Ra Solar - Profile & Reviews

We did a lot of research before selecting Ra Solar. We got to more than 10 quotes from different installers; some from energysage and several that we found on our own. Ra was the best price and they offered the best panels. I was very skeptical so I asked for several recent customers and called 2 of them. Both had very positive things to say and highly recommended them; so we decided to bite the bullet. We dealt with multiple people. Henry was our PM and did a great job communicating and scheduling things. Shauna worked in the office and did a great job processing contracts, payments, etc. From the day we signed the contract to permission to operate from PG&E, it was less than a month. The whole Ra Team treated us great and got the job done quickly and at a fair price. We have been very happy and would definitely recommend them to anyone looking for a good solar experience.

I was stunned by just how great Ra Solar was. Their quote was the cheapest, even though they were using the same panels as the other quotes. The sales team were helpful and informative. The installation team were friendly, efficient, supremely competent, and happy to answer any questions I had. The post-installation support (getting PG&E the right paperwork, getting a rebate from the manufacturer) has been swift and totally efficient. They got the whole thing done from contract, through permit, installation, inspection, paperwork to PG&E, permission to operate, and manufacturer rebate all in under three weeks, and at every point, I felt they were there 100% for me if I had any questions or requests. If only every company was this good! If my experience was typical - and from the other comments it seems that is the case - you won't be disappointed!

I found this company to be super easy to work with, from the quote stage to final install and City inspection , they made the process easy for a layman to understand.
The project Manager held my hand at each point of the process, truly thankful to the engineers who drew up the plans for the city and to getting final inspection and kudos to the installers not only for a great job installing but also the cleaning and clearing up after install.

I picked RA Solar because Varney laid out the advantages and let me think about that, there was no pressure and he delivered exactly what I requested. His workers are extremely professional and respectful. A couple of roof tiles were cracked and they not only replaced those, they replaced some more that were already broken before they started. Any problems were quickly addressed to my satisfaction and they would keep working any problem until it is solved. My project manager was Henry and he made sure that things went smoothly. Tavee, lead solar technician, was very helpful and would take the time to explain some of the technical aspects of the system, since I like learning the details and he did not mind me sticking my nose into everything. Shaun, one of the other techies was also very helpful and he even took the time to check out my home grown solar system. Pepe and his brother are ex-roofers, now solar professionals and they also answered any questions I had about the system. They also repaired my roof (a couple tiles) but went the extra mile and did more than expected. Varney’s entire team are great to work with and their expertise is right up there with the big guys, like Solar City, Sunpower, Sunrun, etc. I got 5 quotes and Varney beat all of them. RA Solar is a small company and they are a local Bay area company and they do not contract their work out, they have their own staff that are employees of the company, so everyone has a strong interest in the company succeeding. It doesn’t matter how busy they are, they will always make time for you. I love my system now, it just works, no muss, no fuss and I have a cool mobile app and PC app to check how the system is doing. I have a 6kw system, December 2017, Jan, Feb and Mar were between 300-700 kwh, but man old man April was 1Mwh (1 megawatt) and that is awesome! I got my April PG&E bill today and I got a credit of -$12.99, total NEM charges to date is -$164.43. My credits paid my gas portion of the bill and I did not pay electric and gas. And to top this off, I did my taxes for 2017 and my solar tax credit of approximately $5000 plus, resulted in me getting a nice refund check from the state and the federal governments. Now that has to be the coolest thing ever. RA Solar is the best and I definitely got my monies worth. I will use them again, if I move somewhere else. By the way, invest in the wiring that goes around the solar panels to keep the critters from moving in underneath the panels.

Wanted solar on a 3700sq ft. house. Started with zero about the industry or technology. I found Energysage, which I strongly recommend – they are a wealth of information. They are product and vendor agnostic. Start there - read and research. After learning basic information on Energysage, obviously Google is your best friend.

Once I actually understood how we pay for Watts/Kwh from our energy provider and how solar panels capture energy (high level understanding), I had questions that only seasoned solar professions could answer. Note – at this point I’m a potential buyer with a little knowledge, moderate doubt, plenty of curiosity and a healthy spreadsheet. I summited my request for a quote via Energysage. Reviewed maybe 7 quotes. I narrowed it down to 4 and started a healthy discussion with those vendors via email and phone. RA Solar was not in the discussion at this point. Roughly 2 weeks into the process I received a call from RA Solar asking how things were going with the other quotes and if there was anything they can do to earn my business – loved hearing that. I told them if they could match the price range, products (panels/inverter) and experience of the other three vendors, sure. He ensured me he could.

