Sun Light & Power

I hired these folks to inspect a roof solar collector system and a tankless hot water heater. They overcharged me for the cursory inspection and didn’t follow up to replace a water filter, as they had promised. I don’t feel at all confident that their inspection was thorough and for what they charged, definitely not worth it.

Great service! After 14 years of solar power, our solar inverter stopped working. We received a fast response and excellent service from Sun Light & Power. Adam came out to assess our system and a week later we were back on the grid.
In comparison, 2 other solar companies (one on 4^th Street) didn’t even bother to call back.

Sun Power & Light installed our 3.5kw system about 10 years ago. They provided terrible customer service back then when solar was still in its early adopter phase — and they actually got worse this year when we called them to check out our system to see if it needed any maintenance or if they they thought an upgrade might be warranted.
10 years ago, they took more than 2 months to file a form that was needed for us to get our $ 15k rebates from the Feds & state solar incentive programs.
This year, they sent out a fellow to do a system audit and review for $ 200 and $ 60 travel fees from Berkeley to our home in Oakland.
When he arrived, he said «oh, I should have brought a ladder to get on your roof» (duh), «oh, I should have brought a technician» (duh again) and he wound up just saying if we thought there was a problem we should call PG&E for an energy audit.
No report. No information. No insights. No service. When we called to attempt to have someone provide an actual visit — all they did was send us a check for a $ 30 discount.
Stay away from these folks. There are plenty of solar folks out there now that actually want your business and not just your money.

I almost just got hit by one of their drivers in a van. He was rude then continued to tailgate me with only inches of space from my back bumper to his front bumper. Very dangerous.

We, ve had both solar panels and a solar hot water system installed… the panels about 2yrs ago and the hot water system just about 6mo ago… we are very happy with everything… the crews that came out knew what they were doing and we have never had this hot water or this amount of hot water before… very very pleased with the results of their work… i wasn, t so sure i wanted to spend all that money but could not be happier how everything turned out and how low our bill is every months… thanks

2 weeks later I had phone call from Gary… apologetic for the misunderstanding about servicing a less-​than-​one year old upgrade installation. Offered to reimburse me for the cost of my calling a plumber to fix a piping leak. Also informed me that their service rate was $ 120 per hour, not $ 180.
By then I had the problem fixed by Diablo Solar.
Recently (April, 2013), Gary called again and asked if I could edit my review. I agreed, and this is it.

In 2006 we decided we needed solar power and contacted our friends who had Sun, Light and Power install solar power for them and were very pleased. Sun, Light and Power came out to our house to look at the layout and determine how much power we could generate. Their people were very professional and thorough throughout their proposal and installation. They answered all of our questions and concerns. Our system last year performed much better than expected and our PG&E bill went from $ 400 per month in 2005 to $ 171 PER YEAR in 2012 even with electricity rates rising many times since 2006. Since October, 2006, we have reduced our CO2 emissions by approximately 155,000 pounds making our environment much greener.

I had them spec out and install a solar system during my house remodel in ²⁰⁰⁸⁄₂₀₀₉. The system they designed was far too small for my energy needs, so despite going through all the expense and hassle I still have a large electricity bill. What’s worse there doesn’t seem to be any way to add on to the system to generate more solar power.
They were not responsive during the construction process. I’d send emails and make phone calls multiple times before I got a response. There was a lot of staff turnover and each time a new person took over I’d have to explain the whole history of the project to them.

Eek! Me thinks not is an understatement! These guys are charlatans. We’ve had nothing but problems, problems, problems throughout the whole, extremely expensive process. Every time they screw up they blame my fabulous contractor. At the end they charged us an extra $ 3K to fix a problem THEY caused and help us over a barrel and wouldn’t finish the job unless we paid.
Notice how all the reviews are years old? I’m thinking they’ve slipped big time in the last few years.
Do yourself a favor and do your research. Go else where.

This company is not closed. Please check their other review

This is a first class company — with a B Corp designation for Social and Environmental Responsibility and have just won the Intelligant Award. Terrific people, Quality work — they walk the talk. I researched solar companies and they really stood out for the values and expertise I want in a solar company.
Suzanne T., San Francisco

Theirs was one of three bids I got for solar electric installation 4 years ago. Not only was the bid really high, but the design they proposed on my SOUTH facing sloped roof was rather impractical: they proposed a whole framework to suspend the panels really high off the roof, adding to the cost of the framework AND the structure needed to withstand the uplift of winds that would otherwise try to pull these off like sails on a boat!
needless to say, i can’t speak for their service and installation quality, for we did not go with their bid.
…all iI can say is that maybe 4 years ago they were not as experienced at providing efficient designs. Maybe they are much better now. For anyone looking to install solar electric, I can unequivocally recommend the investment. Select someone who provides a service plan (maybe even including the occasional glass cleaning of the panels to make them more efficient). If you elect to hire this outfit, make sure that the design they propose is practical.

These guys are amazing.
I called, they came by, they looked at our smallish home in SF, explained exactly what things would cost, and even walked us through options, very patient throughout.
I got my house solar-​powered three years ago, and it’s been pretty fantastic. Everyone from the sales person to the contractors doing the install were smart, loved their jobs, and were really interested in doing what they were doing. Either that or they’re given happy pills each morning.
The work was done very professionally, and they’ve even run interference with PG&E to help me get the best rate so that I can pay my system off in time.
With the price of f*cking electricity going through the f*cking roof, it’s time for you to go solar. You won’t regret it.