG, he had to chase them to get information (they were not responsive).
I posed this question to him last: “considering the issues with YSG, are you happy with them or would you have preferred to go with BSW if you knew they would have performed better, with no issues and timely start up?” he told me with what he experienced, he “still would not have payed double to go with BSW”.
my neighbor sounds pleased. he was willing to suffer a few issues and save money. some people want top notch service and are willing to pay for it. the issues arise when people who do not want to spend money expect top notch service and the two often do not go hand in hand.
peaceout | 3 years and 2 months ago
We went with Brooklyn Solar works with no regrets. They were fast with installation, applied for all the credits on our behalf and continue to be available whenever we have questions. BSW knows how to install panels on our older homes.
Guest User | 3 years and 3 months ago
And don’t forget you will have to file for any tax credits, rebates and deal with ConEd to get them to change your billing… and good luck if anything goes wrong in the process since no single person bears responsibility other than yourself
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 3 months ago
a couple of things,
dennis, my neighbor had this done i think he was pleased. i will get the name of the contractor today and post.
and this, as a contractor, if i were to do this here, i might be tempted to do what eman suggests. i can pull a few favors, get some people to help me file, i mount all the panels on the roof, i pull all the wire, i even mount boxes where they are needed and i pay an electrician to do the hook ups. i have a lot of experience and training (including formal construction training and electrical training) and i can tell you this: all of this sounds like one giant headache left to people who do this day and day out and dream about it in their sleep.
i will be back with a contractors name as soon as i can-
Guest User | 3 years and 3 months ago
I suggest that you attempt to hire an architect to draw and file plans, an expediter to get landmark approval, a gc to pull a permit, and provide and install the gear, an electrician to file and pull a permit, and do the work required. Compare that to BSW’s price, and I think that your idea that you are being overcharged will be seen to have no basis in reality
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 3 months ago
thank you colonial.
so when i get calls from people in connecticut or northern westchester, i often suggest they find someone further up north, say from Dutchess County or Danbury. that is because all of the business expenses (the insurance and labor) might be less for someone up there as well as their own personal expenses. the elevated cost of living here is just that – it’s elevated across the board for all of us.
if brooklyn solar works is charging more money to do something – there is a reason why they are and it is probably all things that a customer would appreciate anyway like professional management and trained, long term employees who have a good relationship with their boss. keep in mind, these people will be working in your house and around your family and you want people who really care about what they do and the customer relationship.
colonialrevival | 3 years and 3 months ago
As everyone has told you, “overpaying” is not what’s happening. You live, and presumably own property, in one of the most populous and expensive cities in the world. There are expense increases, compared to the burbs, that come with such a context.
shollander91 | 3 years and 3 months ago
All valid points, however the warranty is also provided by the panel manufacturer.
Either way.. just somewhat shocking to see there is no alternative to BSW (which explains their pricing!). A key selling point of putting up these panels is to save money.. to then overpay by 50% feels counterintuitive
Lurker | 3 years and 3 months ago
Outside of NY you can put up solar legally, presumably. Here you can’t–there’s loads of DOB cods and requirements, plus a fire inspection and all sorts of regulations that apply because most buildings are attached, which isn’t often the issue outside the city. Also, and to me this was the final selling point, BSW has been around for what is, in this field, a while so they won’t be fly by night when it comes to honoring a 20 year warranty. It’s like roofing–your 20 year warranty isn’t worth a damn from a small-time individual who is retiring or out of business in 5 years.
andriywww1990 | 3 years and 3 months ago
in short, contractors hate dealing with all of this as much as customers hate paying for it. there is not much we can do about it.
see what eman says. contractors at the top of their game will charge more and one thing you are less likely to hear from them is “i did not think of this so i need more money” (i would be embarrassed if i had to go to a customer with my hand out – telling them that i did not think of something that i do everyday all year long). for contractors to accept that responsibility they have to charge a little more because all jobs have some little thing that can create a hic up that might take a little more time or mean added material or something gets damaged by no fault of their own (yet fewer things get damaged with an experienced crew and guess what, that crew costs more money; again, back to what eman says).