Here’s what I noticed right away. The resource from RA Solar had far more knowledge of the industry than the others; his information was more broad and deep (not knocking the others, maybe RA Solar was willing to share more – which matters to a customer!). Essentially instead of just answering the question asked, they educated me with ‘critical’ components of related information to think about. I’m the type of consumer that would research that additional info. and ask follow-up questions, RA Solar (Varney) never hesitated to keep answering my questions. To expand on this slightly… I’m the “that” customer that asks the same company the exact same question to see if the answers sync (Solar is an expensive purchase). Some of the other vendors grew moderately frustrated with my questions and their responses because shorter and response times longer – two stopped responded, I get it. But I also know these are the types of companies that might stop responding if you have issues post purchase. Varney, however, responded nearly real-time with every questioned asked - for me that was critically important as I was doing my research real-time. It showed a focus on the customer. Again, his responses were quality, crisp and thorough (no shortcuts). Guys, every interaction were professional, total business acumen. I never felt like I was working with a fly-by business (longevity is important). Fast-forward, I selected RA Solar and although they were not the best price on the front-end, RA Solar ultimately gave me a really good contract when all was said and done. EXTREMELY competitive. I was surprised!!

The installation: Quality, period. For me the installation was completed within 4 weeks. The panel installers were great. Professional. They asked me questions about what I wanted, awesome. The electrical crew was also on point. Just a great crew that’s all about customer service. Installed the inverter exactly how and where I wanted, installed the pipes where I wanted, out of sight, painted, etc. The overall experience – end to end was as good at it gets. If you look at my Yelp reviews I’m fair. I would rate this experience 10 out of 10. Ping me if you want to discuss further. Solar is a big expense my friend, I totally get that. If you talk with Varney, tell him I sent you ☺, he’ll take care of you ☺

They were extremely responsive to my numerous questions and clarifications. When we decided to go Solar, I had 7 quotes from Energy Sage and 2 other local companies who have done installations for neighbors.Ra Solar gave me the best combination of price and premium products. I even had 3 installers bid on the same package as Ra and Ra was the best price for Panasonic panels. The offered a great warranty and I decided to go with them. The entire crew, Varney, Henry , Shawn,, Tavee and his installation team and Shauna were the most pleasant, responsive and patient people I've worked with in a long time. we did almost all the work via text, e mail or phone. In the end, the install was quick and neat. The conduit was painted to match my house and roof colors. The Solar edge monitoring is really informative. These professionals know their business and how to make customers happy and secure. At the end, they even provided a Owner manual that incorporated all the legal documents, including contract, PG&E letter, warranty and other useful information. Highly recommended

Our experience with Ra Solar was great. Varney met with us and patiently answered all of our random questions and, when he discovered that he had given us one piece of misinformation, quickly contacted us and offered a solution that we were happy with. We were pleased with his integrity.
Everyone was patient with us as we debated where to place equipment, and were not bothered when we watched like spectators the entire installation. Tavee and his install team worked with my husband to make sure holes in our walls were where and how we wanted them to be. They were friendly and nice.
We were happy to have such a fast install after signing paperwork, as we had spoken with other companies that quoted a three-month timeframe for installation.
The only snag in the process was a delay in approval from PG&E. A series of small paperwork mistakes made that process last longer than estimated. However, we were always kept informed of the most recent updates, and our emails were quickly responded to with a return email or phone call.
Overall, we are very pleased with our experience with Ra Solar. We received great equipment at a great price, and felt taken care of through the entire process. We recommend them to anyone looking into placing solar on their home.

Excellent and Responsive Customer Service. RA Solar did what it promised in a timely fashion. Varney, Greg, Shaun, Tavee, Gustavo, Jose, great guys and very helpful. The crew is very well organized and quite knowledgeable. On property they worked clean and detailed. Great Experience. I checked into a lot of systems, RA Solar was the most competitive by a long shot. Great value for the money. Best Value is paying cash if you can afford. System in place for the first month. All is working well so far. More later.

I had never heard of ra solar until I got their bid thr Energy Sage. All my friends had either gone Solar City or Petersen Dean...those 'recognized' brand names quoted nearly double what ra solar quoted. And of the 6 quotes I got thr energy sage, ra solar was not only the most cost effective on a $/KW basis, they also offered the best equipment according to energy sage and my own research, as well as the associated equipment (i.e. inverters etc.). I didn't know ANYTHING about solar but energy sage and ra solar have really educated me. I have a friend who installs solar at a corporate level (i.e. industrial solar) for a living and had him check everything ra solar gave me and he said they were legit too. ra solar also gave me the best bid package - in terms of initial picture, initial quote and just general first best impression.

