Empowered Energy Solutions

As CEO, I work hard to deliver to our clients the financially optimal energy project, including solar, batteries, lighting, efficiencies, and our cutting edge Guardian building controls product.

I came across empowered energy solutions late in my solar search. I met with Tom English he was very prompt on short notice. He drafted a proposal that was fair with quality equipment and a 25-​year bumper to bumper warranty. We agreed to a price and he sent the contract over. When the contract came over there was an error in the size of the project, empowered understood they made a mistake, after a short discussion both parties came to an agreement. I look forward to working with a solar company that stands by what they say.

We just had Empowered install a rather novel solar system onto our house. I say novel, as we took extreme measures in order to achieve a unique cosmetic effect that seamlessly integrates into the building’s architecture. As this installation departed from the norm, we even had companies decline working on our project (Hello to you Solar City, who «no bid» our concept) Empowered however enthusiastically embraced our project and brought it about with real aplomb. I give real credit and lots of thanks to Jose Torre-​Bueno and some of his staff. Jose is truly in his own league of having a very genuine command of understanding of what needs to be done in order to design a very well thought out system. His guidance set the pace for what turned out to be a most successful project. Specific players who gave it their all include Max and Jeremy who led the charge performing the physical installation. The result of their work is an installation that is pretty much perfect, and very much meets all of the ambitious design objectives that we so badly wished to achieve. We had the extreme pleasure of working with Donna who is the most capable focal point inside Empowered’s office. When we made a request from Donna, we NEVER had to ask a second time. Donna made sure that each and every request was handled, and was handled with a uniquely high level of competency. My neighbor in contrast has recently had a very bad experience with a competing company. We just cannot say enough positive things about our dealings with Empowered

Ted Torre-​Bueno and I have been working together in a referral group for the last few months. Upon meeting Ted, I was very impressed with how he interacts with people and the knowledge he displays regarding solar and the benefits it will provide. He genuinely cares about what he does and it shows in his work. I feel very confident in referring Ted and his team at Empowered Energy Solutions for any solar needs!

Empowered Energy Solutions installed my solar system over a year ago. My goal was to have just enough panels to avoid paying SDG&E anything. At the end of one year, SDG&E owed me $ 31. EES’s estimate of how many solar panels I would need was right on the money! And speaking of money – this system will certainly save me boatloads of money in the long run. From initial contact to project completion, all EES personnel were extremely knowledgeable, efficient, helpful (I asked a million questions), and very personable. I highly recommend them – from start to finish, they did an admirable job!

DO NOT GO WITH THIS COMPANY!
… Well, unless you want a headace-​free process, and a team of professionals that know exactly what they are doing and are offering you the best service. I have talked to few other companies when deciding on the right company to go with, and Ted and his team proved me from the beginning that they are very knowledgeable and well educated in a field. Great service and best price compare to those others I talked to, what else can you ask for?
Tom, Donna, Pam, Carlos, and everyone else I was in contact during the install did their best to make the transition as smooth as possible. Now, I’m loving my two solar tubes and solar panel rays.
The only disadvantage: My mom now brings in all her laundry to our home to use our electric dryer!
Give them the code «RAD2189» so you too can take advantage of their best service and rates.

We chose Empowered Energy Solutions from three top companies we asked to bid to us for rooftop solar. We did our research first on Unilocal,the BBB and the State Contractors License Board. All three companies had stellar records. We selected Empowered Energy Solutions over the others for their 25 year Production Guarantee (which no other solar company offers), their pricing and the rapport we had with Tim Anderson (Director of Sales).
We needed to get a new roof first and upgrade our electric box as our home is almost 40 years old. Additionally, we felled some large trees that would have shaded the solar panels and added some SolaTubes to our home. So, we had a lot for Empowered Energy to work around and coordinate. They did a phenomenal job installing our 24 Panel system. Everything went smoothly, cleanly and timely. Communication was perfect. They took care of all the paperwork and everything that SDG&E needed. I know this is a long review but I strongly urge you to invest in rooftop solar. Do not delay — you know where electricity rates are headed! Empowered Energy Solutions has been around for a long time and has some amazing experts on their team. They are accommodating and highly respectful of your home and property.

