LuxLight Solar Energy - Profile & Reviews

Luxlight Solar Energy always returned my calls and messages the same day. Billing was online and very easy. The work was done well. They were clear with me before I accepted the bid as to what they were going to do. They submitted plans to the county promptly, but my roof is non-standard and San Mateo County was very conservative about its review, and response to the county's comments required additional drawings and another engineer stamp, which they also provided promptly. I'm a civil engineer and did calculations before I accepted the bid and came up that there was a big factor of safety, but they worked with the county very professionally and conformed fully with their comments even though it cost them more than they originally planned. As I was gone a lot of the time, and had a narrow window of availability, they worked with me on scheduling without complaint. Although they're located in the Sacramento valley, they were accustomed to working all over the Bay Area, even in the coastal area where we are. They were easy to work with and the installers were great. Although my job was complicated and impacted by the COVID-19 lockdowns, the whole thing went very smoothly and I recommend them. We get lots of energy from the panels they installed and seldom incur any electrical charges at all.

D Rating=Poor, I do not recommend using this company.
1.) Poor Performance- Luxlight recommended I install panels on my east facing roof and did not do a proper survey estimate resulting in less than 100% achievement of my goals and expectations.
2.) Poor Customer Service- After reviewing the above with the owner, Rob, and trying to come up with a reasonable resolution, he basically could not be bothered and told me I would need to add 3 more panels to house to meet my solar requirements. Never taking any time to understand my concerns and addressing his mistakes. Had I known I would need 20 panels total, I probably would not have proceeded because it takes my pay back from 6-7 years to 8-9 years.
3.) Problematic Install- The installation process was poor at best as the original installed sent to my house was a big, elderly gentlemen, who was very hard to communicate with and made many mistakes and he was relieved by experienced installer, whom did a great job cleaning up the mess. I will also note this this was not a safe thing to put a large, elderly gent on my high pitched roof.

Use caution when contacting this contractor and make sure everything is in writing. I would not trust him. Sal, my initial contact was very knowledgeable and offered my lots of good advice and insight.

I’m in an Eichler-style home with a foam roof. This is not a standard install for solar, and it involved coordination between two companies: one for the solar installation, and one for the foam work (the foam provides insulation and weatherproofing, and is used on a lot of Eichler roofs. It requires special techniques for solar.). Luxlight pulled it off, working with Durafoam on the foam side, to make it all happen. They handled everything, city permits, inspections from the city and PG&E, service panel upgrade, solar installation, and testing the monitoring. Keith, Rob, and Sal were great, answering all my questions quickly. I would definitely recommend them for other Eichler homeowners looking to install solar!

Going solar is no easy endeavor, mostly due to the electric company dragging their feet and overall unwillingness to lose revenue to home solar. Obviously, LuxLight has no control over PG&E's actions, but Keith & Rob handled the challenges like seasoned pros.

Upon selecting LuxLight as my solar installer of choice, the installation process was done quickly & efficiently. Unfortunately, PG&E was not very familiar with the recently approved Green Meter Adapter, and put up many roadblocks.

After 4-5 months of dealing with PG&E issues, we had to pivot on strategy and gave up on the GMA, instead going the "easier" route of upgrading my 100A panel to accommodate the new solar system.

All told, I think Keith made maybe 6 separate visits to my home, after initial installation, to make requested modifications by PG&E (and maybe 1 by the city inspector).

Keith & Rob are patient, easy to work with, and capable. And they handled nearly all the red tape issues with the City and PG&E.

So, 5 months after installation, we're finally live. And the huge reduction in the monthly electric bill was finally achieved. One more hurdle to clear with my 2018 taxes, and ensuring we take advantage of the Federal Tax Credit, and it will all be done.

Would definitely recommend working with the LuxLight team.

Our installer Keith is awesome too. We got our solar in April and so far our electric bill is zero. Keith is quick to respond, answer all the questions and installation done in one day.
He even gave us an EV charging outlet for a reasonable price. My wife is very happy for being able to run AC for 3650 sqft house 24/7 for $ 0.

Professional group of installers, did a great job installing the panels, but did break a few shingles they did not take responsibility for. They were very patient with the El Cerrito inspector. The city said my electrical panel was not permitted and they needed to inspect my hot water heater and smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Fortunately, I had copies of my signed off electrical panel from 15 years earlier and I refused to let the city inspect the rest of my home, since this was not required by law. Lux Light was very patient driving back and forth to my home and waiting for hours multiple days for the inspector. Because of their patience with the city as I had to visit the town hall with proof the city was wrong, I decided to fix the roof myself. Recommend taking pictures and having them sign for existing conditions before allowing any contractor to perform work on your house.

Through Energysage I received quotes from a number of solar installers and Luxlight Solar Energy beat them all out with a combination of great price per watt, and 25 year warranty on all hardware and workmanship. Only top of the line 335watt LG panels and the newest Solar Edge inverter were used. Keith was there to provide the quote and the entire install. He was great about making sure everything was perfect on my install. These guys care about their work and the product they roll out. Do not hesitate to go with LuxLight!

