RA Tech Solar

Mark was amazing in all aspects of the transaction. Clear bid with everything transparent and no surprises. His care during the installation was great. He discovered several issues with our previous installation (roof leak, some sloppy wiring) and repaired by taking them off the roof and reinstalling them at a very low cost!!. His installation was professional, clean and excellent in all respects. Extremely knowledgeable and competent. I have had this new system since 2010 with no complaints whatsoever.

I am excited to write a review of RaTech and Mark Thompson. On the other hand, we really want Mark to do more work on our house, and as the song says: «Don’t Advertise Your Man». But Mark deserves an accurate review.
We live in the Santa Cruz mountains and have a large south facing hillside. I did not want to add panels to the roof. I read all the Unilocal reviews and ended up getting quotes from Mark and CleanSolar. I told them we wanted to NOT have roof mount and wanted to zero out the PG&E bill. The CleanSolar sales guy quoted a couple of options, both ROOF MOUNT and not enough to zero out the bill. I think he was used to quoting customers to drop their consumption into the lowest tier and so he ignored my size requirement. I told him again we wanted a ground mount and he half-​heartedly said he would quote that if we really wanted it. This did not inspire confidence. Mark then came out and to make a long story short listened to exactly what we wanted while adding his expertise to the conversation. Being an engineer myself, it was great to talk to the brains of the operation and not a sales guy. When the CleanSolar sales guy called back and I told him Mark’s proposal (size and cost), he scoffed and said that could not be done… and good luck to us. Fast forward to the end and yes it was done very well for the quoted price.
Before hiring Mark I contacted about 30 references, most of whom wrote me back with glowing comments. Many used the word «genius» in their response. Everyone reported about his responsiveness, high quality work and technical abilities. I visited his Los Gatos hillside installation and it was obvious how good the work was.
Mark signed up for a few jobs at the same time, so we had to wait a few months to start. I think he normally is able to start sooner. He did a house in Los Altos with 75 roof mounted before he started ours. The good news is that Mark focuses on one job at a time. He did not start ours until he could focus on it full time.
The hillside installation was challenging, but Mark has been there, done that. He has the skills to deal with all the various aspects of the job. The structure is very sturdy and Mark knows all the codes and calculations. He handled all the permits, filed all the rebate paperwork, etc. Mark replace our main panel, sub-​panel, roof drop, etc. The new wiring is a thing of beauty.
Mark is a perfectionist. As he was at our house every day he pointed out things that could be improved. We hired him to do many things at a reasonable price with no surprises. He cleaned up many funky things at the house… mostly electrical issues. He put a new sub-​panel in our garage and basically re-​wired the whole thing (it was bad before) and added 6 new fluorescent light fixtures so we can actually use it at night with great lighting. He installed two separate dedicated 30 amp plugs for future car charging. Mark did some drywall work and suggested and installed a new external light on our garage. He and his assistant Shawn (also very skilled and dedicated) also did some work on our irrigation system. We were concerned about erosion on the hillside and Mark designed and installed landscaping, cut in stairs with railroad ties, etc. to make it work right.
In many cases Mark made backup provisions. For example, he put an extra conduit in the electrical trench in case he needed to run ethernet through it. It turns out that the box that communicates with the inverters (and reports data to the Enphase web site so you can view it!) did need to be mounted near the panels and connected by a long ethernet cable under our house to our router. This was easy for Mark because he had planned for it.
Mark is an honest and very capable contractor. He is a bit quirky and has a million great puns. The installation was done in December and Mark and Shawn put in long days with few breaks in order to move quickly. Mark kept us informed as to costs from the extra things we asked him to do, and these costs were reasonable. Most important, the work was top notch.
So how is it working after two months? Great. We have used just a bit more energy than we have produced, but in the summer I am sure we will produce a lot more than we use.
In case you have any question about possible reimbursement from PG&E, let me inform you that PG&E gives you a brochure when they install the net meter. The brochure says that there is no reimbursement. However, there is an insert to update this. This insert says (you can find this on PG&E’s web site as well):
«If you provide more energy to PG&E’s grid than you receive on a 12 month basis, you would be identified as a „net generator“. If you qualify as a net generator at the end of your 12 month true-​up period, you will qualify for compensation for your net excess electricity. PG&E will automatically notify you at that time of your compensation options.»
So: «Go Big or Go Home!»
I highly recommend Mark Thompson. I will post some pictures in Unilocal

