ABC Solar

ABC Solar is a South Bay company whose owner, Brad, lives and breathes solar. The installation of our solar power electric system in Rolling Hills Estates was seamless and professional. Office manager Eric was proactive in applying for tax credits and knows his stuff! The permits were all approved with no snags. Supporting a local business is the way to go — I met Brad ten years ago and we got quotes from all over but we made the right decision going with ABC.

After debunking and educating 8 different solar installation companies I was ready to go DIY on my own home solar. One company insisted that I needed twice as much solar as I know I really needed, another half as much. Still another basically called me a fool for not selecting the lease option and letting them take my tax credit. I out-​and-​out told one I had arranged to buy my own system an $ 1.82/ watt and they graciously bid $ 6/​watt for an inferior, foreign made system and when I asked them exactly why it was going to cost me $ 22,000 just for the installation portion they said «All solar installations are quoted on a $/​watt basis and they couldn’t alter it».
I’m so glad I ran into ABC. I told them what I wanted and what I wanted to pay and they worked with me to come up with a very reasonable bid. As a bonus they were an acceptable vendor for the Hero program (I think they are accepted by PACE as well) so I was eligible to get my system for no money down, no payments for a year, keep my tax credit, sell my excess electricity to the power company and write off almost 100% of the system for tax purposes. Oh yes, and as a bonus the system is beautiful, USA components, the installation was great and the system is cranking out way more electricity than I use (saving up for summer Air Conditioning). Erick from ABC basically stalked the county and power company people until they gave us all the permits and permissions we needed to complete the project. Going solar, first do your research and understand what you are getting into,
then call ABC!

Okay, follow me here: I had a company called Independence Power over to do a diagnostics on my Solar System (Installed 2008) recently. The inverter was reading offline and power wasn’t being generated. The previous installer, California Solar Engineering, had closed shop and was nowhere to be found. IP did a quick look and insisted that the problem wasn’t the inverter (which was reading offline) but the panels. I would need to do a panel by panel diagnostic, removing every panel and testing each and every one. In order to do this I’d need to dole out several thousand dollars just for the testing which would require an insured team to carefully maneuver over my admittedly steep garage rooftop, remove the panels one by one, then re-​install them. IP was adamant that this was a panel problem and that I’d have to get some if not all the panels replaced, billing BP Solar for the cost with a preference for getting more money out of BP than was required if possible, then celebrating the spoils of victory of evil BP.
The President of Independence Power assured me he had my best interest in mind and that he truly wanted to help me. I don’t have a doctorate in Solar Engineering but I sensed much of his theorizing was suspect, and all biased towards him billing me (as well as BP solar) an exorbitant chunk of cash.
Enter ABC Solar. They had two guys come out. A quick look over the system, they tightened a single loosened connection and the system was up and running at absolute full power. Cost for the visit and the fix? Absolutely zilch. They even put helpful stickers on much of the equipment to facilitate easy service on the system if needed in the future.
I’m so glad the nightmare is over. But if it comes back I’ll be calling ABC Solar, thank you very much.