Photovoltaic plant by Norddeutsche Solar - Experiences?

Is this satire? Media are jumping on it? 50% of the craftsmen who built my house don’t even have an online presence, let alone Google reviews.

Nowadays, a company doesn’t survive long if it doesn’t deliver good work. Everything ends up on the Internet immediately, and (local) media also jump on it. As long as there isn’t a new company with basically the same name or manager every month, many people are watching (and have to) the quality. And even if there are negative reviews, you should read them sometimes. A lot is rated negatively. Often the company isn’t to blame or the customers just imagine something different.
If you have customers who believe that they put a few panels on the roof and are completely self-sufficient even in winter – that’s just not going to happen. But no provider can be blamed for that.
Have you already gotten a quote from Norddeutsche Solar, or are those all different companies now? Apparently, you can also get a quote online there; it’s pretty quick. I wanted to try it, but unfortunately it only works with a German address.

I wouldn’t agree that craftsman businesses are strongly dependent on their internet presence. Or maybe it depends on where, but in rural areas that’s definitely not the most important point. Word gets around about who does good work, and often it just depends on who has time, because in many areas there’s a shortage of all kinds of craftspeople anyway, and if you need something done quickly, you can’t always pick a favorite if he’s just fully booked.
So far, I’ve never researched a craftsman on the Internet and then hired him, but always through the property management or neighbors, if it was in apartments, or simply people known from the area if it was about a house. It’s still true that you have to be good to be successful in the long run, but that’s nothing new either. Word gets around when someone hasn’t done good work or charges way too much, etc. But generally, I’m not very susceptible to online reviews; I prefer to ask around locally.

I requested quotes from various providers; I just wanted to have a good and realistic comparison between several and also exact information and listings of services. In this case, I did actually research and read up on the Internet, but I also won’t decide rashly if I’m not sure yet.

Is that satire? The media are falling over it?
50% of the craftsmen who built my house don’t even have an online presence, let alone Google reviews.

They don’t have to take care of the online presence themselves either. On all the review platforms, reviews can be created even if the company doesn’t advertise their business there. That’s all done by the customers.
Which company doesn’t have Google reviews nowadays? Then you just have them deleted, but that doesn’t come from the company; the customers (and basically anyone) can do that without the company’s consent.
The "media" are either local community magazines or, at most, local broadcasters – they won’t report nationwide about a company that installed a photovoltaic system at a kindergarten. But if the local kindergarten got a new photovoltaic system, then it’s also in the community magazine (or at most in the newsletter).

I wouldn’t agree with you regarding craft businesses depending heavily on their online presence. Or maybe it depends on the location, but in rural areas that is certainly not the most important point. Word gets around about who does good work, and often it just depends on who has time at the moment because in many regions there is a shortage of all kinds of craftsmen anyway, and if things need to be done quickly, you can’t always choose a favorite if they’re simply fully booked.
So far, I have never researched a craftsman online and then hired them, but always gone through the property management or neighbors when it was related to apartments, or simply people locally well known when it concerned a house. It’s still true that you have to be good to be successful in the long run, but that’s nothing new. It also gets around if someone didn’t do a good job or charged way too much, etc. I’m generally not very susceptible to internet reviews; I prefer to ask around locally.

I got quotes from different providers, just to have a good and realistic comparison among several and accurate details and listings of the services. In this case, I did actually research online and educated myself, but I also won’t decide hastily if I’m not yet sure.

In rural areas, you don’t have 10 new companies every week, you have your businesses that have sometimes existed for generations. It’s then difficult for completely new companies to establish themselves. Precisely because the people on site have had good experiences with those companies for many years and more or less know all employees personally.
But who causes problems? Those are companies that suddenly appear and offer some bait deals.
Those are not the companies that have been around for many years. With those, you know what you get.

But if the local kindergarten got a new photovoltaic system, then that would also be mentioned in the municipality’s magazine (or at least in the newsletter).

In the municipal newsletters I know, however, the company that did the work would not be listed. So I basically understand what you mean, but here in the countryside there are definitely plenty of craft businesses that have little or nothing to do with the internet. But yes, maybe the municipal magazine as well, but not in the form of reviews. And reviews don’t come in droves either if the company doesn’t explicitly ask for them.

In rural areas, you don’t get 10 new companies every week; you have your businesses that sometimes have been around for generations. It’s difficult for completely new companies to establish themselves there. Precisely because the people on site have had good experiences with these businesses for many years and probably know almost all the employees personally. But who causes problems? It’s the companies that suddenly show up and offer some kind of bait deals. These are not the companies that have been around for many years. With them, you know what you’re getting.

Yes exactly, that’s what I mean. And precisely these companies don’t rely on reviews or define themselves strongly by them, so I try to inform myself in other ways because for me personally that is more helpful and makes more sense. That really hits my point exactly, that you might find the classic, decades-old businesses less if you only look at the internet and reviews. That’s exactly what I want to avoid. So I think we agree more than I thought, haha.

I had a hard time with the topic as well, since photovoltaics is not a subject that already has a 40-year operating history. Even a well-established craft business might have been good in the past, but if the craftsman does not keep up with the times, he might have missed the state of the art.

Whether Google reviews are always objectively accurate or whether the 5 stars come from 10 reviews by relatives/acquaintances/employees or whether these are hundreds of purchased reviews is not always ascertainable.

I also talked to neighbors about their photovoltaic installers, etc. However, I found that it is a difficult subject because everyone has different habits, consumption, and priorities, etc. As I see it now after the first 4 months based on actual numbers, for example, our decision against a storage system was correct, even though it hurts to buy electricity expensively while selling it cheaply half a day later. The neighbors, on the other hand, swear by their storage system. Judging by the offer, it actually cannot be economically worthwhile. For me, it was an economic consideration that also had to be measured against other system types. For the neighbors, it was not.

Storage is usually a wash and more for the good feeling. It may be slowly changing due to new regulations and hardly any compensation anymore. I want one but know that it is probably more of a non-event. For that, however, I will build the system myself.