Save a Lot Solar - Berkeley, California

Steve McConnell

I shopped around with 4 providers/installers of solar panels/systems. I'll be honest, I was somewhat put off by the name "Save A Lot Solar", but ended up selecting them because 1) they offered the type of equipment I was looking for, and 2) (honestly) they were less expensive than their competition. I am very pleased with the results. They delivered as promised, against a somewhat tight time-table. Good communication, thorough bid, friendly installation team, and good end result. Also, I'll mention that there was an issue during installation that was weather related (we ended up with some minor water damage to a ceiling in one room). This was unforeseen, so I don't blame the crew at all. More importantly, they stood behind their work and covered the cost to repair it. Problems will happen, and all that you can ask is that a service provider take responsibility for whatever issue occurs, and they absolutely did that, without complaint. I would recommend Save A Lot Solar to any Bay Area home owner considering installing a solar panel system.

Robert Hanelt

Save a Lot Solar

Yesterday, August 23, 2024, almost to the day last year that Save a Lot Solar installed Solar Backup Batteries at our Oakland home, PG&E had an “Unplanned Outage” in our neighborhood. The batteries took over immediately and powered our house for three hours until the grid was restored. No interruptions and no resetting of digital clocks. Whew!

We have had a great relationship with John Orfali, Save a Lot Solar’s Owner, from when he first installed an 18-microinverter array (4.9 kW DC) on our rooftop in August 2016, to last year when we eventually contracted with John to install a three -backup battery system (10.08 kWh). He even came to our home once, when our insurance company required us to switch out our home’s older electric panels and replaced those panels. (Even when no solar electricity components were involved, John was there to accommodate our electrical needs.)

So, when we finally decided to invest in solar-backup batteries, there was no question to whom we would turn, we called John. You should too.

We have been impressed with John Orfali’s integrity and patience. He takes the time to make sure that one understands how the solar systems work and how they will benefit the homeowner. It has been eight years since we first became customers of Save a Lot Solar and we could not be more pleased with the company, its team and its installers.

Brad Berman

The professionals at Save a Lot Solar have provided us with 5-star services during the entire process of custom designing and installing our new home solar system. They are knowlegable, explain any and all technical terms and explanations, and took our requests into the planning and installation process. Their staff are friendly, on-time, and efficient. The entire installation process was smooth with limited interruption to our daily flow of activities. Save a Lot Solar also helped us with the local permitting process and to register with PG&E.
In sum, Save a Lot Solar has been a great contractor for solar services and would justifiably recommend them, as we have already done with friends.

Cookie Segelstein

From start to finish, Save-a-lot solar was wonderful. They did not sell us more than we needed, were the most reasonable of all of the quotes we got and also, I was really impressed that the first person I spoke with who came to our house was the owner. The system is working beautifully, they did a lovely job and I highly recommend Save a Lot Solar!

Marlene Barneveld

Save a Lot Solar installed solar panels and battery storage on our 100 yr old bungalow 1 year ago
They were referred to us by our neighbors. The installation was very smooth, leaving a clean work site with minimal disruption.
The biggest factors for there success in the industry is the support and guidance with the design, regulatory compliance and set up with the local energy provider and the simplicity the information presented to us to make the right decisions for us.
They really do it all effectively and quickly. Anything needed from us was explained simply and clearly.
One year on we sit in a cool house in the summer for $50 per month. We are cool customers literally
Marlene

Shoko Michael

I chose Save A Lot Solar to install additional panels to my existing solar panel system for my home. I was extremely pleased with the entire experience from start to finish. They reached out personally, after collecting the information they needed, to make sure I understood all consequences of choices made. There were no surprises, and they charged reasonably. They always arrived on time at appointments; they were professional and they worked efficiently. I did feel I "saved a lot." 🙂

Philip Zarri

Save A Lot Solar installed our Enphase house battery system the beginning of 2024 and did a wonderful job. John Orfali, the owner, educated us about the benefits of the system and the install, permitting and operational process. He never tried to oversell to us and was very respectful of our decision making process.

About six months after the install we had a problem with the Enphase communicator and John’s crew came out promptly to make the repair. I would, without hesitation, recommend him if you are considering adding/replacing rooftop solar and/or a backup home battery system and live in the San Francisco Oakland Bay Area.

Maia Barrow

Excellent experience from start to finish. The owner, project manager, installers and everyone I have spoken with through the process were so helpful and knowledgeable. I appreciated that they sized a system for my home based on my current needs, without trying to sell me something bigger than I needed. After installing, they were watching the system stats, noticed something was off, and called the manufacturer proactively to resolve the issue (before I even noticed anything was wrong). Someone from the manufacturer came out that same day to fix it.

Since the install, my electric bill is a small fraction of what it was before. The best thing is being able to flip on our AC on a 90+ degree day without worry, knowing exactly where that power is coming from.