Stellar Solar

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Working with Stellar Solar was literally one of the best experiences I have ever encountered with a contractor. Their customer service from start to finish was excellent. Our initial appt. with Zac for the quote was very impressive. He already had detailed info on pre-printed quotes for various panels and all the info for our past electrical usage. The cost for the system was comparable to another quote we had but the customer service turned out to make all the difference. They did everything they said they would do from replacing broken roof tiles to stucco repair and painting around the newly installed panel box. They explained every phase of the project, arranged everything from rebates to permits. I can't tell you how many questions I had regarding a solar install! They were more than happy to take my calls and spend the time needed. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to install solar panels on their home!! Thank you all - Joe, Zac, Danny, Dave, Javier - a great team!

From the first meeting to the final inspection Stellar personelle were professional, informative, and always responsive. They kept me informed as to what was going on at any given time. What we should expect and always showed up when they said they would. They paid attentiaon to details and made the install blend in as much as possible. They handled all the licensing and inspections. I was very pleased with the result and am looking forward to lower energy bills. I highly reccomend them.

We received multiple estimates from several companies for a small solar PV system of approximately 3kW DC to go on our roof. Of the providers that we viewed as reputable, Stellar was initially in the middle of the pack for price, among comparable systems. The salesman/designer that we worked with was Zac, and he went through many options for us, including considering a new inverter (SMA 3000 TL-US) that was coming to market at about the time we'd be going forward with solar. This new inverter had a few new features (a power outlet that would work in case of grid failure, while sunny, and an option for an ethernet port instead of the much more expensive SMA webbox for monitoring), and Stellar was amenable to us dropping the webbox, going with the new inverter, and waiving the monitoring through Stellar (I monitor the system myself, very easily, that is what the ethernet part of the inverter allows). In my particular case, this worked and saved about $1000 (every situation is different, of course, but the fact that Zac was even open to this as a possibility was a big plus for me). This, and the fact that Stellar would do the main electrical panel upgrade for a completely reasonable price made Stellar an easy choice for us. Now on to the work. Everyone we've worked with at Stellar was very professional, helpful, etc, and the process went very smoothly, with the solar turned on and running slightly ahead of schedule. We went back and forth with Zac for a few days getting all the options settled on, and the initial design drawn up, and the contract signed, the first week of June (Zac was very helpful in this process, responding to my large number of questions, etc...). The process was supposed to finish by the end of September. After the contract was settled on, and the system was designed to our specifications, we were handed off to Joe Bowden, who kept us apprised of the process the whole way. After permits were drawn up in early July, they were issued on July 15 or so, and the system was up on the roof on July 17, well ahead of prediction. The crew that installed it did a great job, and all the electrical conduit runs are hidden under the panels and in the garage, for a very clean looking install. Next came the electrical work (electrical panel and grid-tying). This involves SDG&E, which causes some delay, but this was finished August 13. At this point, they found a short in the installed inverter, but swapped it out with the manufacturer quickly. Final inspection took place without a hitch on August 23 or so, and SDG&E gave the OK to turn it on on August 28. I think that the stucco repair for the electrical panel upgrade was probably subcontracted out, but this is the only part that I believe was subbed out (though I am not positive on that). There really wasn't anything I wasn't completely satisfied about the whole job. They were reputable (not at all sketchy), professional and responsive. They were flexible enough to let me choose a setup that saved us money (which means a quicker payoff time), their work was great quality, and their electrical work was reasonably priced. And when the one problem did come up (the inverter not working out of the box), they worked with the manufacturer to replace it in a matter of a few days. And, from contract signed to solar running (and with almost a month of data, it's producing as expected) was less than 3 months. I heartily recommend them.

Excellent!!! One of my summer goals this year was to educate myself on solar. With over 200 companies in San Diego, that ended up being a monumental task. The more estimates I got, the more questions I came up with . For example, 4 to 6 of my neighbors went solar this summer, all from different companies!! Then it came down to, do I lease or purchase.? I interviewed 5 companies. I started with Stellar because of Angie's list, their ads on Kogo radio, and one neighbor used them. After several other quotes, I kept calling or texting Dave Gersz at Stellar, and he patiently and thoroughly answered ALL my (annoying) questions. This was to be a 12 to 20 year commitment, and I wanted to get it right. I really did get it right with Stellar Solar. Dave came out to my house, spent 30min explaining what they had to offer, and had the BEST and most Simple graphs and payment plan. We have 2 teenage boys, soon to be in college. We just wanted to shift from paying SDG& E to the Solar payment. That's exactly what we did with Stellar AND less monthly payments then we pay to SDG&E.

