FreeWorld Solar Overview
Based in Chicago, Illinois, FreeWorld Solar provides residential and commercial solar installation to the area. Having over 25 employees, the company is reported to make over $5 million in profit per year, where it donates a portion of its pre-tax earnings to FreeWorld Rebuild projects, which are community solar installations in weather-disaster areas.
FreeWorld Solar Breakdown
FreeWorld Services
- Battery and inverter installation
- Commercial and residential solar grid-tied systems
- Energy monitoring
- Hybrid solar systems
- Roof replacement (shingles/metal/tile/slate)
- Roofing repair (minor)
- Solar financing and leasing options
- Solar panel installation
FreeWorld Products
The company works with the following brands: Q Cells, Silfab Solar, Suntech, Axitec, Trina Solar, Panasonic, Canadian Solar, and SolarEdge. Listed are a few products available by the listed brands.
Solar Panels
Canadian Solar CS3 models: the panels vary between polycrystalline and mono-crystalline silicon. The rated power of these panels ranges from 310 to 390 watts with efficiency rates of 17.83‒19.91%.
Panasonic EVPV and VBH models: Boasting efficiency rates of 19.7‒21.7%, Panasonic’s panels use monocrystalline cells and have a power output with a range of 330‒380 watts.
Q Cells Q.Peak Duo: using mono-crystalline silicon, the panel options available have a 25-year warranty and provide a power output of 365‒390 watts with an efficiency rate of 19.5‒20.6%.
Batteries/Inverters
Enphase: the battery options utilize lithium iron phosphate, have inbuilt inverters, possess 3.50 kWh and 10.50 kWh usable energy, and come with a 10-year warranty. The inverters provided are micro inverters with peak output powers ranging around 245‒384 watts.
Q Cells Q.HOME+: the battery option has a 10-year warranty and uses lithium-ion with usable energy of 18.90 kWh and an inbuilt inverter. In comparison, the inverter is a hybrid battery that has a peak output power of 9.46 kW with a minimum voltage of 360 V and a maximum of 600 V.
Tesla Powerwall: This battery is a lithium-ion type with an energy capacity of 13.5 kWh with a 10-kW peak backup power. It is water and dust resistant with a standard 10-year warranty.
FreeWorld Costs and Installation Process
Costs
Due to location, house size, and energy usage, the average cost of residential solar systems is anywhere between $12,000 and $40,000. FreeWorld has overseen projects that have cost, on average, $24,000.
The company offers solar financing options to both homeowners and commercial properties. The options they provide are solar loans, solar leases, and cash. It should be noted that customers who opt for solar leases are ineligible for some financial incentives and rebates like the federal solar tax credit due to not being the owner.
Installation
The full installation process takes 45‒60 days; shorter depending on the responsiveness of the city permitting process. The installation has five phases to it:
- Solar Analysis: a digital analysis designed to be customized to the customer’s needs, where a custom proposal will be made within two days.
- Site Survey: an inspector visits the site and determines the feasibility of a project.
- Design and Permit: project designs and permits are submitted within a week for city approval, followed by the acquisition of a permit.
- Installation: panels and equipment are installed.
- Commencement: the project is approved and the customer’s power saving begins.
FreeWorld Solar Legitimacy
Despite being in business since 2016, customer reviews and experiences on FreeWord Solar are hard to come by. However, the few available are glowing reviews with most customers specifically praising Joshua Rockers, the company president, who made the installation process pleasant for customers.
- FreeWorld is a North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) certified business. However, according to BuildZoom (BZ) further licenses are not required to be a contractor in Illinois.
- The company is not a Better Business Bureau (BBB) accredited business but possesses an A+ Rating with 0 filed complaints and 0 reviews.
- BZ has the company listed as verified and gives it a BZ Score of 91; placing the business above 63% of 65,686 contractors in Illinois. However, BZ generally only recommends hiring contractors with a score higher than 95.
- In 2021, the company worked on 15 projects.
Maintenance
Satisfied customers report that the company is always available and reachable when assistance is required for any issues or questions. Furthermore, the company is transparent with the entire process from educating the customer to installing the necessary components.
The SolarEmpower View (Conclusion)
FreeWorld Solar’s winning element is its unbiased approach to assisting customers to find the best solar solution for their respective needs. The company combs the best available installers and provides customers with the three best options to choose from.
With that being said, the company’s shortcoming is the lack of information readily available on the business. This issue is compounded by the fact that FreeWorld Solar has two concurrently active websites and it is unclear as to which website is meant to be the official channel as both are up-to-date and repeat a lot of the same information.
An extensive crawl of the Internet also shows that the company has not claimed its business practice on websites that aggregate information on businesses across the U.S. Despite the lack of information, this company comes highly recommended.
| Costs: 9/10 | Quality: 10/10 |
| Customer Satisfaction: 10/10 | Availability of Information: 5/10 |
| Overall: 8/10 | |