Mark provided fair pricing and excellent workmanship. He also provided creative solutions that provided a cost savings to me including figuring out a way to tap into my old service panel without having to install a new one and installing the system on my old but serviceable shake roof.
Mark usually provided good communication throughout the project, but at times I had to inquire about something that was not explained. He did have the bases covered and was looking out for me, but just failed to let me know what or how a decision was made. Being a small business, he’s just about a one-​man show and spread a little thin sometimes.
I spoke to about 10 solar contractors and received bids from 5 and Mark’s quote was by far the most complete (listing pricing down to the nut and bolt), adaptable to my site and was the lowest to boot. The references he provided gave him stellar reviews.
Mark’s final pricing had no surprises — it was exactly what he quoted me. He also took care of a lot of small details like painting the conduit to match my house color and adding a breaker box with extra space for more circuits in case I needed that in the future. Mark also took care of all the interconnection and CSI rebate paperwork which can be tricky for homeowners to do themselves.
I would second the other reviewer here who recommended getting the Tigo Energy Management System. It provides 3 benefits:1) a way to disconnect the DC power flowing at the panel level to allow for the safety of fire fighters in case of a fire and for the safer maintenance of the system, 2) maximizes the power output of the system using impedance optimization and 3) allows for energy monitoring and recording through a web interface at the system and individual panel level for troubleshooting and system performance analysis. It’s exciting to go to the website and see my own power station producing electricity!
In summary: RA Tech Solar provided a great experience and installed a well-​crafted, fairly priced PV system. His sales presentation may not be the slickest like some of the new big players but don’t let that fool you — he is experienced and knowledgeable and in the end delivered what he promised.
There are many venture capitalist –funded companies now in the solar market. They have slick presentations, confusing lease options and power purchase agreements (which may work for some who cannot fund a PV system outright, but not for many who can find a loan or other funding and save way more money on the power produced in the long-​run). I’m sure some of them provide good systems for their customers. But I prefer to give my business to a local small business owner who knows what they are doing, has the flexibility to fit my needs and provides excellent customer service and craftsmanship. RA Tech Solar fit that bill!

Mark from Ra Tech Solar and his amazing crew installed a great looking rooftop 5.5 kW PV array at our house in Hollister. The install went very smooth and looks incredible. After researching many other installs from other companies online, from owner pictures, very few installs look as good and clean as what was delivered by Mark.
His quotes were clear, honest, and flexible. If you don’t like something, Mark will explain the options and help you get what you want. Mark took care of all the paperwork and installation details, soup to nuts. Now I just need to send my accountant the forms to file with my taxes, to get the tax credit; easy as pie.
This was a very big investment for me and I wanted to be sure I had the right team for the job. After comparing Mark’s quotes to over 10 other large and small Solar companies [taking months of my time], the choice was clearly Ra Tech Solar.
Just a note that for anyone considering a PV array install, I strongly suggest getting the optional surge protectors and Tigo modules for your panels. With the Tigo units, if one of your panels is not working perfectly, you will never figure out which one without hours of messy testing and measuring. With Tigo, you can see online how each panel is doing graphically, and that is a priceless feature. It helps the installer come out and fix the problem right away the first time.
My only error was not calling Mark sooner since the California rebates are now much lower than before. I should have done this job Jan 1^st 2010, as this was when the federal gov started handing out 30% credits to homeowners.
As a comparison about pricing, other companies I talked to would find every little reason to bring up the price, like using overly expensive panels or charging me for little details which fell out of their «easy install» guides such as $ 100’s more just because I had concrete tiles.
I also took this opportunity to get a NEMA 14 – 50 240v plug installed in my garage for my future electric car. This install was also top notch. Suggest everyone get this since Mark’s already in the electric panel doing work so it’s easier for everyone.
My recommendation, don’t even bother with anyone else. Get a quote from Mark and go with it.

Mark Thompson from Ra Tech Solar installed a 7 kW AC hillside solar system at our property in Los Gatos. Mark and his crew did an wonderful job (other solar companies rated the hillside mount a 10 on a 1 – 10 difficulty basis and charged accordingly). Mark definitely knows his stuff, takes great pride at his workmanship, and uses the best components. Ra Tech Solar provided me with an itemized price quotes for several options (listing all components such that I could do the research), they took care of all the paperwork (permits, rebates, and connection to P&G), installed the system with extra conduit for future expansion, and a water line for cleaning the solar array. Other well-​know local companies wanted to install a rooftop system because of the hillside difficulty — which would have definitely been a failure since our hillside has southern exposure and the right angle. The system is outperforming the quote specs.