Sunternal had completed their solar installation toward the second half of 2022. After they were done many problems emerged. Our roof was leaking despite being seemingly ok, and overall much worse than when they had started their installation. Underneath the panels there were many broken tiles too. And although the electrical installation seemed to work, it produced a little less than the planned 12 kW.
Due to the leaks we had to hire another solar installer to remove the panels, then a roofer to get a new roof, and then the solar installer had to reinstall the panels. Here the summary of their findings on Sunternal’s work in addition to the obviously broken tiles across the roof:
- the solar panels were installed with brackets that used screws that penetrated the underlayment
- where screws penetrate the underlayment they used silicon to just put it between tarpaper and metal, and this did not water proof the penetrations
- many tiles were broken underneath the panels
- no bird protection was installed underneath the panels causing for doves to build their nests underneath and producing about 100 lbs of bird poo
- the electrical connections between solar panel wires were done using wire nuts, which is unacceptable for outside wiring as it leaves wires exposed
- the rails on which the panels were mounted were more than 6ft long, bent and crooked and insufficiently fastened
- panels were not correctly installed on the rails with many screws still loose and adjacent panels leaving gaps in between them
- tiles were not reinstalled correctly so that they hadn’t snapped in and allowed water to penetrate along the edges
- The battery sub-panel wiring to the main panel was of inferior quality in that the wires used were not bent using a wire bender, and as a result left little to no more space and used out breakers
As a result each time it rained water would run underneath the tiles to then find its way through the screw holes into our home, running into the walls between stucco and drywall as well as into the ceiling. The water that then got into the wall would then come out on the first floor above the windows.
Total cost of repairs
In total, getting our roof and the solar installation repaired by genuine and qualified, professional contractors cost us the following as caused by Nexus Energy’s installation based on the contracts sold to us by Sunternal, all invoiced:
| Uninstall solar panels | 3,500 USD | January 2025 | invoiced |
| Install new roof | 47,200 USD | February 2025 | invoiced |
| Reinstall solar panel | 9,800 USD | March 2025 | invoiced |
| Purchased electricity during time of repairs | 490.16 USD | January 2025 to March 2025 | invoiced |
| Total | 60,990.16 USD | ||
This does not account for the agony, stress and time spent on just making things work while our roof was broken during the more than two years of 2022 until 2025 . Also, ever since the solar installer we hired reinstalled the solar panels we produce more electricity. Due to the wire nuts used there had been failed connections that lead the micro inverters to not even show up in our control panel.
Final thoughts
Sunternal and Nexus are a showcase for what to look out for. I would tell the five year younger me today to not sign a contract with an arbitration clause but rather go to court, to document everything in pictures, written text and preferably sworn affidavit (which we have as well), movies and phone recordings, to Include everything in the contract and definitely suggest a clause that final payment is made only after the weather permitted an opportunity to test the installation as any solar installation affects the roof in some way. How else would you ever know if your roof is still intact without being able to actually look underneath the panels? Water damage from the roof you only learn about after it is too late and water has long since penetrated into the building.
Feel free to share this page with anyone and everyone you feel could benefit from our learning experience.
All rights reserved, UCC 1-308
© 2025. This independent site is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sunternal Solar or Nexus Energy Systems.