BTW, I'm not the other Guy C. with a Yelp review on Solar Technologies! My wife and I live in the Santa Cruz mountains, surrounded by big trees. I'd held off even considering a PV system, figuring that our location wasn't appropriate for such things, for years. Last year (2015) I started seeing on line estimator websites that would look at our location using Google Earth and similar Earth Imaging technologies. On a whim, I tried one and was surprised to see that we're actually in a pretty good spot, after all. I tried a couple of other sites and got similar results. After discussing this with my wife, I contacted several of the major solar installers whose ads we'd heard on the radio, and got further information, including sizing of systems, and estimated costs. I also did research on the technologies that are available, and decided that I preferred the panels manufactured by SunPower on the basis of efficiency, warranty, and construction (I'm an electrical engineer by profession, and have some preferences in that area!). They are also based in San Jose, which is a plus for me. I saw that SunPower was offered by Solar Technologies, who has a base in Santa Cruz, so I did some research on them, too. At the time, they had 100% positive feedback on Yelp, which was also a big selling point for my wife and myself. After contacting Solar Technologies, getting the usual estimate by use of Google Earth, we had a consultant, Greg Ginner come out and do a site inspection. On the basis of our conversation, we got a quote for a 6.7KW (peak) system, using twenty 335W SunPower panels, Solar Edge inverter and P400 optimizers, which is overkill for our present power usage, but we're hoping to purchase an electric vehicle(s) in the future, so we want the extra capability. The price quoted wasn't the lowest of the quotes we got, but it was in line with the others, and again, the 100% positive feedback for ST was the clincher. We'd already gotten an Home Equity loan at a ridiculously low rate for a bathroom remodel, so we were able to purchase our system outright. we discussed all of this with Greg, and got answers to our remaining questions. We signed the papers in mid-October. Greg kept us mostly in the loop about scheduling, especially since I had worries about changes to Net Metering that were looming. We were promised an installation before the end of the year, as long as the weather cooperated. Of course, this was a particularly stormy and rainy winter (fortunately!) and our install was pushed back to late January 2016. Once they started, however, the crew dropped off the panels and other equipment one day, and over the next couple of days did a neat, careful installation. The inspector came a week or so later, found one minor problem involving a mis-seated gasket at the top of the cable conduit from the rooftop to the inverter which allowed some water to collect in the inverter housing. He went to the roof and fixed it quickly. The county inspector also looked at everything, including the smoke and CO alarms I had had to install quickly prior to his visit since the alarms we'd been using for the ten years we've been here weren't up to current laws. The system was turned on, and even in late January, the electric meter on our house was going backwards!!!! We have the Solar Edge monitoring installed, so we can keep an eye on performance. This is the most problematic of the components of this system... My experience is that the monitoring is sporadic, we'll be current to the last quarter hour one day, and a week later, we won't have any record of power production for a week. Solar Edge was having some server issues back in February or March when I contacted them about the problem, but the problems come and go. At least the system is working fine otherwise. I can push a button on the inverter to see what the current power production is, and I can see the PG&E meter going backwards, even with the computers, TV and furnace running. We've had ~$10 electric bills since last February, down from ~$130 to ~$150 per month. All in all, Greg and the crew did a great job on our system. No roof leaks seen, even in this past rainy winter. While we've never seen a full output from our system, (likely due to the orientation of our panels necessitated by the size and direction of our roof), we've had 35 to 45KWh days pretty much every day since spring, and as of this writing, roughly 4.5MegaWattHours since the system went live! We'd recommended Solar Technologies to some friends of ours in the North Bay, and they are very happy with their system. We even got our $500 referral bonus! We recommend these guys, very highly!! read more

After flailing around with three "reputable" solar companies (suffering outright fraud with one of them), I chanced on Solar Technologies. Sales rep Jarrett McGuckin was a no-nonsense fountain of information, spooning it out in a way even a technological ignoramus like me could understand. We purchased a system outright, in order to enjoy the tax benefits, as well as certain advantages such as paying off the system in a few years and being better able to sell our home, when we decide to, without encumbrances, such as a solar panel lease. We turned the system on this week, and our Internet connection allows us to monitor our savings by the hour. read more

