About Gerald Sobel

Sobel Solar

We service or install all solar water-heating systems. We troubleshoot “problem” systems for reliable service.

(310) 403-6784

A long, hands-on career

I am the son of a professional journeyman plumber and pipefitter who repaired ships during WWII, built power plants, oil refineries, chemical plants, national-defense missile facilities, and skyscrapers. I began working with him as a child, helping build our family home and later helping remodel and re-plumb a three-story Victorian mansion.

I went on to earn a bachelor's degree in Pre-Veterinary Medicine and Biological Research at Rutgers University in 1968. After serving as a Naval Aviator Officer during the Vietnam War, I earned a Masters of Arts degree in Physiological Psychology with a minor in Microbiology and Immunology research at San Francisco State University.

While developing safety gear for work in sterile research laboratories, I entered the budding solar field as a solar-system salesman and designer. When customers reported systems that were not heating their pools satisfactorily, I diagnosed and repaired them myself and got them working well beyond expectations.

Later, while working for FAFCO, I was sent to leads where previous salesmen had concluded that solar was not feasible. I found ways around obstacles and made systems work. Those experiences ultimately led me to go into the solar business for myself.

I started my company in 1976 and have spent my career involved hands-on in solar hot-water system design, installation, maintenance, and repair. My specialty is remedying problems in systems installed by contractors who may no longer be in business, throughout Southern California.