Friday, December 16, 2016

You don’t have to wait for Tesla, solar shingles are already here

Following Tesla's big (yet vague) news in April about production
solar tiles, the non-solar media world was beside itself. “Ultimately!”
they said. “What a great idea! This may transform the solar market!”

Nevertheless the solar market realized better. Solar tiles aren't new.
Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV)—the generation type solar
tiles drop under—have been around since the beginning. Talented thoughts
created a product that might incorporate in to a building's framework
and generate electricity. More than integrated tiles, BIPV also
involves semi-transparent solar sections used as replacement glass windows
 or skylights—everywhere solar cells are used as developing construction
materials.

And though Tesla's solar roof does appear to appear and deploy
differently than traditional BIPV, many questions still remain. While we
 await responses on facts such as for instance cost, productivity and durability (CEO
Elon Musk claimed Tesla should begin quantity creation that coming summer),
 here's a refresher on two already successfully established solar
shingle manufacturers.

SunTegra

When solar shingle godfather Dow departed the marketplace using its Giant
program in July 2016, the wondered if this is the conclusion for BIPV.
 Incorrect, claimed SunTegra CEO Oliver Koehler. SunTegra, formerly
known as Integrated Solar Engineering, generates solar shingle and solar
tile roof methods with crystalline plastic engineering, while Dow used
expensive and less effective CIGS thin-film.

“We base our items on standard crystalline solar cell engineering,
which enables people to touch in to the industry's current economies of scale
and provide a aggressive charge and related efficiencies and stability
to standard solar sections,” Koehler claimed in a SPW interview.

SunTegra's Solar Shingle and Solar Tile roof methods replace roofing
resources and are most readily useful installed on a brand new roof or remodeling project.
The merchandise fix directly to the roof deck in a overlapping pattern.
 A patented TegraVent style promotes ventilation, lowering heat
through the program and increasing energy production.

SunTegra Shingle (2 x 4 ft) is ranked at 100 M, while SunTegra Tile (1.5 x
 4 ft) is 67 W. Both have ranked efficiencies close to 15%. SunTegra
methods have guarantees much like traditional racked solar methods: a
20- to 25-year power guarantee and a 10-year product guarantee.

The actual gain comes when comparing non-solar roofs and standard
rack-mounted solar methods with solar shingles. Asphalt shingle roofs
have a 15- to 30-year lifetime (depending on climate). Roofs often have
to be replaced before a racked solar program reaches its end of life.
Removing and reinstalling a racked program is really a pain. A BIPV program continues
 in place and usually exceeds a non-solar roof's lifetime, keeping the
headache of a solar reattachment and the expense of a re-roofing.

SunTegra got its come from 2013, and its leadership has ages of solar
experience. Their marketing attempts have taken off in recent months, and
the organization seems positioned to ascertain some solar shingle market
dominance.

CertainTeed

Along with a rack-mounted PV program, common construction material
company CertainTeed also generates its Apollo II and Apollo Tile II
BIPV systems—and has for years. With increased than 100 years'knowledge in
the roofing company, CertainTeed provides a distinctive level of understanding
 of solar roofing items and how they work as building-integrated
systems.

The Apollo II items create 60 M per shingle and are wind-resistant
and water-tight. Apollo II's all-black style and Apollo Tile II's
brown/black style permit the sections to visually blend in with certain
shingled and tiled rooftops. Also made from crystalline plastic,
CertainTeed's solar tiles have equivalent effectiveness to other solar
shingle items available on the market today.

Rafters aren't needed for successful installation. Apollo II solar
tiles fix directly to the roof sheathing with standard deck
screws. CertainTeed has created comprehensive installment
instructions because of its methods and teaches credentialed installers on
appropriate installment techniques.

In a current report unique to SPW, CertainTeed product progress
chief of photovoltaics Christopher Fisher discussed the common savings
 related to the Apollo II systems.

“Simplicity and effectiveness total up to considerable savings, which can be
transferred along to the homeowner,” he said. “For an average 6-kW Apollo II
program, the common savings on roofing resources and job alone when
compared to separate your lives roofing and roof-mounted PV installations is $770
to $1,210. For an average 6-kW Apollo Tile II program, savings is usually
between $1,260 and $2,520.”

CertainTeed is really a bankable organization; running a business because 1904, owners may be
 confident the 25-year power generation guarantee and 15-year installment
 craftsmanship guarantees is going to be honored.

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Phono Solar delivers 90,000 panels for Georgia solar project

Phono Solar, a number one international service of incorporated solar answers, nowadays
declared that the company has provided 28 MWdc of 315-W 72-cell solar
segments to Citizens Energy, a Boston-based not-for-profit power
developer.

