Halvorsen Solar Service reviews

Ryan M. needed his solar panels taken down so his roof could be replaced and shopped around for estimates. He picked Richard because the quote came in lower than the others, and Richard followed through exactly as promised. The panels were removed on schedule, there were no hidden costs or surprises, and the whole interaction was straightforward and pleasant — what stuck with him most was that the lower price didn’t come with any compromise in reliability.

When Susan's solar inverter quit, a friend put her in touch with Halvorsen Solar Service. The owner called back quickly, came to her home, examined the inverter and climbed up to check the panels — and discovered substantial deterioration in the bolts holding the array in place, a safety concern beyond the failed inverter. He replaced the inverter and swapped out the corroded mounting bolts, leaving the system working and the panels securely fastened. Susan walked away relieved by the owner's hands-on approach and clear workmanship; the combination of a prompt response and the discovery and repair of dangerous hardware is what she remembers most.

Scott M. had a burned-out inverter at his San Jose home, and Richard drove from Hillsborough to handle the repair. Richard swapped the fried unit for a new SolarEdge inverter, phoned SolarEdge to confirm the inverter and backup battery pack were visible on their portal, and raised the battery's reserve from 10% to 30% so the house would retain more usable backup. Richard arrived on time, explained how the inverter and backup percentage work in straightforward terms, and boxed the old inverter for return shipment. Richard also stood out by being the only installer who returned a call and sent a text within a day. He found Richard reliable, honest, friendly, reasonable and knowledgeable, and walked away impressed that Richard didn’t just replace hardware but proactively optimized the system’s backup settings.

Andy H. had two separate solar systems on his ranch-style home and turned to Rich when both needed serious attention. The first system, installed in 2005, developed a roof leak because the attachment methods of the era were outdated; Rich tore out the old attachments and flashing, replaced them with modern hardware, and stopped the leak. When that same system’s inverter later failed at the end of its life, Rich swapped in a new unit and got the array running again. For the second array, a roof-deck repair forced a temporary demolition: Rich removed the panels and conduit that were in the way, worked around the roofers’ and deck installers’ timetables, and recently finished reinstalling everything once the new roof and deck were in place. Andy trusts Rich’s deep experience—he’s worked in solar nearly as long as the industry has existed—and what stuck with him most was Rich’s combination of technical fixes (upgrading decades-old attachments) and hands-on coordination with other trades so the project caused as little disruption as possible.

BR discovered the biggest improvement when Richard ran a Cat‑5 cable from the inverter to the router through the crawl space so daily Sunny Portal reports and immediate failure alerts arrive automatically. Before that BR would walk to the side of the house to eyeball the inverters, sometimes going months between checks; the remote monitoring transformed routine maintenance into instant notifications. Over the past 3–4 years Halvorsen Solar kept a 12‑year‑old PV system operational. About three years ago one of the original Sunny Boy 2500 inverters failed; with the original installer out of business, Richard sourced a used replacement from a prior job and swapped it in. When the second old inverter died about a year later, Richard installed a new Sunny Boy 7.7. Last fall he also expanded the array with higher‑efficiency panels, including all mounting hardware and wiring. A month ago an arc‑fault error popped up; Richard arrived quickly, traced the problem to a split in the metal conduit the original installer had run 12 years earlier that had allowed water inside and shorted a connection, and fixed it. He handled the work professionally and punctually, stayed good‑natured through

Ken hired Richard to handle his solar array while his roof was being replaced. Richard arrived on time, carefully took down the panels before the roof work and reinstalled them once the new roof was finished. He demonstrated clear skill at the work and charged a reasonable fee for the service. What stood out for Ken was the combination of punctual workmanship and fair pricing when the system went back up.

Ken first trusted Rich to handle ongoing maintenance at his business, and when it came time to put solar on his home he hired him again. He found Rich delivered strong workmanship, excellent service, and a personable, straightforward approach. The memorable bit is that the same person who kept the business running also completed the residential install, so Ken experienced consistent quality and support across both jobs. He walked away with a well-executed home system and the confidence of having one reliable technician to call for future needs.

Peter H. wanted an independent specialist rather than a large company to handle maintenance on his San Jose home’s solar system, and he found Richard Halvorsen. He discovered a professional, personable technician who troubleshot and repaired the array, cleaned the panels and fine-tuned the setup — lifting production from roughly 50% back to full output. Richard handled the work honestly and knowledgeably, made the process straightforward, and left Peter confident enough to rely on him as his sole technician going forward. The detail that sticks: a system operating at half capacity that was restored to 100% by one experienced, solo specialist.

Albert B. hired Richard to remove and reinstall his solar array while his roof got replaced, and to add shields around the panels to keep leaves from slipping underneath. Richard took the panels off and put them back on neatly — Albert ended up with an array that looks better than when it was first installed. During the teardown Richard spotted a cracked panel and helped gather the information needed to file a claim with the original installer. He proved easy to work with throughout, and Albert walked away with a tidier system, leaf guards in place, and a warranty claim already in motion — he plans to call Richard again if he needs more solar work.