My experience with Solar Technologies has been fantastic! From the first phone call to the purchase to the installation, they have provided excellent guidance all the way. Jarrett was incredibly well informed, patient, and open. The whole process was very transparent. The installers were very nice, and flexible as to the look of the final product. I would recommend ST without reservation to anyone considering solar. One of the best advantages is that they are local, and can provide service quickly. read more

I'm very happy with Solar Technologies. They provided me with plenty of information, great financing options, and did a fantastic job with installation. They were ahead of schedule, and my solar is performing better than I expected. read more

After interviewing three solar installation firms, although the installation price was the same for all three, Solar Technologies both gave us both the best energy production rate (130% of our current annual need) and specified higher quality panels. We also opted to install an inverter system that provides emergency energy if and when PG&E lets us down. None of the other two installation firms even offered such an inverter option. read more

These guys are great, Jarrett McGuckin has been an excellent rep to deal with. Knows his business and responds to inquiries in a timely manner. I wish other agencies who work on our house were as squared away. Solar Technologies is flat out a good company with superb people working for it. They were flexible with install dates and times which helps when everyone in the house has a goofy schedule. Highly Recommend, Matt Mitchell read more

Excellent, professional service. This crew is experienced and pleasant to work with.

Great company to work with. Every employee we had contact with was knowledgeable, helpful and quickly responsive to our needs. They efficiently handled all the permitting with the county and PGE and always kept us informed about where we were in the process. The actual upgrading of our electrical service and installation of the panels was done by a friendly, hard working crew in a day. It looks beautiful and is working very well. Thanks a quick lesson from Keenan, we now can monitor our power generation and our power usage. Very cool! read more

Just had my Solar put in by Solar Tech- I just wanted to thank the team for a great job last week. The team were very professional, knowledgeable and provided courteous service from initial Sales contact to complete service delivery. The system is really great as it provides full visibility over the internet using an envoy communications manager to show each individual panel output and all the telemetry you could possibly want to see your systems output to the Grid. Go Solar..... read more

These guys are the best. The entire experience was awesome from top to bottom. Ian - the rep - was thorough in explaining the process, what made them different from others, and totally professional. Noah - the project manager - was also great. Highly recommended! read more

Excellent company to go Solar with. They made and kept all their promises. My solar was installed ahead of schedule, they kept me informed and my PGE bill is almost zero each month for Electricity read more

they installed our solar. over 3 years our backup has changed how it works. it seems to not be working as well as it did at first. is Solar Techonologies interested? HELL NO. read more

It's been a couple of months since we got the final inspection done and turn-up, and all is well. The process wasn't quick (from contract until turn-up was about 5 months), but a lot of the delays were inspection woes likely due to some very particular city rules and an ultra-meticulous inspector. Allison, Marina, and crew did a fine job from contracting through coordination of inspections - as a homeowner there was a lot of waiting and some delays, but other than making sure the side gate was unlocked when work was to be done, it was hands off other than a few forms to fill out. There is a premium for SunPower equipment, so if your metric is $/kW of rated system output, you'll likely get better quotes - but we have been very pleased with what was installed and would highly recommend Solar Technologies. read more

Nothing but positives in our interaction with Solar Technologies. Communication was clear, timely, consistent, and easy - by phone, email, and in person. The entire process of our solar installation for our home was handled to our satisfaction and with minimal effort on our part. Anything that they were able to take care of on our behalf, they did. We're all up and running and happy we chose Solar Technologies. read more

We are very happy with the system that Solar Technologies installed on our roof. Everyone was great to work with, and the system performs as expected. I appreciated the low pressure way that Keenan worked through the options with us and the courtesy and responsiveness of the crew. I particularly liked the way they helped deal with the city programs and policies. read more