I called,had to leave voice message to schedule apt for estimate and 2days later I finally got a call. we are doing 6 large properties, I do not beg companies to do business with me, if you cant return phone calls at the start, how bad will you be once you have the money ?!! not good business at all

Stellar Solar is absolutely spectacular! After getting quotes from many large and smaller solar companies in San Diego, I went with Stellar. I filled a form online for a consultation and information. That was on a Sunday evening. Monday morning Kristin got back to me with information! Wow! Fast! Some other companies took a week or more to get back to me and some never, ever did! Stellar?s quotes were in the mid-range. Some bigger companies were cheaper, but I wanted a reliable company I felt comfortable working with. My deciding factor was the fact that they always responded to my emails right away and Kristin worked many different solutions with just as many different prices to meet my possible needs. they even arranged to get my pool solar down from the roof so I did not have to do a thing! They are not the type of company that takes your deposit and leaves you hanging for weeks waiting for your install. They started right away. In a matter of a few weeks my system was up and running. I am waiting for my bills to see how wonderful my solar system is. In my estimation, they go above and beyond to get the right system for their customers and give outstanding customer service. Also a very professional group of installers, clean, neat and friendly with answers to my questions when I had them. I will recommend them to everyone!

If we didn't decide to go another route we would have chose to use them.

Kristin from stellar came out, with a binder full of options, to my house and personally went over how both my choices and how the installation would proceed. She warned me the cell I wanted was backordered and wouldn't be installed until February - that was fine with me, I wanted a very specific product. Someone from the company came out and inspected the roof to make sure there weren't going to be any problems down the road, and I also hired stellar to upgrade my breaker box (I was putting in a hot tub and I run a lot of computers, seemed like the right thing to do). Not much happened for a few months - the cells were on backorder and the service upgrade (breaker box) was done very quickly (just takes a day). Eventually the cells arrived, another quick roof inspection and the team showed up to do the install. It took 1 and 1/2 to get all the cells up, and another few hours in my garage setting up the inverter and reporting system. The reporting system is just a wireless bridge in a case so the cells can report online to both Stellar and the manufacturer of the cells (warrantee and feedback). A week later, SDGE cleared me to turn on the system (the delay is from SDGE needing to inspect everything, again not Stellar's delay). I flipped the switch and with a hum - I am now producing 90 % of the power I use. Everyone at Stellar was polite, patient, and very responsive - I got replied within the hour to any email, and any phone call was returned during the next business hour. I have a clear package of paperwork with permits and explanations, and my tax credit paperwork is already done - I just have to mail it in for 2013 (in april 2014).

They have solar panels that make electricity. They were less expensive than the alternative and they had panels which were higher rated and their whole package was less expensive than another product. My electric bill last month was $5.70; last year it was $350 per month.

Very friendly and professional support during requirement and bid evaluation period. Reached quickly mutual consent in regards to technology and installation time. Provided not the lowest of a number of bids, but service, support and professional staff compensated for it. Installation crew was outstanding. Fast, quiet, friendly. Site cleanup was the best I have ever encountered with a contract crew in San Diego!! System has been running for a few weeks and I am absolutely happy with the outcome and the work Stellar Solar has provided. BRAVO ZULU - Outstanding job, as we say in the NAVY.

We elected not to go forward.

Interview was fine, price too high.

I selected Stellar after interviewing and receiving estimates from a number of solar providers and electrical contractors. Overall I was very pleased with the service, my representative always was available for questions. I already had a rooftop solar heater for my pool and Dave, the Stellar representative was able to help me get it moved very rapidly and as part of the price of the lease, all other companies said I was responsible, this was one of the deciding points in Stellar's favor. The initial process of filling out paperwork on the lease was painless and Stellar took care of the details working around my schedule. The panels took about a month and a half to arrive, which is average for my area. The panels and inverter were installed very rapidly. The original plan of upgrading my existing 100A service to 120 using the same cable to the utility, was found to not be in alignment with local code. Stellar arranged for an Upgrade to 200A with a new distribution panel and the associated trenching and work on the home with no change in the quoted price. The only flaw in the whole process was the delays in getting the utility scheduled, that took over 4 months. That is the reason for a C on punctuality, I cannot really blame Stellar for this as the original install was to be 2 months earlier and was canceled by the utility. As an engineer at a utility I am impressed with the quality of work, knowledge of their employees and service that Stellar provides and I am happy to display their sign in my yard.

