SunStar Energy offered extremely keen pricing and we had a very positive experience all the way along: pre-sales, during the installation and in the follow up period. In April 2016 we just finished our solar project. 5.3kw from 20 Canadian Solar panels with Solar Edge Inverter and power optimizers to handle shade issues. I contacted 5 firms and got 3 quotes on the same basis after site inspections. Two of those offered SunPower panels which may well have slightly better aging performance over Canadian Solar, but the price differential made no sense for me. For the difference in price I can easily add a few more panels in say 5 years and still be way ahead in cost and power produced. SunStar Energy was recommended by a neighbor who had had a good experience several years earlier. Richard Devlin and his small team gave wonderful service and advice all the way through the project. From reviewing our present consumption habits and time of day usage, to introducing me to another good company who would replace the elderly service panel as part of the overall project, to dealing with the Santa Cruz County planners and all the permitting paperwork, Richard offered a fully turnkey solution. Every step of the planning process was explained clearly, how to mount the various components discretely and out of view, where we may want to trim some branches if they cast too much shade in the future etc. Richard helped me move to the best PGE Tier before a deadline even before I selected his firm from the contenders. We agreed the panel layout leaving best room for later expansion in case we can go completely off-grid in the future when battery technology and pricing makes this viable The installation itself turned out to be a complete non-event for the house owner! Richard and his knowledgeable assistant just got on and did their work over just a few days and each day would tidy up afterwards. They showed me the extra mounting components they had added in case of high winds on our ridgetop location. The south facing panels and wiring are virtually invisible from the ground. The installation flew through the county permit inspection and a couple of days later PGE had sent their permission for me to generate power to them for a change! There was little to see after all their work: just that now my meter is often going backwards. Richard came by to clearly explain the few simple controls and components, hand over the user paperwork and long warranty documents. He got me going on the SolarEdge app on my iPhone which shows me graphically the history since we turned on. Even down to how you can see which panels are in shade at any moment. SunStar performed to the dates they agreed and delivered a great experience to the house owner. I strongly recommend the company. A truly professional service. read more

I am glad to refer you to Richard Devlin, a very fine solar contractor, who did our house and several others for my real estate clients who are all thrilled with his professionalism, honesty, technical skills and ability to take over the paper work and filings. His total costs were definitely less than the others (especially the heavy advertisers). He provides the most technically and cost effective equipment and handles all the details without my worrying about anything. We have had no electric costs plus we have surplus electricity every year. We actually replaced the old propane gas guzzling water heater with a clean electric one. We still have a small surplus each year plus eliminating more than $250 monthly on propane. We use an electric space heater when we don't need to heat the whole house which saves a lot of gas as well. Richard is independent, so he doesn't have to pay for the enormous overhead costs of the big companies and is free to recommend the best manufacturers, not the ones that just push hardware which doesn't necessarily benefit the clients. He makes the technical details solar economics understandable and does not sell too large a system than needed. The installation went smoothly and quickly with little of my time needed, plus he worked well with my general contractor when they overlapped. He just installed a fabulous system for clients who just bought a great home in Cupertino that I helped them buy. They are very pleased. I saw a system that another client installed and I would not recommend that contractor for various reasons including they are unsightly and not well placed for effective performance. That client now wishes he had taken my advice to hire Richard. Richard will give you the very best advice, latest technology and tell you if it will be practical and pay back for you or not. read more

We have nothing but good things to say about SunStar Energy. When we were exploring solar for our home a few years ago, we talked to other companies but none was as customer-oriented as SunStar. And it didn't stop once they made the sale and completed installation. SunStar proactively helps us track the efficiency of our system over the years, answers any and all questions quickly and thoroughly, gives us suggestions on how to save even more electricity, and all this with very friendly, helpful service. Our biggest concern when we decided on solar was how it would look on our house. The panels had to be mounted on the front, to catch the southern sun, and we wanted them to enhance the look of our home, not ruin it. Richard Devlin understood and made it a priority as he recommended panels, rails and position of mounting the array on the roof. It turned out even better than we imagined! The panels just blend in with the roof and look very natural. Also, Richard's recommendation on how many panels we needed for our energy consumption was right on. We pay nothing for electricity. And now, we're buying an all-electric car so our solar panels will also fuel our vehicle. We highly recommend Richard and SunStar Energy. read more

Had Rick install a system in 2005. Its a 4.8kw, 28 panel, ground (vs. roof) mounted grid with a 100' + run to the dual SMA inverters at the main panel. I had him over spec the system and I am happy to report that I never pay for electricity. The installation was seamless. Rick took care of working with the vendors and govt. entities - permits, rebates and all. It took less than a week to install, even on a steep hillside. He had to get on PG&E to get out and do the final inspection, which he gladly did. From time to time he comes by and inspects the system at no charge. We had one glitch about a month after operational, where one of the SMA inverters died. Rick noticed it during a routine visit. It was quickly swapped out via warranty and I even received a check for the power generation I lost. That said a lot about this firm. I am totally pleased with my solar system and completely satisfied with Sun/Star. The system has/will save us a ton of money and I would recommend them to anyone and everyone (I guess I am). read more