We had 14 panels installed in less than 2 days! Our combined energy bill, gas & electric went from 10-20--15 of $312.37 to 10-19-16 $7.71! My true up in Feb, is heading towards $7-800. Great savings all year!

Everything about LuxLight Solar Energy is superb! From all initial communication of asking questions to ensuring the offer was perfect with the EnergySage.com format was most helpful.
Once contracted, they were outstanding regarding an installation schedule that fit my needs. Then, I met the team of installers and with absolute certainty, I knew I could trust them with open access to our home because of their incredible integrity and awesome knowledge of solar systems.
Once I met and then routinely communicated with the owner of the business, I became even more impressed.
This is a most reputable firm installing high-performance solar panels just the way you desire.
I highly recommend LuxLight.

Rob and Sal are extremely knowledge in what they do. They were prompt at picking up all my phone calls, and returning my emails. The system was installed in about a month from the date of signing to completion. It probably would of been done sooner, but the city inspection took some time. You will not be disappointed if you sign with Rob and Sal at Luxlight Solar Energy!

Luxlight/Rob and team did a great job of ensuring I had the right design for our needs. In addition, their install did all the small things right (painting any conduit, painting rails you can see from ground black to blend in with panels, etc.). Bottom line, outstanding installation and handling of all logistics.

I contacted LuxLight Solar after I posted here. Sal was very honest, non-pushy and gave me 25 references right off the bat. They are cheaper than the big boys installers... For they just contract with the installers and charge overhead.

I got Solar World 285 panels (12- USA made)even though contract was for 280. Nice panels... 1 month so far, no issues. Took two weeks from first contact to panels on-line. Another two weeks for PG&E to formally give a green light.
For California, only place panels on South/West side of roof. Other big boy installers wanted East Side and that would be poor quality sun.

Only Sal (LuxLight Solar) and SunPower were consistent in only using South/West facing installation.

Installers were polite, did most in 1 day. Head guy came by twice to final inspect and meet with City for permit.

Shame I have a small house in Sunnyvale for I could use more panels.

Monitoring is free (Web site)!.. Quite extensive... Only complaint was fine tuning the information about my panels on the web took me a few hours... But finally figured it out.

Under Rob's oversight, the LuxLight team recently completed a 25 panel installation at my home in Orange County, CA. I appreciated Rob's no-pressure, no-nonsense approach that was a stark and pleasant contrast to the larger installers that I spoke with before I found LuxLight via EnergySage. EnergySage was especially helpful in helping me see the advantage of going with a smaller, local installer instead of the big guys who don’t seem to be interested in using their economies of scale to drive down purchase cost for the homeowner (This was a surprise to me!).

Throughout the process, Rob was extremely informative and patient, despite my frequent questions, requests and follow-ups [I'm an Engineer :) ]. Rob's knowledge and experience in the solar industry from both the consumer and utility installation perspective was quickly apparent. My installation was not a straightforward one and involved several different surfaces and angles; I wanted to maximize system production while limiting panel placement to areas that would not be visible from the front of the house. Rob explained the benefits of a micro-inverter install and why it would deliver better results for my situation. None of the other installers even mentioned the benefits or disadvantages of central vs. micro.

Luxlight pricing was extremely competitive and it was far better than the quotes received from large installers that seemed far more interested in leasing and purchase agreements.

The Luxlight install was scheduled in a timely manner and despite several obstacles, was completed in a way that met or exceeded all design objectives. The work took about a week; The Luxlight installers left the worksite spotless at the end of each day, with all trash thrown away and equipment neatly placed out of the way. During the install, I especially appreciated that Rob was onsite and worked directly with the local planning dept (at the city offices) to alter the panel layout when unexpected challenges were encountered. I also appreciated that Rob stood by the original design/contract and did not try to negotiate a change order to address some of the unexpected adjustments that made the install more difficult and time consuming. During the install, the Luxlight install team was kind, courteous and responsive to questions and requests.

LuxLight is a small outfit and it is clear that they take pride in what they do. If shiny trucks with snappy logos and employees with fancy uniforms are important to you, I would look elsewhere. But if you are looking for a solid installation, at a fair price, backed by someone with 10+ years in the solar industry whose team takes personal pride in their work, I would definitely talk to LuxLight. My system has been running for 5 days now, with daily production exceeding EPBB Aug estimates by almost 20%.

Lux Light principal, Rob Hammer, responded immediately to our request for a 'walk-around' inspection of our house and the prospects for solar energy generation. He spent an afternoon with us reviewing the proposed system and his team began work the following week. The project was completed in a little more than two weeks, and PGE authorization for us to begin using and sharing power arrived the day the system was first operative.

Knowledgeable, conscientious, prompt, personable, and competent are the words I would use to describe the Lux Light team. No BS, just best equipment and excellent performance.