GoSimpleSolar

This is an updated review of our experience with GoSimpleSolar nearly two years after the inital
installation. They continue to be first rate both in keeping us updated on the industry as well as
answering questions about our solar installation (thinking of adding an electric vehicle). The
installation and solar panels continue to operate flawlessly. Anyone considering solar should definitely consider this company for their responsiveness and knowledge.

My review must have struck a nerve with the owner below, he’s revised his response to my review at least 10 times! It’s starting to get out of hand and I’m starting to feel a little threatened! If only he put forth the same effort in their initial response to my online quote request. He even had my first update removed, let’s see if he likes this one more.
Their response did not mention anything about not being able to relocate our solar heating system for our pool or that they couldn’t install a system that made financial sense. There response was (cut and paste from the actual email):
Thank you kindly for your interest in our company.
Unfortunately, due to our current work load, we will not be able to assist with your solar needs.
That being said, we would like to recommend a few products as well as another local installation company.
So everything the owner wrote in the dozen times he worked on his reply, while may be true, was never communicated to me until several days AFTER I posted my review. Personally, I think it’s garbage back peddling and just an excuse that he came up with after the fact, but that’s just my opinion. Oh, and he spelled my name wrong.
If this is the kind of guy you want to give your business to, go for it, but I certainly wouldn’t recommend it.
And owner, I don’t expect you to apologize for turning my project down, but you should apologize for, in my opinion, blowing me off, being a jerk and posting personal information.
That’s no way to run a business sir.

Mark and his team did a fantastic job. I worked directly with Mark to size our system and discuss options for future expansion. Once the contract was signed they provided a schedule and took care of all the permits and pge approvals. The system was installed in a week, a couple days after inspection we received approval from PG&E to turn the system on. The team at GoSimple made this an easy project, they know what they are doing and design a system that fits your needs. I would highly recomment them.

I can’t say enough about GoSimple, great product, super craftsmanship and excellent service. What a great partner to have when you’re smack in the middle of a major home remodel– they were super flexible on installation and project timeline. Remodels are always difficult to manage especially when you have major infrastructure dependencies that need resolution before solar can be fully installed. GoSimple lived up to their name! I highly recommend this company.

I called them they asked me to fill out a form on their web site. So I did at the end there was a comment section so I wrote «I did not like their form».
this is the email I got back from them.
I’m sorry you’re not happy with our form. We need this data to be able to provide an accurate solar PV design for a customer.
The form is meant to create important dialogue between prospective customer and contractor, it’s also designed to determine if the prospective customer will be a good fit for our business model. The information provided is not sufficient for me to be able to design a solar PV system for you at this time.
All the best in your pursuits of solar.
Regards,
I guess they are pretty busy to not want new costumers. I did not think I was being rude–
the form was long. I also did not realize I was being interviewed to see if I am a customer that «will be a good fit for our business model».
Very strange experience

My experience with Go Simple Solar is a perfect example of the integrity and professionalism of this company and why you should do business with them.
I came to them a problem: I bought a house with solar panels installed, but the installer never filed the paperwork to get the system up and running. PG&E has made this process byzantine so you really need a professional to do it, but the company that installed the panels wouldn’t help me. I was at the end of my rope when I called Nick at Go Simple Solar. Nick listened to my situation and offered to help process the paperwork even though his company didn’t even install the panels.
Nick patiently walked me through all the information I needed and how to get it, and then reviewed the mountain of documents I sent him all and filled out all the forms for me and submitted them to PG&E. Throughout the process, he was responsive, professional, knowledgeable, proactive, and considerate. Then, after he was done, I asked him how much I owed him and he refused to charge me!
I don’t know how many people/​companies there are out in the world that will spend their time and energy to help you fix a problem and then refuse to bill you for their time. Wow! This is clearly a company that cares deeply about their customers, about giving back to their community, and in maintaining a sterling reputation. I will recommend that anyone and everyone do business with Go Simple Solar!
Thanks guys!

Last summer we installed a full solar system using Mark and the team from Go Simple Solar. We extensively searched for suppliers and bid our project to multiple companies. In the end we settled on Go Simple because their bid was competitive, their staff friendly and professional and the referrals were outstanding. We were not disappointed!
Every aspect of this job was on time and on budget. Their team worked with us to make sure we understood how to best utilize our new system and our economic benefits have been outstanding. We felt very comfortable with the installation team and found them to be polite and professional. The savings have been exceptional here, everything was as promised.
I found Mark to be straightforward and focused on under promising and over delivering, setting realistic expectations and meeting them.