I researched several solar companies and decided to go with Empowered Energy because of their thoroughness and professionalism, including an in-​depth explanation of the system and the underlying energy demands, and their attention to detail. The entire experience was top-​notch. I was replacing my roof at the same time and they were excellent about coordinating with the roofer for the installation. The entire team was knowledgeable and provided excellent service. I also had a panel upgrade and an electric vehicle charger installed and I am very happy with my new system. Overall I was highly impressed and have already referred them to my parents, who have also used Empowered for their PV installation.

After much research and receiving 5 bids for solar I comfortably signed a contract with Empowered Energy Solutions. It is now a few months after completion. I highly recommend EES. My background is 40 years in Electrical Contracting and Electrical Estimating. I have a very critical eye for electrical pricing, design and installation. I’m a bit older now and did not want to work on my roof. EES gave me the best price, design and installation possible. Had I gone with one of the other bids I would not be as happy. The hardest part of this project was finding a solar company that did not smell of used mattress salesmen.
My system is 5.5KW, 22 — 250 watt panels with Enphase Micro Inverters and monitoring system. 25 year warranty on everything. I paid cash which is the cheapest. It will be paid off in about 6 years and save me over $ 75k over 20 years. I choose to upgrade my Main Service to a 200 amp Square D combination meter/​distribution, which I am very happy about.
The owner Ted is the most knowledgeable solar expert of all the companies I interviewed. He was very responsive throughout the entire project. The office staff, Donna would reply to my emails resolving my questions very quickly .
Once I signed a crew came out to shoot the sky for the best location for the panels. Then there’s a little wait while drawings are made and submitted for permit. Once SDG&E came out and approved my Main Service upgrade the work proceeded very quickly. The installation took the crew about 3 days. Butch and his crew did an excellent installation job. Running conduit in an attic can be tough but the end result was very professional. They ran two circuits which leaves me room to add more panels when I buy an electric car in the future. SDG&E gave me permission to turn on the day following final city inspection.
Bottom line is making electricity is a blast thanks to Empowered Energy Solutions.

I had Empowered Energy come do an energy analysis several years ago after asking them some questions about energy saving devices and solar. Ted, the owner, was so knowledgeable and I immediately knew his company was the one. He didn’t try to sell me on more solar than I needed; he first recommended other less costly ways that could save energy and then we did the solar on the reduced need. One of the improvements was a computerized pool pump. There have been a few occasions where we needed help with it and Ted has responded within the hour and always fixed the issue. I don’t believe that after the installation is complete many companies are willing to show such customer service even years later but EES does. The knowledge, professionalism and incredible customer service are THE reasons to choose Empowered Energy Solutions.

I opened our SDG&E bill today. Last month we used .60 cents (yes, less than a buck) for the electric portion of our bill. It has been that way since we had Empowered Energy Solutions install solar panels on our roof in November of 2013. I just smile when I open the bill now. Just fantastic! We researched for four months and finally decided to go with Empowered. Stan was the best project manager and it looks nice as well as functions wonderfully. I like that it has a 25-​year warranty also. Get the freebies from the other guys that advertise all over the place but go with Empowered if you want a quality team and company that has been around since the 70s.

When we bought our house two years ago my husband and I decided to go with solar energy for our home. We listened to four different solar energy companies. Each company told us why their solar panels were the best.
However, when we spoke to Empowered Energy Solutions they didn’t were just about getting the panel; they promised to make our whole entire house energy efficient. They informed us on the various types and sizes of panels that our home would require based on our energy consumption. My husband and I were very impressed by how much knowledge and insight they shared with us.
The whole entire process from beginning to end went without any major issues or problems. The project manager was very helpful and pleasant to work with. If any issue occurred he immediately responded and took care of it. The Empowered Energy Solutions team was always on time and very professional during the installation.
It’s been two years now since our installation and we couldn’t be happier about it.
Even to this day, we call Empowered Energy Solutions with questions and they are always there to answer our call. We can’t thank them enough for providing not only high levels of expertise on solar panels but also informing us on how to become more energy efficient.

