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If the pitch starts at your door and ends with "sign tonight for the special," sleep on it. The sun will still be there tomorrow; so will we.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterSolar Services in Burlingame, CA
If you live in Burlingame, you already know two things about going solar here: your roof likely sits under some of the most protected tree canopy on the Peninsula, and your electric bill keeps climbing regardless of how careful you are with the thermostat. We’re Gus’s Solar, a locally owned shop run by Gus Petrakis, and we’ve helped homeowners across 94010 and 94011 sort through both of those realities. When you call (877) 550-6892, a live person answers. Not a voicemail, not a call center. Someone who knows Burlingame roofs, Burlingame trees, and Burlingame utilities.
What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
- 2
You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
- 3
A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
- 4
You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Why Burlingame Homeowners Choose Gus’s Solar
Gus Petrakis puts his own name on the truck and his own cell number on the estimate. That’s the whole pitch. We’ve been doing this since 2011, and in that time we’ve worked on more Burlingame homes than we can count, from the tree-heavy streets of Easton Addition to the hillside lots off Hillsborough Drive. Homeowners in Burlingame keep calling us back for the same reasons: the quote we give is the price you pay, the crew that shows up is our own background-checked team, and if something isn’t right, Gus comes back and makes it right. That’s the 90-Day Done Right Promise, and it’s in writing on every job we do in Burlingame.
We also know the local terrain in ways an out-of-state installer never will. A house on Adeline Drive near the high school has very different shading than a bungalow over by Washington Park, and we account for that before we ever put a panel on your roof. No pressure, no signature-tonight routine. Bring us a bill, we’ll bring you the math, and you can take two weeks to think about it. The price will be the same.
Solar Services We Offer in Burlingame
Solar Panel Installation
We design and install Solar Panel Installation in Burlingame sized to your actual utility usage, not a generic square-footage formula. For Burlingame’s older housing stock, that often means working around shaded roof planes and upgrading undersized electrical panels as part of the job.
Learn more about our Solar Panel Installation in Burlingame.
Solar Battery Storage & Backup
Burlingame sits close enough to the bay and SFO that power interruptions aren’t hypothetical. We install Burlingame Solar Battery Storage & Backup systems from brands like FranklinWH and Enphase so your refrigerator, lights, and internet keep running when the grid doesn’t.
Learn more about Solar Battery Storage & Backup in Burlingame.
Solar Panel Cleaning
Between marine layer mist and the constant presence of coastal dust, Burlingame panels get dirty faster than homeowners expect. We offer Burlingame Solar Panel Cleaning to do this safely, and we also check connections and mounting hardware while we’re up there.
Learn more about Solar Panel Cleaning in Burlingame.
EV Charger Installation
Burlingame has one of the highest EV adoption rates in San Mateo County. If your panel is still 100 amps, which many 1930s and 1940s homes here still run, we’ll handle the panel upgrade and the EV Charger Installation - Burlingame in one job.
Solar Panel Maintenance & Monitoring
We monitor systems we install, and we also take over monitoring for systems we didn’t. If production drops, Gus is the one who calls you, not the other way around.
Solar Panel Repair
Storm damage, failing microinverters, corroded mounting hardware from bay air. We diagnose and fix all of it. We also offer a free second opinion on any written estimate you’ve received from another company.
Commercial Solar Installation
We install commercial systems for Burlingame businesses, from the retail corridors along Burlingame Avenue to light industrial spaces near the Caltrain tracks. Same no-pressure pricing, same in-house crew.
Neighborhoods We Serve in Burlingame
We work in every corner of Burlingame, and we can usually have someone out within 24 to 48 hours for an estimate. Here are a few of the neighborhoods where we spend the most time:
- Easton Addition - wide lots, mature trees, and a lot of Spanish Colonial Revival homes
- Burlingame Hills - hillside properties with unique roof angles and morning fog exposure
- Mills Estates - larger homes, increasingly common EV charger requests
- Lyon-Hoag - central Burlingame with a mix of 1920s bungalows and newer builds
- Ray Park - classic Craftsman homes, many with original tile roofing
Why Burlingame’s Climate & Housing Affect Solar
Burlingame calls itself the City of Trees, and that’s not just branding. The municipal tree-protection ordinance here is one of the strictest anywhere on the Peninsula. In practice, that means the mature oak or redwood shading your south-facing roof plane is likely legally untouchable, and getting a city permit to prune it for solar access is rarely granted. We’ve had to redesign more than a few Burlingame proposals around a protected deodar cedar or coast live oak that no amount of hoping will move. That’s why nearly every system we install in Burlingame uses microinverters or power optimizers, which squeeze production from partially shaded roofs in ways a single string inverter never will.
