Like the eponymous giants of Greek mythology, Titan Solar Power is a large company rising in the ranks, expanding its network of contracting services across the United States. However, something is amiss. Amid claims of poor communication, physical damage, brutal working hours and outright lies, will this once-mighty solar installation company finally topple?
What Is Titan Solar?
PM&M Electric got its start in 1986 and became Titan Solar Power in 2013. The contracting company partners with solar dealers and sales companies, installing their panels in residential areas.
Titan is headquartered in Mesa, Arizona. In 2015, the company had 15 installation crews and only served this state, but it grew rapidly in the past eight years. It now operates in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas and Utah. Its website claims it’s coming soon to Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio and Tennessee.
The burgeoning business has won numerous awards. Solar Power World listed it as No. 1 on its 2021 World’s Top Residential Solar Contractors list. It also gave Titan the prime spot on the Top Solar Rooftop Contractors list for 2018, 2019 and 2021.
In 2020, Titan ranked number 337 on Inc. 5000’s list of fastest-growing companies and was first in the Phoenix Business Journal’s 2017 list of largest Phoenix-area solar installers.
How Does Titan Solar Compare to Other Companies?
Titan is a contracting company that specializes in installing solar panels. This is its main focus.
Many other large solar companies, such as Sunpower and Tesla Solar, manufacture their own panels in addition to installing them. Tesla also installs solar roofs that replace traditional shingles with small photovoltaic panels. ADT Solar partners with a roofing company to perform roof repairs before installing panels. Sunrun solar is another company specializing in installations, but it also offers no-extra-cost maintenance.
Titan Solar Power’s services are fairly limited compared to other companies, so you’d think it would focus on doing the best job possible. However, it has its good and bad points.
What Titan Is Doing Well
Titan Solar Power promotes the use of renewable energy. As of 2021, only around 2% of the world’s energy came from solar power — that number needs to grow to halt the effects of climate change. Solar panels add around 4% value to the price of a home, so Titan is also boosting property values where they work.
Titan’s website boasts that the company has completed over 80,000 projects and prides itself on making solar energy easy to understand and financially accessible. Titan also installs emergency electrical backup power systems.
A portion of all the company’s profits goes to seven charitable organizations, including the Phoenix Children’s Hospital, the Lupus Foundation of America, GivePower and Feed My Starving Children.
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The Dark Side of Titan
Many disgruntled customers have recently reported Titan Solar Power to the Better Business Bureau (BBB), which received 668 formal complaints about the company in the last three years. They allege that the company provides poor customer service, ignoring pleas for help with nonfunctional solar panels, unfinished jobs and sky-high electric bills.
Titan Solar Power features a dozen one-star Google reviews from the last month alone, with customers citing project delays, roof damage, broken air conditioners and unresponsive sales representatives who never answer the phone. Some mention the company spilling cement on their house or putting holes in the walls. Others assert that Titan’s poor installation jobs didn’t pass county inspections.
Additionally, the company’s employees have lodged complaints regarding unprofessionalism, nepotism, a lack of training, poor pay and bad communication. Several have attested they work up to 17 hours per day, including their commute. They also cite an unresponsive human resources department and terrible midlevel to upper management, claiming the business cares more about its appearance than its workers.
The BBB submitted a request to Titan on July 26, 2022, to address the complaints. Titan responded on August 1 that it plans to call customers after each phase of solar panel installation and claimed it never promised utility bill savings or reductions in electrical usage.
Due to Titan’s apparent unprofessionalism, the company may be playing a negative role in the solar panel market. Consumers with a bad experience with solar power are likely to share their dissatisfaction with friends, family and neighbors, turning others off to the renewable energy industry. The company must either shape up or step out of the spotlight.
An Uncertain Future
Although Titan reassured the BBB it would address its negative customer experiences, the complaints keep rolling in. Because the company offers such limited, specialized services, homeowners have many other options when looking for a solar panel installer — and they might start turning away from Arizona’s self-made contracting business.
It’s time for Titan to overhaul its customer service department and rethink how it does business. Otherwise, a massive strike might finally take it down, just like its namesake.
