For homeowners who plan in years, not months.
Power that stays on through a shutoff, for about half the long-run cost of PG&E.
No contact info required.
Potrero is a Santa Rosa solar, battery, and smart-panel installer, and Sonoma County asks a different question than the coast. Inland summers are hot and dry, so air conditioning is a real load and the sun is strong, but the fact that shapes every design here is fire season. Homes range from older ranch stock to whole neighborhoods rebuilt after 2017, and we size the system for resilience first: enough storage to ride out a multi-day Public Safety Power Shutoff, not just trim a bill.
The economics turn on PG&E rules as much as sun. Under PG&E NEM 3.0 the credit for daytime solar you export is low, so we design around the battery: store your own power and use it in the expensive evening hours instead of buying it back. In Santa Rosa that same battery does double duty, covering the peak-rate evening every day and keeping the house running when the grid is cut. Most homes here buy generation from Sonoma Clean Power while PG&E still handles delivery and billing, and you stay on those same rules either way.
The numbers that decide whether a system makes sense, sourced and specific to Santa Rosa and Sonoma County rather than a national average.
Rates and incentives reviewed June 2026.
About 6,459 kWh a year for the average home in PG&E inland baseline territory, zone X (allowance ~3,553 kWh), billed on the tiered E-1 rate plus its fixed charge. Summer air conditioning pushes usage above the coast. Your estimate scales to your home. PG&E Schedule E-1.
Modeled for a well-oriented Santa Rosa rooftop. Inland Sonoma gets stronger sun than the coast, so a roof here does more work per panel. NREL PVWatts.
The Kincade Fire ignited near Geyserville during a de-energization event and forced evacuations across Sonoma County, including Santa Rosa. Cal Fire traced the cause to PG&E transmission equipment. Cal Fire.
Almost three times inflation, and accelerating: up 41% in the last three years. A system you own locks in your cost per kWh. Public Advocates Office Q2 2025.
Homes in PG&E’s Sonoma division average about 10 hours per customer without power a year, around 5 on calm days, versus about 9 across PG&E. 2022 to 2024 average. PG&E reliability report.
More than the coast, and the reason is wildfire. Sonoma’s everyday grid is about average, but the fire and storm years land far harder here than on the coast, and that tail is what you size backup around.
That tail is fire. Santa Rosa’s eastern hills, neighborhoods like Fountaingrove and Oakmont, sit in CPUC Tier 3 extreme fire-threat districts, where fire season can still bring a Public Safety Power Shutoff. The county was hit hardest at the 2019 peak: in 2017 the Tubbs Fire burned into Santa Rosa itself, destroying entire neighborhoods like Coffey Park, and in 2019 the Kincade Fire ignited during a shutoff and forced evacuations across the city. PG&E’s grid hardening has eased the shutoffs since, but the wildfire risk that drives them has not gone away.
Rooftop solar alone does not help in an outage: grid-tied panels shut off for the safety of line crews, so a full roof still goes dark. A battery sized for whole-home backup islands the house automatically, runs the circuits that matter, and recharges from the sun each day, so a multi-day shutoff is something you ride out rather than evacuate around. We also pre-charge the battery from the grid when PG&E forecasts a shutoff, so you go in at a full charge.
Every design decision is made to lower your cost over the long run.
Same upfront price as the typical Santa Rosa quote. Roughly double the value over the long run.
We do not yet have enough completed Santa Rosa projects to publish a local median, so we will not invent one. Across our Bay Area work, signed contract to a live system runs about three to five months. Santa Rosa adds one wrinkle: unlike San Francisco, it is not on the SolarAPP+ instant-permit lane, so the permit goes through the city’s standard plan check. The hands-on work is still quick; the long pole is PG&E Permission to Operate, which sits with the utility, not the build.
Your address, roof, and PG&E baseline return a real price and system size, with no contact information required.
A designer reviews the layout, your PG&E usage, and your backup goals, then puts together a final quote. When it looks right, you sign and put 2% down: a small deposit that schedules the site visit, with nothing ordered yet.
We confirm the roof, main panel, and battery location on site, size the storage for a multi-day PSPS, and reconcile any changes to the design and price with you before permitting or construction.
Santa Rosa is not on the SolarAPP+ instant lane that San Francisco uses, so the permit goes through the city’s standard plan check, which we manage end to end. Once it clears we order materials, book the crew, and install: the panels, the EG4 battery, the smart panel, and the interconnection.
The city inspects, then PG&E grants Permission to Operate so the system can export. That wait is the long pole, and it sits with the utility, not the build. Once it clears, the system powers the home, stores daytime solar for the evening, and islands automatically the next time a shutoff or storm takes the grid down.
“They were very straightforward - clear communication from start to finish, no surprises, install team was awesome and the product works great. The price was much less expensive than other quotes I got for solar and batteries.”
“Production is right where they said it would be, and we've already had a PG&E power outage where the whole-home battery backup worked flawlessly.”
“The value proposition is bang on. Installation was really professional. And the service is amazing.”
“Potrero Solar was an easy and economical decision for us. The team took great care of us throughout the process, with excellent planning and installation services despite our tricky layout.”
“They were extremely respectful of our old house and went the extra mile to find the best placement for all the new equipment they installed.”
“This is a fantastic company. They have an unbeatable price and really great customer service. Their crew is great.”
“Even after installation, they’ve continued supporting me to optimize performance.”
“I highly recommend Potrero energy for your solar. They did a good job and it works great!”
“They were very straightforward - clear communication from start to finish, no surprises, install team was awesome and the product works great. The price was much less expensive than other quotes I got for solar and batteries.”
“Production is right where they said it would be, and we've already had a PG&E power outage where the whole-home battery backup worked flawlessly.”
“They were very straightforward - clear communication from start to finish, no surprises, install team was awesome and the product works great. The price was much less expensive than other quotes I got for solar and batteries.”
“Production is right where they said it would be, and we've already had a PG&E power outage where the whole-home battery backup worked flawlessly.”
“The value proposition is bang on. Installation was really professional. And the service is amazing.”
It depends on your roof, your PG&E usage, and how much backup you want for fire season. Rather than a generic per-watt number, the instant estimate uses your address, roof, and PG&E baseline to show a real price and system size with no contact information required. The short version: the same upfront price as a typical Sonoma County quote, designed for roughly double the value over the life of the system. Potrero is a licensed California electrical contractor, CSLB number 1147463.
See the numbers for your home (opens in a new tab)Yes. Sonoma Clean Power supplies your generation while PG&E still handles delivery, the meter, and billing, and you stay on PG&E NEM 3.0 Solar Billing Plan rules either way. Your solar credits and charges appear on the same PG&E bill. We design the system around those rules whether your generation comes from Sonoma Clean Power or PG&E.
How solar works under NEM 3.0 (opens in a new tab)For most market-rate homeowners, no. The SGIP battery rebate tiers that ordinary homeowners used closed to new applicants at the end of 2025. The one pathway still open in 2026 is an income-qualified program that has been heavily subscribed and waitlisted. We will check whether you qualify and tell you plainly if you do not, then size the battery so it pays off on backup and bill savings rather than on a rebate you cannot count on.
SGIP in 2026, explained (opens in a new tab)The decisions behind a Santa Rosa system, explained in depth.
How whole-home backup and recharge-from-sun get you through a multi-day PSPS.
Why Sonoma County gets shut off, and how to prepare the system ahead of one.
Why the battery, not the panels, is the load-bearing part of the system.
California battery rebate, and why a battery now has to pencil on its own.
An instant estimate uses your address, roof, and PG&E usage to show a real price and system size. No contact information required to start.
