Alternative Energy Systems

The history here is real. The exact CSLB entity is Alternative Energy Systems Inc, license 853351, a current and active corporation with C-10 Electrical and C-46 Solar classifications, issued January 21, 2005 and expiring January 31, 2027, based at 13620 Hwy 99 in Chico. The company timeline starts with founders Lance Mc Clung and Tim Hamor installing their first solar system over Thanksgiving weekend in November 2003; both men remain the license's qualifying individuals and 10 percent or more owners. AES became a SunPower residential Master Dealer in 2013, one of three, won SunPower dealer awards in 2015, 2018, and 2019, and in March 2018 became the North Valley's first locally owned Tesla Powerwall Certified Installer. No publicly disclosable CSLB action appeared on the record when it was read.

One complaint drags the grade down, and it is how the company handled it that matters. BBB rates AES B-, and its stated reason is failure to respond to one complaint. The March 12, 2024 complaint alleges that during a mid-December install a worker sliced through the wire connecting the customer's hot tub, the cut cord sat in pooled water and short-circuited the house, the customer lost a standing freezer and an outside fridge of food, AES workers acknowledged fault after two outlet replacements failed to fix the garage power, and compensation promised by upper management never arrived after almost two months. The status is Unanswered, meaning the business never responded to the dispute. This is a consumer allegation, not an adjudicated finding. But one property damage complaint in three years is survivable; ignoring it is a choice, and BBB priced that choice at a B-.

The remaining evidence is thinner than the 22-year history suggests. A company blog post claims "an exceptional 25-year warranty that covers not only the solar panels but also the components and installation," but no obligor or exclusions appear on that page, and blog copy is not a warranty document. AES appears in none of the three Solar Power World lists reviewed, so volume rests on its own timeline: a Fall 2015 partnership with All Solar Electric of Yuba City to expand into the northern Sacramento area, and a 2022 public works contract covering five Tehama County sites. Worth a quote if you are in the North Valley. Bring two demands to the table: the actual 25-year warranty document, and a written answer on how they handle damage claims, because the one public test of that went unanswered.