Archive for August, 2009

For those of you in the San Diego area, you have probably woken up to the sound of Jagger & Kristi on Magic 92.5. As one of the few married radio teams in the country they spend MAGIC Mornings focusing on life in San Diego, old school music, traffic, news and lots of listener interaction. These days they will also be thinking about their upcoming solar installation. That’s right, Jagger & Kristi are going solar with groSolar and we’re documenting the progress along the way! Check out the video below from their site visit with groSolar’s Dan Lewis.

…San Diego area residents: check back here often to find out how you can win free solar electricity for your home!

On March 25, 2009, Sonoma County became the first county in  California to pursue public financing of distributed solar energy and energy efficiency improvements under AB 811.

Sonoma County established the Sonoma County Energy Independence Program (SCEIP) to provide homeowners with access to long-term loans at below market interest rates to install solar panels or make energy efficiency improvements to their homes. With no up-front costs, the loans are paid back via an additional assessment on the homeowner’s property taxes. The term of the loan depends on the amount borrowed (5 – 10 years for loans less than $5,000, 10 – 20 years for loans greater than $5,000).

grosolar has put together an enthusiastic campaign to get the word out to the Sonoma residents, particularly in Santa Rosa and Petaluma- if at least 50 residents of Santa Rosa and Petaluma  sign up to go solar before December 31, groSolar will cover 33% of the solar-loan payment of the first year of the taxes for each homeowner who signed up. For an average-size solar power system , that means about $700 off of their property-tax bill in the first year!

groSolar wants to give the community an incentive to work together toward a greener world!

Look for our street team in Sonoma County! We will have our groSolar Sonoma County Scion and Street Team out and about in Sonoma County spreading the word on how to plug into solar power!

Click here to see incentives in your area!

groSolar has been working with SunRun solar financing in MA and CA since earlier this year and during that time we have been trying to get the word out about this program because of the amazing benefits for homeowners. However, it seems like we always run into the following when we try to explain this program.

1. It’s too good to be true.
2. I just don’t believe it.

What people are having a hard time believing is that they can get solar electricity installed on their home for as little as $1,000 down. $1K versus the $25K or $30K it would otherwise cost out of pocket. The homeowner then has a flat monthly solar electricity payment that they are making to SunRun which doesn’t change for 18 years. Yep, fixed for 18 years, can your electric company do that? What happens at the end of the 18 years? You can purchase the system at a deep discount (you’ll be told what the system cost will be when you sign up at the very beginning), you can extend the agreement with SunRun or (gasp!) you could remove the system.  But hey, your system will be still be making clean electricity so why would you want to remove it?

Here is a link to a blog post from SunRun that explains this whole program pretty well and also provides a real world example of a couple in Needham, MA. Check it out here.

groSolar held our annual company picnic for our office in White River Junction, VT. Jeff & Dori manned the grills and we enjoyed some fun lawn games. Check out Jeff Wolfe’s horseshoe throwing form below! All of this despite the torrential rain and lightning. Now, if only we could harness the power of lightning, too!

Shelly Bragg, our HR Director, has thrown a shoe or two before!

Jeff Wolfe aiming for a ringer!

Our Inside Sales crew

We’re really excited because our television commercials are finally running in NY, CA and soon CT, PA and MA. See one of the versions of our commercial below.

Now check out what went into making that commercial!

As Chicken Little said, “The sky is falling!” and if you watch/read/listen to the news you may agree. The economy is in the tank, we have yet to recover the full losses in the stock market and overall attitudes toward the economy are dismal. Could there possibly be a bright spot for solar? Yes, and especially for groSolar. One of our investors NGP Energy Technology Partners (”NGP ETP”) recently announced $348 million fund closing which exceeded their $300 million target. You can read the full press release here. This is good news because it not only shows that people want to invest in renewable energy but (a little bragging here) it shows the financial strength of groSolar and our investors like NGP ETP. Investment like this will help everyone plug into solar power!

groSolar has spent a lot of time developing our own PV monitoring system, groEnergy Watch. groEnergy Watch answers the basic question of solar energy, “How do I know my solar electric system is working?”

