Solar + battery systems engineered for outages, high utility rates, and long-term ownership

We build solar systems that behave correctly on bad days.

ABC Solar has been designing and installing solar power systems since 2000. We work on homes, estates, nonprofits, commercial roofs, and resilience projects across California and Louisiana. We are not chasing brochure perfection. We are engineering for real roofs, real families, real utility bills, real outages, and the kind of documentation and craftsmanship that still matters years after install day.

“Solar is infrastructure. It should work on bad days.”
— Bradley Bartz, Founder
Request Proposal See Project Archive Backup Power
ABC Solar does not offer financing or leases.

If you need to borrow, we suggest discussing a home equity line of credit with your bank or credit union. You arrange any borrowing directly with your lender.

Our approach to paying for solar
25+ years 1000+ solar grid-tie systems installed Homes • estates • commercial • resilience California + Louisiana Utility + inspection coordination

Infrastructure, not gimmicks.

A serious solar system should feel like part of the property, not a gamble. That means good engineering, clean roof work, disciplined electrical coordination, realistic battery planning, and a company that still cares after the install crew drives away.

1000+
Solar grid-tie systems installed. Experience matters when details start stacking up.
25+
Years in solar. Long enough to have seen hype come and go, and to value what actually lasts.
2 States
California and Louisiana work means heat, storms, rates, roofs, and resilience all matter.
1 Standard
Do it right. Document it well. Build systems that remain serviceable and understandable.

What ABC Solar does well

The point is not to sell every customer the same package. The point is to solve the real job in front of us: lower utility pain, improve outage survivability, preserve roof integrity, and make ownership make sense.

Solar + Storage

Modern value often lives in self-consumption and time shifting, not just raw production. Batteries can turn solar into a rate strategy.

Explore battery storage

Backup Power

From critical loads to whole-home planning, backup should be sized for real life, not fantasy loads written on a brochure.

See backup options

Solar You Own

Purchase your solar and battery system directly. ABC Solar does not offer financing or leases. Any borrowing is arranged independently with your chosen lender.

Paying for your solar system

How we think about modern solar

The old pitch was simple: put panels on the roof and watch the meter spin backward. That world is gone. High utility rates, time-of-use billing, export limitations, wildfire shutoffs, storms, and battery economics changed the job. The system now has to work as a whole.

1
Roof + site reality first Shading, roof condition, service panel constraints, battery placement, and clean routing matter before sales math.
2
Rate strategy + load profile We look at utility structure, peak pricing, critical loads, and where storage creates real value.
3
Code, utility, and documentation Inspection success is not an afterthought. Labeling, one-lines, disconnects, and electrical coordination matter.
4
Ownership that still feels good later A good system should be understandable, maintainable, and satisfying years after install day.
2000
ABC Solar is founded

Family-owned from the beginning, with a builder’s mindset instead of a lead-generation mindset.

2001
Villa Vincenti becomes installation #1

Early Napa work set the tone: real projects, real clients, real craftsmanship, and long-term memory.

2010s
Commercial, estates, and complex jobs expand the archive

The company grows into large homes, distinctive roofs, commercial systems, and increasingly technical projects.

2024+
Resilience becomes center stage

Landslides, outages, wildfire risk, storms, and battery economics make resilience work central to the mission again.

Your system. Your ownership.

ABC Solar does not offer financing or leases. We design and install the system you purchase. Start with a clear proposal and installed price.

Purchase directly

Paying from your own funds avoids loan interest and lender fees. Consider the project price alongside the reserves you want to keep for other needs.

Our borrowing suggestion: a HELOC

If you need to borrow, we suggest starting with your bank or credit union to discuss a home equity line of credit (HELOC). Compare the borrowing terms separately from the solar installation price.

Keep the decision in your hands

Your lender handles the application, approval and repayment terms. Ask about rates, fees, fixed-rate options and payments after the draw period ends.

A HELOC is secured by your home, which you could lose if you cannot repay. Rates are usually variable and payments can rise. The safest choice depends on your finances and the loan terms. Read the CFPB’s HELOC guide.

Request a solar proposal More about paying for solar

Find your best path in 20 seconds

This is a fast starting point, not a site survey. Answer three questions and we will point you toward the right next conversation: savings, backup power, off-grid planning, or paying for your system.

Start with Solar 101

ABC Solar does not offer financing or leases. Any borrowing is arranged independently with your lender.

Recommended path: Solar + Storage for Savings + Backup

For high TOU utilities, batteries often create the real economic value by shifting solar into expensive hours while keeping key loads alive during outages.

Featured project archive

The story gets stronger when people can actually see the work. These are not stock-photo claims. They are real installations, real sites, and real chapters in the ABC Solar history.

Los Angeles Flower Mart solar installation

Los Angeles Flower Mart

A major commercial rooftop project with serious electrical scale, real interconnection complexity, and long-term relevance.