Everyone who is lucky enough to get quoted by ra solar should absolutely consider them and know I had a great experience, even though in the beginning - I was like - I've never heard of these folks. Going the direct route where you're not having to pay for expensive TV & radio ads saves you money! It's like going with Charles Schwab vs. Merrill Lynch or a direct online bank vs getting ripped off at Wells Fargo etc.

My solar was installed in Walnut Creek and my only regret is that I didn't install MORE panels. My process was quick - from start to finish just a few weeks. Install was less than 1 full day and the install crew (Henry project manager) and Tavee (electrician) were superb. Very clean and cleaned up.

Also when I bike around the neighborhood and check out other people's solar install - ra solar was the only one that painted the pipes carrying the wires from the roof down to the inverter. Everyone else has raw exposed steel piping showing but ra solar takes the time to color match to your existing house so the pipes and flashing look like they've been there from the beginning.

Ra solar was also extremely responsive - we did most of our comm via texts and it worked great.

In the end of the day, I am not worried that I had never heard of ra solar - the 25 year warranty on the inverter and panels is with those companies anyway.

Tips:
1) if you want to see the design before they get the city permit - be sure to ask that clearly and specifically
2) The mounts they use for the solar may not be as flush as the ones you see from solar city - so if you want that 'look' - just tell them. My panels are on the back of the house - so I didn't care and it was cheaper this way.
3) Energy sage was very helpful in walking thr my quote with me to educate me along the way.
4) If you think you'll need your roof redone in the 25+ years the panels will be on your roof - ask them to include a dis-install / re-install on your final contract so you have in writing for the future.

We chose RA Solar because they not only had the best price but also the best product and design, an unbeatable combination!

The pre-installation process was easy and we got good information about the progress. Installation went well and they were able to handle our tiled roof without any issues.

System is up and running for a month and producing at or above prediction. Would recommend RA Solar to others.

11/22/17: I may be the first to put a review of RA Solar on Energysage but I found others on Yelp. Just like the others my experience is a positive one. Once I reviewed the different quotes I received through Energysage, RA Solar was the best choice for me. They were responsive to my inquiries and accommodating with adjustments I wanted. They were knowledgeable and had the answers I needed. They installed top notch parts and components and they took care of all the paperwork. The workers were quick and efficient.

I never had to make a service call but I gave them a 5 star because they followed up with me to see if I was happy with the installation and if not was there something they could do to fix it.

I would definitely refer anyone to RA Solar

We had solar installed thru RA Solar. We got quotes from multiple popular vendors. The quotes were way higher and Panel were of lower efficiency and lesser warranty

FInally got to know about RA solar thru energy sage site. They were cost efficient, had the best warranty and the panel ! Overall it was truly an outstanding experience from start to finish. The entire process took less than 3 weeks ! I worked with Varney and he is outstanding. Always available and very quick to respond. I highly recommend RA Solar - for the quality of work,Speed,Panel Quality and customer service.

"Wow" is my experience. I met with 6 different companies and with 6 different experience. I never heard of RA.Solar until using energysage and met Varney. I was a bit worry since I never heard of them. I have to say he is friendly to work with and text response is fast. They have different team mate incharge of, sales, design, install, & permitting. So everything moved extremely fast. I got everything done including permit within a few weeks. The installers did a better job on the conduit bending work then my AC guys.
I'm happy with price and value. Highly recommended!!

Ra Solar helped me all the way from pre start to finish our solar project. Henry was my point of contact in sales. He has the knowledge and skills about solar system. He explained all about total cost, benefits, ITC credit, installation and permitting etc. The installation crew was awesome and friendly and most of all they were highly experienced. We are glad we chose Ra Solar one of the bay area's best company to go green.

I recommend Ra Solar to anyone out there who wants to get solar for home or business!

Ra Solar installed mine solar panels recently and now I am enjoying green energy flowing throughout my house. They came up with the best design that fits the shape of my roof. Installation was fast and professional. Tarvee lead his team taking care every aspect of the installation. They even cleaned up the site after they finished as if nothing happened. With the top quality of their equipment and excellent service, it's a no brainer to pick them for your next solar installation.