Jim Katzman

Review of Cobalt Power Systems, Inc.

I just finished a third round of Solar PV installa...

I just finished a third round of Solar PV installation with Cobalt Power Systems. Every time was impressive. In 2010, I installed a PV system of 40 SunPower panels. That went very well, and the system performed better than predicted. In 2016, I added 44 LG PV panels which brought my power production to cover 100% of my electric bill, which has been zero since 2016. Both installations went extremely well.

Based on my past experience with Cobalt, I went with them again this year to install a Tesla Powerwall System of 3 units to help me ride through the predicted PG&E issues in the bay area. I got about 4 different estimates from different companies. Cobalt was the highest bid, but I went with them anyway. I m glad I did. Why? As an electrical engineer myself, I am continually impressed with their engineering. The other companies, not so much. I heard from one of the other companies that I would have to trench a new main line to power my whole house with a battery storage system at the EXTRA cost of $30,000-$50,000. Wrong! I had a recommendation from a friend of a company that installed his Tesla Powerwall who later rescinded his recommendation, based on a job that had to be redone to get it right.

Cobalt s engineering has always produced a proposal that needed no change orders or things that were left out. They are true professionals. In 2016 and this year, my sales engineer was Drew Johnson. He gave me a quote which included detailed design specs that made sense. They told me they were backed up and couldn t begin until August. In May, Drew called me and said they had an opening, would we like to start. And they did. And they finished. No surprises.

Everything went smoothly. The only delays were from city and PG&E inspectors. Their install team showed up on time every day. They worked hard and got the system in and it is performing flawlessly. They also painted all the equipment to match our house so it is not only functional but cosmetically consistent with our home. I have to also thank Ricardo Mercado who was the project manager of the installation and his team and Tatiana Hamo who made sure that all the compliance papers were filed correctly with PG&E and the city of Saratoga so that everything was compliant and that I would be getting all my tax credits and SGIP rebates from PG&E.

If you want to be confident in a good engineering job without surprises from a team of pros, I highly recommend Cobalt Power Systems.