Empowered Energy is technically as well as ethically superior to all the companies we talked with before: getting a solar system, changing some of our lighting to LED, upgrading some insulation and installing a small monitor so that we would know when and where we were consuming excess energy.
Empowered recommended a less expensive system than the national companies and we realized the reason was that they were concerned about our best strategy as homeowners. They recommended only placing panels on the parts of the roof that got the most sun, not putting as many panels as possible on the roof even if some of them were actually not worth the cost. (something you would never realize in the slick presentations that simply show you the number of panels and the total savings) With fewer panels, we had a much better rate of return.
Empowered sent trained technicians to our home. They understood the technology and the economics, while the other companies had salesmen poorly trained in any of the details and who merely recycled the printed, slick brochures they produced for our home.
Empowered also spent hours with me helping us change some of our lighting to LED bulbs and then installing a monitor so we could see how much power we were using everywhere. While the monitor works very well, the software is fourth rate and hard to use. Entirely unprompted, Empowered decided they should replace the clumsy monitor with a newer better one.
The icing on the cake was the Nest thermometer they installed. While that is a fairly trivial job for professionals, they then took the time to be sure that my wife and I both understood how to use it.
Friends have asked me if there is a risk to using a small company instead of a big national company to design and install a system. The answer is no, because all systems once installed are maintained by the company that buys the lease and manages the tax credits. I should add though that even after the system was turned over the the national leaseholder, Empowered came out twice to check the system; once when I had a question and another time when I did not understand a signal from the inverter (a signal that actually meant SDG&E had to make a small repair.)

My wife and I are fixing up one of our rental properties that we plan to move back into. Our number one issue with this attached town house (caused by the layout and some other factors) is that it is impossible to adequately heat/​cool it.
I did lots of research and called lots of places.
One of the places I called was Empowered Energy Solutions. I talked to Ted for awhile. He listened to my issues and provided a bunch of suggestions. Since our job was small he recommended not paying him to manage the project and working directly with the subcontractor he would have called.
We will be buying a bigger home in the next couple years and will definitely give Ted a call.

We looked at a number of solar companies and selected Empowered Energy Solutions. They provided a complete energy audit before making the recommendation for our solar system. The panels and inverters are the best available worldwide with an excellent reputation and warranty. The installation was effortless — to code, on time and on budget. The best part is the energy bills (just the few dollars of monthly hookup fees) and watching that dial run backwards, accumulating energy credits for the winter months.”

Empowered Energy was great to work with and gave us the incredible value and joy of owning a home solar system. We went from ridiculously high and fluctuating monthly electric bills to having nothing but the feeling that we’re doing something good for the environment. It’s silly but exciting to watch the meter go backwards. They’ve been a great company to work with, whose reliability gives us comfort that we made the right decision and a good investment. They also gave us the best quote and we were happy to support a small company with competitive rates and good quality workmanship and materials. Highly recommended.

We started working with Empowered because our SDGE bill was getting out of control and it didn’t look like energy costs were going to go down anytime soon.
With the additional incentive of helping the environment and receiving government incentives, the time seemed right to look into solar energy.
Choosing a company was obviously important.
This company did things a little different than I expected. They took the time to understand all of our energy usages through talking to us and studying our SDGE bills.
I had had SDGE out a handful of times over the years to see how I could improve our rising bill, and each time I was left with unsatisfying information or no information at all. Sometimes I was just given a booklet. I already self corrected our home with that standard booklet… we needed help.
For example…
Empowered Energy Solutions immediately tagged our electric clothes dryer (as a source that could be improved) and suggested we upgrade to a gas dryer. On paper, they showed the difference per month of our savings, according to our usage; a new dryer’s cost and its efficiency will pay for itself in a short time compared to what this dryer is now costing us.
This is just one example of the analysis they gave us. I knew we were going to talk about light bulbs and insulation… but the list grew from the analysis and we were surprised at how many items were identified — this was done to correct what we could do; (so) if we chose to install a solar system, we could install the smallest solar (panels/​grid) necessary for our needs.
Our house was not able to have a roof top grid. We were able to tuck the solar system’s grid out of sight and Empowered took care of EVERYTHING from permit through construction including dealing with the Health Department about a Septic system in the same canyon.
The experience was satisfying and our energy bills have turned out to be exactly in the range of what they predicted.

They did a great job, the company sent someone out to my place of residence and detected air leaks in the skylight and doors with the thermal imaging camera. They also made recommendations regarding the exhaust system and ductwork. This should help me keep my place warmer during the winters and reduce excessive condensation also.