I am very pleased with our new solar electric,battery-backup system installed by SunStar Energy. Yesterday the power went out at 11:30 a.m. and I only learned about it when PG & E phoned to say they had a planned outage that should last until about 2:30 p.m. I did not notice the outage at all and all the circuits we had chosen to remain on did exactly that. The system is performing exactly as I hoped and am very happy we went ahead on the project with SunStar. I appreciate the care and time Richard Devlin took in planning our system since our roof was slanted in an awkward configuration. Richard came back out to make sure everything was working properly after PG&E had installed our new solar meter. Richard did a very professional job and spent extra care and time to make sure everything was working properly. K. A. Ishida Los Gatos, CA read more

Sun Star Energy - Richard Devlin - was one of three bidders when I decided to explore putting solar panels on my house. Mr. Devlin, while not the low bidder - it was close, was the most informative and realistic and most importantly, he didn't try to sell me more than I needed. He gave me an education on the cost considerations associated with solar power installations, something his competition did not do nearly as well. As a result, he sold me the most cost-efficient solution for my specific situation. When it came time for the installation, it was on schedule and on budget; moreover, his predictions as to the amount of power that would be generated and my resulting energy bill costs were spot on. I heartily recommend his service and product to anyone considering solar power for their home. John Stallone read more

I highly recommend SunStar Energy owned by Richard Devlin. Richard was on site to inspect, design, install and power-up the system. The home installation was performed smoothly despite the constant over the shoulder rubber necking and questions from the engineer customer (me). Richard took care of the permitting process, PGE approvals and tax forms (I hate paperwork). In our case, Richard designed a system with San Jose based Auxin solar panels, and with inverter/power modules from SolarEdge, a Fremont company. Because our panels receive progressive shade in the late afternoon we added power modules that would allow shaded modules to shut down independently while the modules in the sun could continue to generate. The system has been operating for 1 month and it is working very well. read more

Sunstar Energy installed my system of 32 panels about 2 years ago. The system was spec'd to deliver about 10,000 kWh/yr and did! Rick Devlin did an outstanding job on all aspects of the job. The quote, payback analysis, competitive comparisons, technical information, references and installation were all top notch. Rick is as diligent and careful about the paperwork as he is the installation. I have cut my bill to about $200/yr and had him add 3 more panels to cut that to zero and see if I can get PG&E to start paying me for my production. My payback is roughly 5 1/2 years after rebate and federal tax credit! Since I had my system installed 2 years ago, panel prices have dropped significantly. I would not hesitate to recommend Rick for your solar project. read more

We highly recommend Sun Star Energy - Richard Devlin, for his knowledge, professionalism, and care. Rick thoroughly analyzed our yearly energy bills and roof structure before giving us options about the solar system. He took care of everything - delivery and installation of the solar panels, obtaining permits and inspection, clean up the roof and yard after finishing work. He communicated on the daily bases via emails or phone calls with us about the next step in the project, so we were informed in advance what to expect in the following days. He was present during the inspection and made the process easy for us. We appreciate very much his professional services and care and recommend him to everyone who would like to go solar. read more

We live in Clayton and have had our solar system since 2006. We have only had great experiences with Richard Devlin at SunStar. He checks in with us yearly to make sure our system is working properly and efficiently. I have emailed and called him for other questions about our system and his response is prompt and helpful. Best of all we can see our savings in our bills! We save hundreds of dollars each month. Using SunStar for our solar needs was definitely one of our best home improvement decisions in every way!! He made it easy for us to take advantage of all the state rebates available. Come see our solar panels and our before and after bills!! read more

Richard and his crew installed a 7.4 kW DC system on my property in the Santa Cruz Mountains last week. They do outstanding work. His design optimized the space available, met our usage requirements and ended up being very neat and structurally appealing. They clean up after themselves every day, are courteous and pleasant, and very professional. As part of my installation, he had to install a new subpanel and that work was accomplished beautifully. I highly recommend Richard to anyone looking for a solar PV installation in central California. read more

I am very pleased with my system, and the process of getting it installed. They were very responsive in the initial process of getting an estimate, and working out options to integrate with my unique configuration. During the installation process they were happy to answer my questions, yet they left my wife alone to work at home undisturbed. Afterwards he followed up on all the paperwork and gave me advice how to maximize my energy savings. So far I am producing more electricity than I expected. read more

Richard was awesome! He was so professional and detailed in making sure that our solar installation would provide us the most efficient results. We are SO pleased with the work and the creative and artistic design of placement of our panels. We had 3 other bids and decided to go with Sun Star due to their customer service, professionalism and great price. We are very happy with the results and even more excited about being "off the grid"...thanks SO very much for a great job!! Al & Jacqui Newhall read more

We had a great experience with Richard D and the team at SunStar. They installed our system almost 10 years ago and it is still in perfect shape, making our household nearly energy independent - our bill for all of our 2011-2012 true-up period was $50! Over the years, Richard has kept in touch to ensure that everything is fine. Installation was professional, done on schedule, with zero complications. I highly recommend SunStar Energy. read more

I agree with all the 5 star reviews 100%. Working with Sunstar resulted in a better system at a lower price that the other larger companies I talked to. If you are local to the Los Gatos area and need advice about Solar then Richaed @ Sun Star is the only call you need to make!. read more