We have had solar panels on our home for about 9 years and have always been able to easily access the Envoy/Enphase web page to see how they are doing. In Dec. of 2019, I signed up with Solar Technologies for new inverters, which they installed early February. They told me a new Envoy code would need to be set up for that unit to report the solar panels' output. They also left behind a box, but said nothing about it. When I wondered why I couldn't read my panels' output, I called them and was told they'd forgotten to install the Envoy unit. Its installation took many repeated visits, with the installer saying she'd never had such difficulty getting the Envoy to "find" my modem so that it could report to the internet. Finally, the modem was "found" by the Envoy unit, but afterwards the internet for our house would be dropped about every 15 minutes, but only when the sun was up. I made calls to my local internet provider, who got AT&T out here to replace the wire from the pole to our house and install a new outside phone box. The internet continued to drop, so I talked more with my internet provider and did every test that they told me to do with my computer, the modem, and the wires, using two different computers, both of which are less than a year old. Beginning March 27, I was in daily e-mail consultation with Solar Technologies, who after a few days told me that it was now MY job to contact Enphase/Envoy, even though S.T. had installed this unit! When I e-mailed the Enphase/Envoy people, they told me they'd never before encountered an Envoy unit causing the internet to drop. After a week of e-mailing E/E, the only thing that E/E person could suggest was for me to change the unit's reporting to being only 4 times per day. Prior to this very tardy response, I'd written them several times for a week, saying that this task is not possible on my end. Then the E/E person was not able to change the reporting times on his end, either! My internet provider told me that the Envoy unit used low wattage and could not be causing the problem. Yet the problem persisted (with the internet being dropped about every 15 min. during daylight hours), regardless of whether I was accessing the internet via wi-fi or a direct cable from the modem. At the suggestion of my provider, I shut down the Envoy unit (but not the solar panels), and then I had NO internet dropping problems for 6 days--until I turned the Envoy back on after the Enphase rep had told me to do so. More time wasted by me, more tests, more e-mails and phone calls. At 5 pm on Fri., May 8, a new modem was delivered (per my request) to our home, and I installed it easily, getting the wi-fi up and running for every device--except for the Envoy, which obviously needs to know the new modem's wi-fi code. When I wrote to E/E to request his assistance with that task, his one-sentence reply was for me to consult the on-line manual, which I'd been doing for over 10 days. On my "Enlighten Manager" page it's impossible for me to change the setting on it from "Ethernet" to wi-fi. I reported this fact to the E/E rep on Fri. evening, but by 4 p.m. today, May 11, I've still NOT heard back from him. The lack of either correct installation or problem solving by BOTH Solar Technologies AND Envoy/Enphase has left me with the strange "choice" of either 1) not knowing how much and how well my solar panels are producing; or 2) having the internet drop at our home every 15 min. while the sun is out. In these past FIVE weeks, I've spent over 50 hrs. of my own time trying my best to solve a problem that showed up after I (foolishly, apparently) allowed Solar Technologies to install the new inverters and the new Envoy unit. I caution other consumers to be very wary of these two companies, who've created this problem with their new devices, left me to do most of their work and testing, and then abandoned me. I shall be writing the Calif. PUC and other agencies regarding my problem. read more

We are so glad that we chose Solar Technologies to come out to assess and install the solar panels on the house. They are very professional from the initial consultation to the scheduling to the installation and to the followup. Their price is competitive. It is complete end to end service. Our sales rep, Keenan even came out after one year to do a followup check up on the panels and the inverter. We are very happy with the service and the product. Highly recommended. read more

We are very happy to have finally gone solar. After doing a lot of online research, meeting with solar company representatives and asking around the workplace, we decided to go with Solar Technologies. It has been a seamless process, with good communication, prompt work, competent workers, and quality product. Lucky us got to work with Keenan Shaw. There wasn't a question he couldn't answer. His grasp of the science behind solar electricity as well as his understanding of the business end of things is excellent. All the workers were friendly and motivated. It was a very stressless process. We love tracking our energy production, and look forward to seeing how much we can reduce our carbon footprint. I appreciate the company putting all the parts together. They are well organized and from all reports, will stand by their work. Thank you Solar Technologies! read more