Phono Solar provided 90,000 solar PV segments to Citizens Energy, operator
and driver of the newly-commissioned site in Jenkins State, Georgia.
Founded in 1979 by Joseph P. Kennedy II, Citizens Energy employs their
for-profit subsidiaries to support charitable power applications for
low-income households.

“Phono Solar was happy to spouse with Citizens on this task,
which makes it possible to provide decades of clean power and tax revenue for
the neighborhood economy,” said Bob Onofrey, Vice President of Income for Phono
Solar.

Leader Energy, a number one community degree breeze and solar service,
provided the overall getting work for the 28-MWdc site, hiring
one-third of the employees from local unions.

“The appetite for solar in Georgia has been progressively increasing. With
current local infrastructure, state incentives and interconnection
availability, Georgia is a great choice for really impactful solar
projects,” said Brian Morrissey, Managing Director of Citizens Energy.
Georgia Power would be the site power off-taker through a power purchase
 agreement.

The 28-MWdc site in Jenkins State has been commissioned and is
producing power. Upon completion of the installation, Morrissey noted
that “Phono Solar's high efficiency product, routine flexibility and
logistical delivery created them a trusted spouse for a task of this
size.”

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Powin Energy wins contract for energy storage system from the Clean Energy Institute at the University of Washington

Powin
Energy Corporation, a leading designer and developer of safe and
scalable energy storage solutions for programs, C&I, and EV
fast-charging stations, announced today that the University of
Wa has ordered its 31 kW/40 kWh battery energy storage system
(BESS). The University's Clean Energy Company will install the BESS at
 its new Wa Clean Energy Testbeds service in Seattle and use it
for research, demo, grid simulation and educational purposes.

"Powin Energy's electric battery energy storage system is a critical tool
for research and innovation at our new Washington Clean Durability
Testbeds, " said College or university of Washington professor of chemical
engineering and clean energy Venkat Subramanian. "We look forward to
having our students, faculty, and the cleantech community use the Powin
BESS to measure the performance of energy devices and codes when
integrated into real and simulated system surroundings. inches

Subramanian plans to use Powin Energy's BESS to test the court of
battery management systems (BMS) to determine how important an excellent
BMS is to the longevity of stationary storage. Powin Strength will
 engage in this Wa Research Foundation-sponsored research by
 developing test protocols under which the battery provides will be
used and by sharing access to the resulting data.

"Working with partners like Powin Energy allows the Tidy Strength
Institute to support the development of next-generation clean energy
technology, very well added Subramanian.

"We're pumped up about this installation at the University of Washington
 since it will give our technology a much more rigorous workout than most
real-world installations that don't approach the much ends of use
details, " said Virgil Beaston, CTO of Powin Strength. "Our Battery Pack
 Functioning System (bp-OS) balances electric batteries for energy storage systems
in a completely unique way compared to the battery software
designed for electric vehicles that many other storage companies use.
This kind of project has the likelihood of return some extremely interesting
data that could confirm our very own internal tests. "

The Washington Tidy Energy Testbeds will available in early 2017 and offer
fee-for-use facilities presenting high-tech, high-quality instruments
that are normally unavailable to researchers and businesses. These types of
spaces will include work stations, offices, and meeting places where
university researchers and industry could work and work together. An array
of tools, including Powin Energy's BESS, will help University of
Washington researchers and other members of the clean energy community
accelerate new, progressive technologies to market.

Powin Energy was just lately selected by Southern Washington dc Edison to
build a 2 MW/8 MWh energy storage system in Irvine, California, that
will be operational by first 2017. Powin Energy's unique
bp-OS - that includes the industry-exclusive Battery Odometer and
Warranty Tracker- received us patents in both the Usa States and China
before this year.

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Yaskawa – Solectria Solar inverters deployed in Vermont’s first municipality-owned solar systems

Yaskawa - Solectria Solar, a U. S. commercial PHOTOVOLTAIC inverter manufacturer,
announced today that its PVI 28TL and PVI 36TL inverters have been
deployed in two solar systems in Vermont that are the first to be held
by town and small town utilities. The Nebraska Vly and Waterhouse Solar
Facilities total 2. 7MW.

Stowe Electric Department and Hyde Park Electric Department correspondingly
 own their assets downright at project commissioning at a cost per kilo watt hour
generated that is below market rates to buy Electrical power Agreements
(PPAs) for in the same way sized third-party owned tasks. Each utility
secured loans under the U. H. Treasury Department's Clean Green
Energy Bonds (CREBs) program and benefited by cost savings associated
with growing and constructing the two projects concurrently.