Here is my timeline 3/25/11 I signed and returned the "Photovoltaic Agreement" with anticipated finish date of 6/24/11. A $1000 check deposit was attached. 5/11/11 My California Solar Initiative Reservation was approved. 6/9/11 I had heard nothing and then emailed them about the installation date. They said I should contact my salesman. 6/14/11 The salesman then emails me that the Installation scheduler should get me an answer shortly. 6/16/11 Salesman said Stellar Solar has been very busy so they will pay me for electrical usage from 6/24/11 until installation date. 8/23/11 None of my electrical bills have been paid so the Saleman responds that my electrical bills have been forwarded to the business manager 9/9/11 Still no electrical bills have been paid to date. I then told them to start over and asked for new quote for a smaller system size. I told them I needed it installed by the end of the year for the 30% tax writeoff. 9/21/11 I received emails about the new system: ?We will have it in by the end of the year. Because you've been waiting so long as it is... we will make it a priority?. 9/22/11 So I signed a new contract 11/8/11 I had not heard anything so I emailed them about the installation date. 11/14/11 After no response I emailed them again about the installation date. They respond "we are still looking good for the 12-15-11 deadline? 11/18/11 They email ?We have obtained a Permit. I'll update you soon for install scheduling. We still need to receive materials as we do not typically stock inventory" 11/28/11 I asked about the installation timeline 12/1/11 I received no response so I emailed Kent Harle, the company President. He apologized in an email and says he will get me into construction schedule ASAP. I called him back but reached a recording that said his voicemail mailbox was full so I could not leave a message! 12/13/11 Start date pushed back to 12/15/11 due to rain. 12/21/11 Work started but no solar panels installed the next day as the installer said they would be. No reply to an email I sent wondering when the panels would be installed. 12/30/11 They finally installed the solar panels. This was a ground installation on a hillside partially covered with erosion control plants. During construction no effort was made to avoid the plants so they were trampled on. After my compalints they came back to try to remove the dirt covering the plants but the plants never revived. I will have to hire someone to replant part of the hillside. 1/23/12 I received an email asking to meet for final payment and I replied that I was still waiting for the monitoring system. 3/6/12 An electrician finally came out to hook up my monitoring system. 3/9/12 I again received an email asking for final payment. I replied that I was entitled to the full California Solar Initiative credit they had applied for, not the 2/3 they listed on their final invoice. No reply. 3/12/12 I received an automatic email from the solar monitoring system that 1 of the 14 panels had never worked since the install date so I emailed Stellar Solar. 3/20/12 Stellar Solar replaced a bad inverter on that panel. 3/30/12 I received an email asking again for final payment. I again replied that I had not received any documentation and was also entitled to the full California Solar Initiative credit. 3/30/12 I received an email again asking for final payment and attached to the email was the solar module information as well as warrantees I had asked for. But there was no response to the CSI credit discrepancy. 4/1/12 I emailed them I would send the final payment but minus the full California Solar Initiative credit. 4/2/12 They emailed back that they would send a new invoice showing my balance paid in full. They said " It's great that you had the patience to stick with us throughout the process"

We got them off Angie's List and we were very happy with them. They are great. We liked their pricing and their programs. They were professional and get the work done. We have only had it for about a month and we are entirely pleased at this point. We are so far averaging 30-35 kilowatts per day. We liked the way they put the panels on the roof because they considered getting us optimum results. We are using the Angie's List rebate but they haven't billed us yet. We recommended a friend to them and they give you $500 back every time you recommend somebody. We will recommend them to everybody we know.

They were fine. They seemed to be fairly descent than the other quotes I received. There were no complications with them. I would use them in the future.