I bought solar panels from Go Simple Solar around spring of 2014. One of the best things I’ve done to save money. I have a big pool so running pool equipment 12hours a day can run up the utility bills pretty quickly. I worked with Dima on securing the system I wanted. Go Simple Solar did not try to sell me more than I needed. But I requested extra panels because I was thinking of getting a heat pump which would provide A/​C and heat depending on the time of the year. I wanted to get away from using gas if I could use the electricity generated by my solar panels. My electric bill has been basically just the fees and taxes PG&E charges for being on their grid, usually $ 5 to $ 8 a month. Much better than the approximate $ 300 I was paying in the summer without solar.
GoSimple Solar’s workers are conscientious and professional. Mark, the owner, makes sure everyone works to his high standards.
I’m very pleased with how everything is working. Now I leave lights on around the outside of my house without worrying about running up a big electric bill!

Since we are out of their service area, for a small fee, GoSimpleSolar completely designed our solar system and provided the guidance necessary for another vetted contractor to install it. GoSimpleSolar was able to very efficiently gather the data from us so they could model an appropriately sized solar PV system for our home.
After the receipt of the data on our home, Mark vetted another proposal I had received, and made a professional judgement that the proposed system size was too large concerning our circumstances and power usage. If Mark would’ve accepted working in our area (3 hours away) we would’ve been thrilled to have GoSimpleSolar perform the work. We’re very happy with their diligence and I believe that having their third party design ensured a proper design and not an oversized one which would’ve cost more money upfront. Highly recommended for installation or for their design services. We want to install solar in our vacation home and we intend to use GoSimpleSolar to design that system as well. Mark and the staff at GoSimpleSolar were professional, efficient, knowledgable, friendly, and extremely easy to work with. I wish all business owners were as diligent as Mark and his staff at GoSimpleSolar!

The team at Go Simple Solar are great! Two friends recommended them to us and we were very impressed with the thoroughness of their analysis of our bill, the detailed information about what we could expect from our solar installation and their focus on good customer service. Dima, Aaron and Mark were responsive to our questions and kept us up-​to-​date with the progress of our order and installation. The weather wasn’t very helpful, but they knew we wanted the installation completed before the end of the year and they made it happen. The installers were friendly and thorough and very conscientious about leaving everything very neat and tidy. All of our emails were answered very promptly and they never seemed to tire of our questions! We highly recommend them for your solar needs.

We love Go Simple Solar! We just went solar as our PG & E bill was through the roof! Everyone was so helpful and answered all our questions with knowledge and patience. We had contacted two other companies but couldn’t handle the sales tactics. They were like used car salesmen! When we called Go Simple they gave us the info we asked for and told us to call back with any questions. We looked everything over and liked it and decided to go with them. When we called to tell them they suggested we come to their showroom before making any decisions. No hard sales pitch, no wheeling and dealing! We liked what we saw and went with them. By the time it was finished I felt like they were friends and missed having them out! Aaron was so attentive to our needs during the whole process. He was here on site during the majority of the installation. All the subcontractors where very courteous and tidy. The work was done on schedule and efficiently. I love our solar! We haven’t had it long enough to quote how much savings we will have but I can tell you it was nice having a PG&E estimated bill of approx $ 3.90 this month!

This is the best solar place in the Bay Area, I am sure. Dima, Bob and Mark are the dynamic trio of solar, professional, courteous, knowledgeable and price friendly. Highly recommended!

An outstanding, locally owned, accessible solar installation company is what you’ll get when working with GoSimple Solar. The whole team, from the CEO to the licensed contractors used for installation, are friendly, informative, and ALL easily accessible. Example, when I had a simple question about our project, I emailed the crew at GoSimple. Not only did I receive a prompt reply (same day), but the CEO emailed me back! Mark just wanted to make sure I was happy with the process to date.
When you sign up for installation with GoSimple, they take care of Everything! From start to finish. All you do is provide your energy usage, explain your overall goals (electric vehicle, future anticipated power needs, etc), then GoSimple takes care of the rest. They don’t try to upsale you at all. In fact, quite the opposite. Their goal for you is to OPTIMIZE your power bill and to shorten your ROI (return on investment). Erasing your power bill might not be the best investment. The team at GoSimple actually advised me to down size my system in order to improve my ROI in addition to saving me money up front.
Ownership is the best option, hands down. These guys at Go Simple will take you through it, start to finish. I recommend them without reservation.