Then there’s the housing stock itself. Burlingame’s residential streets are full of 1920s through 1950s homes with original clay or concrete tile roofing. Mounting on tile requires specialized tile-replacement brackets, not the lag-through-asphalt approach that works fine on a newer composition shingle roof. And most of those older homes still run on 100-amp electrical panels built for an era before EV chargers and electric dryers. A panel upgrade to 200 amps is a near-routine part of going solar in a Burlingame Craftsman or Tudor.
The marine layer is the third factor. Burlingame sits directly in the fog corridor between SFO and the bay, and from late May into August, that June Gloom sits over your panels until mid-morning more days than not. A production estimate calibrated to Redwood City or San Jose will overpromise. We quote the year-25 output, not the day-one brochure number, and we build our models for coastal fog, not inland sun. Bay-proximity also means salt-laden air that eats mild-steel mounting hardware. We use stainless and anodized aluminum on every Burlingame install because anything less is a repair waiting to happen.
Pricing for Solar in Burlingame
Here’s what we tell neighbors when they ask what this actually costs. These are ranges for typical Burlingame residential jobs, and the only way to get an exact number is for us to look at your roof and your bill.
- Residential solar panel installation - $14,000 to $28,000 before incentives, depending on system size and roof type
- Solar battery storage & backup - $9,000 to $16,000 for a typical single-battery add-on
- Solar panel cleaning - $150 to $350 depending on roof height and panel count
- EV charger installation - $800 to $2,500, plus panel upgrade if needed ($3,000 to $5,000)
- Solar panel repair - $200 to $1,200 depending on the issue, with $40 off any repair over $200
We offer a senior and veteran discount of 10% that never expires, and there’s no trip charge inside our own county. Call (877) 550-6892 for a free estimate. Bring us a bill, we’ll bring you the math.
Service Area - Cities Near Burlingame
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, our crews serve Burlingame and the surrounding communities. If you’re in Hillsborough, Millbrae, San Mateo, or San Bruno, we work there too, with the same local crew and the same written promise.
Serving Burlingame, CA - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Burlingame area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About Solar in Burlingame
Most Burlingame residential systems fall between $14,000 and $28,000 before federal tax credits, with tile roof mounting and panel upgrades pushing toward the higher end. Your actual number depends on roof material, shading from protected trees, and your current electrical panel. Call (877) 550-6892 for an exact quote, estimates are free.
Yes, in most cases. Burlingame’s tree ordinance means you often can’t remove or prune the tree, so we design around it using microinverters or power optimizers and repositioning the array to whichever roof plane gets the cleanest sun. We’ll tell you plainly if a shaded roof makes solar a poor investment before you spend a dollar.
If your home still has a 100-amp panel, which is common in Burlingame’s 1920s through 1950s housing stock, you’ll likely need a 200-amp upgrade before adding solar, especially if you also want an EV charger. We handle the full upgrade as part of the installation.
Yes. We use tile-replacement mounting systems that preserve your original tile and prevent leaks, which is standard for many Burlingame Spanish Colonial and Mediterranean-style homes. We never flash around tile with caulk and hope for the best.
We can usually have someone out within 24 to 48 hours, and often faster if you’re already working with another quote and want a second opinion. Call (877) 550-6892 and a live person will answer.
If you’re tired of door-knockers quoting one number on the porch and another in the contract, call Gus. He’ll give you honest numbers, tell you to take two weeks, and answer his own phone. That’s how we’ve done it since 2011, and that’s how we do it in Burlingame.
Written by Gus Petrakis, Owner at Gus’s Solar, serving Burlingame and the San Francisco Bay Area since 2011.
What happens when you call
- 1A real person answersNo phone trees - talk to a local solar pro.
- 2You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched. No surprises.
- 3A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, typically within 1-hour.
- 4You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
What Burlingame Customers Say
"My previous solar company went out of business and left me with an array nobody would touch. Gus took the system over, replaced two dead microinverters, and it has run properly since."
- Ferdinand Kaltenbrunner"Four different companies knocked on my door in one summer and every one of them wanted a signature that evening. Gus has a shop with his name on it, gave me the numbers on paper, and told me to take a fortnight and think about it."
- Winifred Castellano"Honest quoting and good workmanship. He is not the cheapest quote I got, by some way, and he told me that himself and explained what the difference bought. I chose him anyway and I am glad."
- Alistair Fennimore