This company is called Stellar for a reason--it is fabulous! Dave got me out of a jam when another company let me down, and it was a blessing in disguise--we have a better system, presently installed at less cost! I talked to 4 different solar companies. I called Stellar Solar when I had difficulties with another solar company that I was ready to contract with. I talked to Dave Gersz on the phone, and he was extremely knowledgeable. He agreed to meet at our home at night, 48 hours later, in order to accommodate my husband's work schedule. He is a wealth of information, as he gives lectures and seminars on solar energy and also write articles for publication. My husband (who tends to be quite critical) was extremely impressed. Dave explained several things to us including a) net metering and how it works (net usage versus consumption paid in arrears), b) how solar is governed by light and not sun c) how he thought we could keep our pool solar equipment and have solar PV at the same time d) that a couple of well known solar companies that spend a lot of advertising have just gone belly-up e) the types of panels he recommends and why f) that we don't need anything to "enhance" the efficiency of panels if we have efficient panels in the first place g) how the rebates work, h) that he would have his electrician see if electricity could be obtained from our subpanel since our main panel is full i) that he would have his associate come up with the most efficient plan for our roof, j) that he recommended the inverter in the garage so we would glance at it occasionally to ensure it was working (and also no one can mess with it since it's not outside). Over the next couple of days we talked on the phone and communicated by email. We signed a contract and Dave agreed in the contract to use his best efforts to finish prior to year end so we would qualify for the federal tax credit the next year. We bought a 6.3 kw system with 32 SunPower 225 watt solar panels (SunPower panels are the most efficient panels available to homeowners at the moment) and a SMA Sunny Boy 7000 watt inverter. Stellar Solar offered a $500 Angie's List rebate, and with that rebate, Dave agreed to move our existing pool solar equipment. This was quite a relief to us so we didn't have to hire another company to do this, and we knew it would be placed where it would not get in the way of the solar panels. Stellar agreed to take assignment of the CSI rebate, which helped us out so we did not have to come up with $6,351 of the monies up front. It takes several weeks to get the rebate monies, so this worked in our favor. Dave was in constant contact with us, either my phone or email. If he was going out of town, he let us know and gave us his cell phone. We signed the contract on 10/5/2010, and he estimated that the work would be done in two months by 12/5/2010. His electrician looked at our subpanel and said he would use two empty spots (the main service panel was full) -- the other company was going to do a line side tap instead of going with the circuit breakers which is not standard practice. Dave's associate got on our roof, and he and Dave came up with a very unique plan. There is one area of our roof that all solar companies love. One loved it so much that they wanted us to remove a very expensive palm tree so that one of the branches would not shade the area. Another wanted to install TIGO enhancers to maximize the efficiency of the panels. Dave's plan was to place the pool solar in four different locations, and the solar PV in three different locations. Little did I know the PV panels need not be contiguous. And the pool solar works via heat, not light, so they are okay with some shade as long as there is heat. Dave suggested that we convert a roof vent into a flat vent (ohagen vent) for little to no cost so that the PV panels could fit flat on that part of the roof. I wish I knew how to upload a drawing of our roof so you all could see what a unique solution this was for our situation. Pool solar is in four areas, while the solar PV panels are in three areas. Dave estimated that all would be done by December 5, which would be two months from the signing of the contract. He said it is difficult to estimate when the panels arrive. His crew came and worked nonstop for three days moving pool solar equipment, removing our roof tiles to put bolts in place (they bought extra tiles since they need to cut some), put in mounts, stansions, racking and other stuff I don't really care to understand. I appreciated the fact that the crew did not leave mid-job to work on another. The panels arrived during this 3 day period, so the total installation took three days. One of the workers, Javier, asked for paint so he could patch up some of the work he had done on the outside. I didn't know the paint was unusable, and found out later that he went to the paint store to match the color and purchase new paint. The work was done November 5, one month after we signed the contract. All we had to do was wait for the City Inspector, which took some time, but he signed off today, and our meter is running backwards. Dave met with us one last time to give us our warranties, ask if all was well or if there were any loose ends, and to explain how we could "monitor" the system on a daily basis ourselves to gauge output, instead of paying for a $1500 monitoring device. I appreciate that Dave does not try to sell you something you don't need. Thank you Stellar Solar. And thank you Dave!

On schedule and within the budget as promised. Explained all the details up front and allowed me to understand what I needed.

We are extremely happy with the service and the system we received from Stellar Solar. They installed a 6 kW Sunpower system that we are more than satisfied with. The layout of the panels on the roof looks even better than expected. The installation crew was efficient, very professional and did a great job. Kent Harle was honest, responsive to our inquiries and up front about all aspect of the installation. He helped us out a jam after we had trouble with a different solar company. The price of the system was even less than what the first company was going to charge. Kent turned what had started out as a bad experience, again with a different company, into a favorable experience.

The whole process was accomplished in a excellent manner by the Stellar Solar personnel. Their performance was always very professional. As with any construction job, some unforeseen problems arose, but, all were handled professionally and to my complete satisfaction.