With groSolar’s own groEnergyWatch technology, you:

• Can see your solar PV system at work at any time on any web browser through your own personalized web page
• Can view electricity produced, system efficiency, and environmental stats such as carbon dioxide emissions avoided
• Don’t have to install anything yourself. groSolar technicians seamlessly integrate the technology with your Motech inverter
• Don’t have to worry about upgrades. groSolar can remotely upgrade the field units as new features become available.

Special Offer to past customers with Motech Inverters:

Through October 1st, owners of groSolar systems that include a Motech inverter can purchase groEnergy Watch for $200 off the list price – only $299 for your own front row seat to a clean energy future! groSolar will even waive the yearly $49.99 subscription fee for the first two years.

Order groEnergy Watch today by contacting your groSolar Sales Representative, or calling us at 866.GRO.SOLAR, or emailing us at info@grosolar.com.

Learn more by visiting groSolar.com/EnergyWatch or calling 866.GRO.SOLAR

This summer the groSolar Marketing department was lucky enough to get a fantastic intern from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business. To say that Jim Marett was “just an intern” is a huge understatement. Jim fearlessly dove into our ERP software, spent hours on the phone gauging the pulse of our dealers, found some amazing industry research and overall helped us get a ton of projects completed and moved forward. Unfortunately the summer is just about over which means that Jim will be back to school soon. But first he is getting married and taking a short honeymoon! We can’t thank him enough for all of his hard work, insight and vision into further developing marketing goals and processes at groSolar.

Jim, thank you for everything, congratulations on your upcoming nuptials and don’t forget to visit us! Are you sure you don’t want to skip your last year of grad school to stay at groSolar?

groSolar is very excited to announce the groSolar Connectors Referral Program!

groSolar has been working hard to invite everyone we can to plug into solar power — and now we need your help. Show your commitment to a greener, cleaner world and help your community join the solar grid!

How to Become a Connector

Logon to groSolarConnectors.com, sign up, and enter the names of anyone you know who may be interested in going solar. We will contact them and offer them a free solar evaluation, and give them a discount off an installed system simply because you sent them to us. You can also become a groSolar Connector by throwing a Connector Party. Invite friends, family, co-workers and neighbors to a themed solar bash where they can see the benefits of solar power. A groSolar consultant will help you set up for your party, provide light refreshments, and also give a solar education presentation for your guests to explain the short and long-term benefits of joining the solar grid. Find out more about solar party’s here.

The Rewards

groSolar will give you $250 for every person that you recruit to join the solar grid, and we will take $500 off the price of a new installed system for your referrals.

Take action to promote the energy of the future by becoming a groSolar Connector.

There are many people looking to get into the solar industry these days and groSolar is helping with the education of new and existing solarites by offering a Residential SHW Installation training at our office in Jessup, MD in September. Here are the details:

Who Should Attend:

• Plumbing and building contractors looking to get into solar
• Existing groSolar dealers considering adding SHW to their product offerings
• Anyone who is seeking a good introduction to SHW

Learning Objectives:

• Understand different types of SHW systems – Thermosyphon, Drainback, Forced Circulation
• Know SHW Components: closed loop, active systems, tanks, collectors, racking
• Size a SHW system of DHW – Basic terminology – Collector array sizing
• Have hands-on experience in collector installation, piping, HPAK and tank installation
• Complete system commissioning

Seminar Type: Two-day hands-on seminar
Location: groSolar
7761 Waterloo Road
Jessup, MD 20794 MAP
Price: $395 per person
Date: Thursday, September 10 – Friday, September 11

To register, please complete the registration form. For questions, contact Sue Barnette at 800.374.4494 x2981.