Los Angeles 2010 280.35 kW
Open project
Palos Verdes landslide resilience solar work

Palos Verdes Landslide

A resilience story shaped by geology, grid instability, emergency response, and the need for practical repowering.

Rancho Palos Verdes 2024 Resilience
Open project
Villa Vincenti Napa early ABC Solar installation

Villa Vincenti, Napa

The first ABC Solar installation. This is where the story stopped being an idea and became a company with real work behind it.

Napa 2001 ABC Solar #1
Open project
Browse all project pages

ABC Solar in the field

Over two decades of projects, resilience work, and conversations about how solar should actually work.

AltaSea Open House

Brad Bartz speaking about the Palos Verdes landslide and the question: who turned the power back on?

View Event

Solar Rights Advocacy

Work defending homeowner rights to install solar under the California Solar Rights Act.

Learn More

Landslide Resilience

Emergency power and resilience work in the Palos Verdes landslide zone.

Case Study
Better than hype. Better than churn. Better than “good enough.”

ABC Solar is for property owners who want the system to make sense: technically, financially, structurally, and emotionally. The job is not to imitate Silicon Valley theater. The job is to build something you are still proud of when the weather turns, the grid fails, the inspector arrives, or ten years pass.

Solar War Stories

Twenty-five years in solar teaches things that never appear in glossy brochures. Real projects come with strange roofs, hard inspectors, utility friction, battery questions, weather problems, emergency power needs, and moments when power is no longer an abstract idea.

ABC Solar has lived through the industry long enough to know the difference between what looks good online and what actually works in the field. These are the kinds of lessons that shape how we design systems today.

Field story

The Palos Verdes landslide changed the meaning of backup power.

When the ground moves, utility assumptions move with it. In the landslide zone, power was not about marketing language. It was about refrigeration, communications, survivability, and getting families through another day with something working. That is where resilience stops being a product category and becomes real life.

Read the landslide case study
Lesson learned

Bad solar is usually a coordination failure before it becomes an equipment failure.

Roofers, electricians, utility paperwork, labeling, battery placement, service equipment, and inspection details all have to align. Many ugly jobs start with one party assuming someone else is handling the hard part.

Lesson learned

The cheapest quote often becomes the most expensive system to live with.

A low number on day one can hide future pain: awkward conduit, weak documentation, bad load planning, poor serviceability, rushed roof decisions, and battery expectations that were never grounded in reality.

Lesson learned

Batteries changed solar from a production story into a timing story.

Modern utility pricing punished the old “just add panels” mindset. In many cases the real value is no longer how much energy you produce, but when you use it, how you shift it, and what stays alive when the grid goes down.

Lesson learned

Inspectors do not care about your sales deck.

They care about code, clear documentation, safe installation practices, disconnects, labeling, workmanship, and whether the system in front of them makes sense. Good companies learn to respect that reality early.

Lesson learned

Real resilience starts with honesty about loads.

Whole-home backup sounds great until somebody expects air conditioning, electric cooking, pool equipment, EV charging, and every comfort load to run forever on a battery system that was never sized for that life.

Experience is what remains after the easy answers fail.

That is why ABC Solar designs for real roofs, real outages, real utility rates, and real ownership.

See More Real Projects Why ABC Solar
Bradley Bartz, founder of ABC Solar
Bradley Bartz Founder, ABC Solar Incorporated
Founder story

Built by a founder who actually lived through the solar industry.

ABC Solar was founded by Bradley Bartz, an early solar entrepreneur with a long memory for what works, what fails, and what gets quietly ignored until a homeowner is left with the consequences. That is one reason this company feels different. The work was never just about selling panels. It was about understanding roofs, electrical systems, batteries, utility friction, inspections, long-term ownership, and the simple fact that power matters most when conditions are at their worst.

Brad built ABC Solar with a builder’s mentality instead of a lead-generation mentality. Over time, that grew into a company known for real projects, difficult roofs, resilience thinking, battery-first strategy, and the kind of hard-earned judgment that only comes from years in the field. From early installations in Napa to complex commercial work in Los Angeles to resilience projects in landslide and outage conditions, the through-line has stayed the same: build it right, document it well, and make sure it still makes sense years later.

Learn more about our founder here.

Founded ABC Solar in 2000 More than two decades of experience in solar design, installation, and long-term system thinking.
Infrastructure mindset Brad approaches solar like part of the property itself: structural, electrical, financial, and emotional.
Resilience-first perspective Backup power, batteries, and survival during grid failure are treated as real design priorities, not brochure add-ons.
Still pushing forward ABC Solar continues evolving into storage, resilience, commercial work, research, and next-generation energy systems.
Solar is infrastructure. It should work on bad days too.

That philosophy runs through the entire company.

Why ABC Solar About the Company