Alter Systems

Giving Javier and Alter Systems five stars for offering the most thoughtful bid of all the solar installers we contacted. He laid out the pros and cons of installing solar panels in our particular case — the only solar installer I contacted to do so. I’d contacted him because a friend is extremely happy with the good job Alter has done for her. This is an outfit you can trust to do an excellent job, and to let you know if solar installation is right for you.

I can’t say enough good things about these guys. We went with them because their bid was substantially lower than the other two. We were prepared to bite the bullet, but the whole process turned out to be a win so I think we just scored a great deal.
Once we got past the first bid, they came out an looked at the house and actually suggested a smaller system than we had originally spec’d for bid because some of the panels would have been at inefficient angles. Kudos for helping me get the best value, guys!
After the plans went back and forth a bit, the guys did a quick, painless, and professional install on schedule. They even took care to make the conduits unobtrusive and did touch-​up paint to make sure the system could blend into the house.
The real impressive part, though, these guys took point on interfacing with PGE’s net energy metering program, so the units in our duplex could split the solar power. Thank goodness for them! This was an endless bureaucratic hassle with endless jargon-​filled email chain, and all I had to do was sign off on the final bit. There’s really no way we could have done it without them. Extra credit for the extra mile there!
It didn’t hold us back at all, but if I had to nitpick on one thing, its that their communication can be a little slow: They always return calls and messages within 24 hours, but I always imagine Javier teetering up on someone’s roof while I was leaving my voice mail.
I totally recommend them. I’d use them again in a second.

They replaced an inverter on my rooftop PV system that had gone bad.
The project cost more than I wanted, but I price-​compared them to other local small firms and the bid was in the ballpark.
We had some miscommunication about the installation, but they rectified things quickly.
The work seems excellent and my solar system is now «plugging» along.

Great guys and they delivered just as they said they would. Job complete and we are very satisfied. They took care of everything and kept the job very clean. Definitely referring them to our friends and family.

Alter Systems installed our solar system in December of 2011.
They were completely professional and thorough in offering options in the design of the system that fit our home, family, budget, past energy usage, and future plans.
They handled all the paperwork in dealing with PG&E agreements, the Town of Windsor for permits, and scheduling of inspections around our schedules.
The installers were were professional and kept our home clean. (They cleaned up each day, a big plus with our small kids running around)
Besides having to wait for a couple weeks for PG&E to allow our system to finally come on line (not Alter’s fault), the system has be chugging out power flawlessly for two and a half years now.
The Enphase monitoring that they installed allows me to see my system at a glance from the web or my phone. We can see each individual panel, as well as alerts for any possible problems with any part of our system (none yet!)
I have happily and confidently recommended Alter System to many friends since our install.

Great combination of outstanding service and competitive price!
Javier and his team took down our antique solar panels (for my roof to be replaced), serviced them, revered them, and put them back up, all within the initial price we agreed upon. At the end panels needed more maintenance than originally planned, still the price was the same. Also they worked around my schedule and were greatly flexible with time, and worked around the time constrains of my child’s naps. Overall great work!

Had a really good experience with them.
1) Free quote. Pretty standard these days, all they need is your address and 12 months of PG&E bills. No pressure sales pitch. Good explanation of all the different options. Javier was great. They apparently started out as a solar wholesaler, but found a lot of demand for installation as well. Very competitive pricing!
2) Flexible. They recommended a certain type of panel, but I wanted to go in a different direction (buy American!) and they were able to obtain the panels that I wanted.
3) Fast install! They handled all the permits. They were on our roof within 4 weeks of signing the contract, and were done in another week. The two other installers I talked to ranged from 3 months to 9 months!
4) Quality was great. I watched a good bit of the install, and the guys did a bang-​up job.
5) Communication has been awesome. My emails get a response usually within hours.
This is a small company run by three brothers that has been around since 2004. My wife had concerns about going with a smaller company, as she wanted to make sure the company we went with was still around to help us service the panels 10 – 20 years down the road. What I learned was that a) solar panels have no moving parts and generally last decades with an expected degradation in production over time, and b) the solar panel manufacturer is the one on the hook for any problems. Companies like Solar City that guarantee a certain amount of production are just piggybacking off the manufacturer’s warranty, with no liability on their part (it’s all marketing!!).

Alter systems knows what they are doing on-​grid or off-​grid! After shopping around we settled on Alter Systems, it was refreshing to find three brothers working so closely together. There was no confusion no matter which one picked up the phone or did a «house call». They installed a 4Kw system at our home in Oakland in 2007 and it has exceeded our expectations from the moment it went live. That meter spinning backwards was such a great feeling! With that experience we talked to them about our ranch outside Red Bluff which is off-​grid and everything was portable generator powered. They recommended a wind turbine with battery storage and four panels to back up the few times we have no breeze but lots of sun. Even the well was converted to solar with a 5000 gallon holding tank. Now we only need a generator in the field. They keep in touch on performance of systems and more important what new technology may benefit us in the future! As we are considering options for power back up when the inevitable quake hits, this information has been invaluable. If thinking of going green GO ALTER SYSEMS these guys are ALTERNATIVE ENERGY PROS!

Alter Systems just finished replacing the inverter on my 3kw residential photvoltaic system in Oakland. It was hard to find good advice on fitting a new unit on my old system. Their engineer, Shelby, was very helpful in that regard. Andres was the installer. He knew what he was doing, took extra time to complete the work to his own high standards. I had been a loyal customer of Acme Solar in Berkeley until they retired and was worried I wouldn’t find anyone as good. Finding Alter was a big relief.

These guys are great. No creepy sales schpeel. No BS. We finally got a solar system and now I can feel good about doing my part to save energy :)
They did the design and installation so the whole process was simple and streamline. I talked to Javier through the whole process which made it even easier.
Go here for solar!

Alter Systems was the best! They installed a solar system on my roof in less than 3 days, and the guys that came were so nice — they worked constantly and explained everything so thoroughly. Andres was the one who came to my house for the consultation, and he was so accommodating and friendly and had the best price on panels. i highly recommend this company if you are getting solar or anything else related to alternative energy. 5 big stars!