Villa Vincenti, Napa
ABC Solar’s first installation (2001): 66 Sharp 75W panels with two SMA Sunny Boy 2500 inverters, built fast with smart details to make early-era hardware fit cleanly—and to keep a classic system serviceable decades later.
Project Story
This is where it started. Villa Vincenti in Napa was the first ABC Solar installation—done in 2001, in the early days when solar was still full of “figure-it-out” moments and every crew had to be part electrician, part fabricator, part artist.
Old-School Field Fix: Making the Hardware Fit
The end clamps were too tall. Instead of accepting a bad fit, Brad solved it the early-solar way: he cut a notch in the rails so the end clamps would seat perfectly. The result looked clean and felt right—because it was.
Keeping an Early System Serviceable
Because this is a very old installation, the wiring required quick-connect solutions to keep the system maintainable and safe as it aged—an early example of designing for long-term service, not just day-one commissioning.
Built with Barry Cinnamon’s Team
This install was done alongside Barry Cinnamon’s crew—Barry is a true solar OG. Early teams like this helped define what “good” looked like before best practices were written down.
Photos
Installation Video
Footage from the Villa Vincenti installation in Napa, ABC Solar’s first project in 2001. Installed with Barry Cinnamon’s team, part of the early generation of solar pioneers who helped shape the modern solar industry.