Vermont-based Encore Alternative energy worked with both municipal
utilities to develop the projects. Namast? Solar power, a longtime customer of
Yaskawa - Solectria Solar power, was selected to provide engineering,
procurement, and building for both projects. They will have relied on
Yaskawa's inverters for over 15 years.

"Yaskawa - Solectria Solar has a great team and have counted on their
products for various projects surrounding the country. Yaskawa - Solectria
was a great fit for anyone projects. " said Benjamin Griffin, Co-Owner and
Task Development Manager at Namast? Solar.

"These installations are examples of municipal resources
bringing solar to their communities and demonstrate how all parties
benefit by harvesting the sun's energy. We're honored to acquire
led to the development of these systems, " said Mark Goodreau,
Director of Sales at Yaskawa - Solectria Solar.

The merged projects will produce enough electricity twelve-monthly to electricity
229 homes for one year.

SunSystem Technology to serve as Enphase’s primary residential O&M provider

SunSystem
 Technology (SST) and Enphase Energy announced that SST has
acquired the non commercial functions & maintenance (O&M) field
services division of Next Phase Solar from Enphase and the two companies
 have created a strategic partnership in which SST will serve as
Enphase's primary residential O&M service provider.





The purchase enhances the focus of each company on primary strengths. It
 fulfills SunSystem Technology's goal of proficiently and profitably
servicing the nation's growing residential solar power infrastructure,
 and permits Enphase to concentrate resources on continuing to bring to
market progressive energy technology products.

"We are incredibly enthusiastic about this transaction with Enphase, " said Derek
Chase, SST CEO. "Our companies share a common culture of quality
that includes maintaining leading-edge knowledge through constant
training for the technology driving present residential systems. This kind of
acquisition and collaboration will permit both of our companies to drive
down costs and take full advantage of efficiencies that can simply be realized through
greater companies of scale. inches

The addition of Enphase's non commercial field services division makes
SunSystem Technology the place's most significant residential solar O&M
service provider, and the only PV solar company with the capacity to
efficiently provide those services over the United States.

"Transitioning the residential field services that were part of our Next
 Phase business to SST leverages their core strengths and experience to
 best service our residential customers and improves our ability to
give attention to our core business focus: launching the next technology of
our industry-leading microinverters, the Enphase storage system, and our
AC Quests, " said Paul Nahi, president and CEO of Enphase. "Enphase and
SST share one common determination to excellence in customer service. The
quality and commitment to customer health care we come across in SST's proven capability
to bring greater scale to these services across the U. S. will gain
our customer base and the industry as a whole. "

The contract expands SST's services in the core of the U. S. solar
home market through a nationwide framework of increased
recognition, training, experience, and smartly located highly
skilled technicians.

News item from SST

Monday, December 12, 2016

Enphase Energy AC battery storage system meets NEC 2017 for residential/commercial use

UL,
a global safety scientific research organization, today announced it has issued the
 first UL 9540 recognition for a complete home energy storage system
to Enphase Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH), a worldwide energy technology
company (Model B280-1200-LL-I-US00-RF0) -
http://s.ul.com/EnphaseESS. The device meets the latest Countrywide
Electric Code 2017 requirements.

Energy storage space systems permit homeowners as well as commercial building
owners to store energy whether from solar, breeze, or other electric
technology sources. This provides the benefit for having
electricity available onsite to help lower utility demand and/or use
when electricity generation is not available.

Energy storage area offers reliability, overall flexibility and efficiency, making it
 better to include clean energy resources in the electrical main grid
system. However, this constant modernization of a main grid using
increasing levels of distributed generation and green energy
resources creates the need for safer house energy systems.

"Enphase is excited that our surface breaking AC Battery product is the
first household energy storage product to get an UL 9540
qualification for the North American market. Our work with UL has
allowed us to quickly migrate our storage technology from Quotes to
United states, while making sure that you comply with all applicable North America safety
standards, inch said John Berdner, VP of Regulatory and Coverage Strategy at
Enphase Strength. "We selected UL to do our global certification, and
 our close working romantic relationship with them has recently been invaluable in this
hard work. We look forward to further collaboration with UL to expand our
progressive product offerings both in breadth and other geographies
globally. "

Precisely what is an UL 9540-certified system?

An energy storage space system (ESS) certified to UL 9540 is made up of an UL
 1973-certified stationary battery pack employed in conjunction with an UL
1741-certified inverter. Achieving documentation to both
individual UL product standards is essential for completion of the UL
9540 system recognition. As more and more ESS are installed,
consumers, utilities, commercial building owners, insurers, flames
fighters and electrical/building inspectors will all benefit from these
systems meeting UL 9540 system safety standard requirements.