We wanted to install solar to offset electrical usage as well as thermal solar for pool heat. We did a ton of research and interviewed a number of companies. Once we determined we wanted to purchase the panels rather than lease (to get the federal tax credit) we interviewed 3 companies and selected Go Simple Solar for a number of reasons:
1. Mark and his team were BY FAR the most knowledgeable people we met. They knew the specs on their panels, competitors’ panels, PG&E’s process, city requirements and expected changes, and how to deal with our HOA. Based on his knowledge, he immediately had us questioning information that the other service providers had given us.
2. His team was able to coordinate a partial roof replacement, thermal solar installation and the installation of their panels without needing any assistance from us, smoothly and effectively.
3. They were able to work under a really tight timeframe to coordinate HOA approval, city approval and installation of the entire project with tie-​in to PG&E all by the end of the year. The entire process took less than two weeks.
Mark was available day or night, locally or on vacation. He stayed late in his office during our first meeting so that we could discuss our options and make decisions quickly. He walked through all of our questions and all of our follow up questions and coordinated the entire project seamlessly. He and his team were an absolute pleasure to work with.
With our own businesses to run, a toddler to chase around and the holidays I was extremely grateful not to have to worry about anything to do with this project. When we had second thoughts about the style of panels we chose, Mark brought one of each panel style onto our roof so we could see for ourselves the impact of our choices. He made changes to our order immediately without making us feel like a «problem» customer. He genuinely wanted to make sure that we made decisions we were happy with long-​term for our family.
Now that our panels are installed, my husband loves to check their online system to monitor the performance of our system. Our system is out-​performing what we expected and we are thrilled with the results!
Before you go with any other solar provider, do yourself a favor and interview Go Simple Solar!

We bought 12 solar panels from Go Simple Solar about a year ago. The owners, Mark and Bob were extremely knowledgeable and professional. They were not pushy and did a very thorough analysis of our solar needs. Installation was done ahead of schedule too. We have seen a significant savings in our pg&e bills as well. The company fully explained and stuck to all cost estimates and cleanup was fantastic. Mark even helped with the rebate process and setting up the web based interface. I would highly recommend them! The entire experience was outstanding!

These guys do an excellent job and are highly professional. They show up on time, work hard, and clean up everything before they go. Their estimates for time and cost were generous, finishing ahead of schedule. I recommend them highly, since they are a class act, do a great job, and are highly reliable.
Everything was laid out well in advance, explained properly, and every question I had no matter how simple, they made a strong effort to explain the details to me. If you’re going to go solar, these are the professionals you can rely upon.

So this is my first review on Unilocal,or in fact anywhere on-​line, but for once its worth taking the time to share the outstanding experience I had.
When it comes to contractors there are two important factors that I look for, other than the work product itself; communication and reliability. Mark and Bob kept in communication regularly from the initial quote throughout the process and even after the job was completed and paid for. Every call or email was returned promptly, despite me asking an insane amount of questions. Furthermore, they showed up when they said they would, completed the job on time and left the site looking like it had never been touched.
They made the whole process easy and understandable, they are a local company using US made products, which is great. My system is already performing above the projected level and I could not be happier with my decision to buy solar or use Go Simple.
Even a potential delivery snafu (outside of their control) was quickly and efficiently dealt with. I had no problems at any stage, and even if there were problems in the background I would never have known which is a tribute to the professional way Mark and Bob run their business.
I could not recommend them highly enough.

We chose Go Simple Solar as a vendor for selfish, devious reasons! Mark Becker is a neighbor. I didn’t know him before calling for a survey, but figured a neighbor couldn’t afford bad press in his own back yard and would do a decent job.
After meeting Mark and his partner Bob Libby, I realized my concerns were immaterial! These are the two most honest, upfront, and cooperative business people I have dealt with in a long time. They have the best technology to assess your solar potential benefit and can tell you what to expect on September 12^th of next year for production. Their assessment tracks trees for shadow potential!
Once we decided to proceed, Mark and Bob kept us fully informed about the process and did all the paperwork for PGE and permitting. The whole installation was designed to reduce our usage 50% and our bill by 75%. At the end of our first year’s true-​up period with PGE, our total usage bill was about $ 220 (for the year) instead of our normal average of about $ 110 per month. We got better than expected results.
If you want an honest, accurate appraisal of what solar will do for you and an efficient skilled installation team, choose GoSimpleSolar.
Feel free to call Mark Becker for my phone number if you want more details.
Daniel — Danville, CA

Bob and Mark did a great job on our install. They were very upfront about pricing and designed a system that would maximize our power generation, but not produce too much which would be wasted and not financially savvy. They actually got our panels delivered and installed 2 weeks earlier than promised and immediately we were producing power. I’d use them again in a heartbeat.

We were very impressed with the professionalism and patience of Bob and Mark as they walked us through our options for a solar system. They went well beyond the simple PG&E calculus and really looked at our power uses. From this we were able to optimize our system for our current usage profile, but also plan for future changes that we expect. We contacted 4 other suppliers and Go Simple was by far the most professional and most capable of explaining their recommendation.
We had a 20 panel system installed on our house. All the work was done on time and as promised. All permits were handled by Go Simple. It has been a real turnkey operation from our perspective. And the web-​based tracking system is a great way to ‘see’ the value on a daily basis.
Great work, but a great partnership. We highly recommend them.
Jim & Barbara