We just had Solar Technologies install 32 panels on our two story roof. Usually when we contract with someone they promise the moon and deliver at about 50%. Solar Technologies promised the moon and delivered the solar system! They went out of their way to make sure everything was first class. They were quick, efficient, extremely polite and they did some additional things to make sure we were ecstatic. They did not take their progress payment which was substantial until they finished a very insignificant item. Keenan Shaw sold the system and he was fabulous. The installation team was first rate, and the project manager was awesome. Never have we had something done on our house that was done so completely and hassle free. Would give then 10 stars if I could! read more

We just completed our solar installation with Solar Technologies. We looked at other providers and Solar Technologies had the most efficient panels that were all black and low profile mounting. The entire process went great. Keenan Shaw was our sales person and fantastic to work with. The installation team arrived at the time they said they would and were very professional, courteous and efficient. I could not be happier with the entire experience. I would highly recommend anyone considering solar to give them a call. read more

We had a tremendous experience with Phil Mickelson.. While we're doing several construction items simultaneously to a new home, this is the only activity that went smoothly start to finish. We got compelling data and superior service to make solar a reality for us. Thanks for taking the pain out of it, from city permits to installation. read more

Solar Technologies was one of the 4 companies I had bid on installing solar for my home. Like all the other companies, they would only offer me one choice of solar panel. I asked about other company's solar panels and was basically ignored and went on to push only one choice in a solar panel, although there are over a hundred manufactures of solar panels. I finally decided to go it on my own and bought the solar panels I wanted based on independent reviews from a wholesale distributor in Scotts Valley, who also hooked me up with a licensed electrician/solar panel installer. I saved over $3000 from the lowest bid I received and got a far superior system with more kw than any company proposed to me. My advice is, do your homework before going solar. read more

Well, I have to admit I was skeptical at first about the whole concept of residential solar power, particularly the zero-down leasing option I was hearing so much about on TV and the radio. I remained a skeptic after obtaining consultations and quotes from a couple of business that seemed they were telling me what I wanted to hear but my intuition told me they were in it purely for the buck. After all, my father taught me early on that if it seems to good to be true, then it probably is. I remained a skeptic until I met with Clint Biddle at Solar Techologies. Clint sat down with me on a Friday afternoon and spent about 3 hours explaining all facets of the technology, the benefits, the potential savings, the pros and cons, and immediately impressed me with this knowledge, professionalism, and honesty. After a couple more meetings and countless questions (many of which I'm sure I asked 2-3 times) I decided to pull the plug and go solar. The entire process was smooth and efficient - Solar Technologies took care of all the paperwork gruntwork, permits, applications, etc etc etc. The installers did an amazing job - clean worksite, courteous, knowledgeable and very sensitive to our needs. Although we are waiting for the final step in the process - PG&E has to come out and change our meter and connect us to 'THE GRID' - we are looking forward to the day when the $350 monthly PG&E bill is a thing of the past! Thank you Solar Technologies! read more

After a lot of review I chose Solar Technologies to install my solar system and they also installed a car charger for my car at the same time. They were great from start to finish. I got a professional bid that explained everything and no high power sales follow ups while I was deciding. After I accepted their bid I was given an outside date for installation and they exceeded that. The installation was done professionally and in only two days. The inspections were completed right away and I am now a PG&E solar customer. I like the look of the Sunpower collectors and they seem to be very efficient. read more

once it was time to get the project going -- i had some delays getting the homeowners association paperwork done -- the solar technologies folks really got things moving. jan was probably the best project manager i've head to deal with. for example, she proactively emailed me when there would be a rain delay, so that just as i was wondering whether the weather would have an impact, i got the answer without actually asking. everything got installed quickly otherwise, and the panels have been producing power, hitch free, for the last couple of months. i highly recommend going with solar technologies! read more