Enphase's AC Battery is composed of a stationary electric battery power
manufactured by Eliiy Power Co., Ltd, a Japanese corporation that is UL
1973 certified and an UL 1741 qualified inverter made by
Enphase. It also meets the latest National Electric Code 2017
requirement for Detailed equipment in the recently published Article 706,
Strength Storage Systems.

"We have reached the start of a new era, by which energy storage becomes a
foundational aspect of the way we believe about electricity for home,
building and utility use, " said Ibrahim Jilani, Global Organization
Development Leader for Strength Systems at UL. "We are pleased to
declare the first residential & commercial energy storage system to
meet UL 9540 requirements and receive documentation from UL. These
types of products demonstrate what the way forward for electricity throughout
the world is starting to become: co-located power available after making
electricity through renewable or traditional resources. inches

To verify an UL listing or recognition, users can search
www.ul.com/database and enter a model number in the key word field, or
search by company name (such as Enphase Energy) and category code
("FTBW" is the category code for Strength Storage Systems).

Sunverge delivers advanced AC-coupled energy storage system

Sunverge
Energy, a leading company of intelligent energy storage space systems for
residences and smaller businesses, today announced the immediate
availability of an AC-coupled model of their industry-leading energy
storage product. Agreed to renewable energy workers and electric
utility companions, this alternative method for connecting to roof
solar power systems provides superior back-up power and easier assembly
than competing energy safe-keeping systems.

The AC-coupled version of the company's range topping Solar Integration
System (SIS) offers all the quality, reliability and safety of the
original DC-coupled model, good results. the overall flexibility of easy attachment
to existing PV systems. Leaving the existing PV system and inverter in
place, the Sunverge AC-coupled SISTER provides both storage and control.

AC coupling allows DC power from caribbean PVs to flow first through a
grid-tied inverter to critical AC a lot that are always "on, " powering
them before delivering excess energy to charge the SIS storage space unit. In
the circumstance of a grid outage, both the PV series and battery storage are
available to power the critical loads directly. AC-coupled systems also
efficiently move a customer's excess photo voltaic energy to the main grid and,
like DC-coupled systems, allow utilities to combine that storage with
products at other locations, creating a "virtual power plant" that can
supply other grid customers.

"While some opponents are making promises about AC-coupled systems,
Sunverge is delivering a proven system today that meets the best
safety standards, " said Ken Munson, Sunverge CEO. "Our AC-coupled SIS is
 a high-quality solution for installers and electric programs that want
 to take good thing about the overall flexibility of installation and system design
it offers. inch

Want all SIS units, Sunverge's AC-coupled SIS includes Sunverge's
proprietary virtual engine electricity software, a cloud-based system that
helps owners maximize efficient use of their storage and rooftop
photo voltaic system and provide utilities unequalled ability to monitor and
manage a fleet of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs). For utilities,
the built/in intelligence also offers a multitude of advanced grid
applications that offer:


Automatic voltage support for mid- and low- volt quality feeders experiencing
solar backflows, to help meet ac electricity threshold requirements from
ISOs/RTPs and dispatch or absorb power according to pre-set voltage
thresholds.
Peak lowering through demand control at the customer's site and power
export to other homes on same feeder or transformer.
Load management through mitigation of ENERGY backflow, the ability to charge
 from the main grid using excess power from external PV systems on same
feeder, dispatching force during end-of-day solar ramp-down and molded
response to conform to seasonal difference.
Reducing demand via agent signal or activating SISTER units during
demand response events.

"The intelligence we build into all of our systems gives providers
enormous advantages when it comes to integrating renewables into the
grid and managing the complexities that come with growing DIESER
installations, " Munson said.

Product Specifications:

Usable capacity: 6. 5 kWh to 16. 5 kilo watts hour

Power: 7kW maximum / 6kW continuous

Totally integrated for easier assembly

Safety standards: UL, NEMA and IEC certified

Indoor/outdoor scored

Warranty: 10 years

Price: Price at or below competing AC-coupled products

Supported consumer applications:

Invoice management

Backup power

Photo voltaic self-consumption

Time-of-use load switching

News item from Sunverge

Rhode Island’s Moonworks to offer SunTegra solar shingle and tile products to homeowners

SunTegra,
a provider of included solar roof systems, is very happy to
mention a partnership with Moonworks, a Rhode Island-based development
company that specializes in gutter helmet, roofing, glass windows and solar.
Through this partnership, Moonworks will get started offering
SunTegra Shingle and Tile products to the customers.

"We are fortuitous to acquire partnered with Moonworks because of the
superior expertise in offering homeowners both full-service roofing and
solar services, " said Mark Paille, Director of Sales and Marketing for
SunTegra. "Moonworks has built up a remarkable solar division over the
previous years and has experience of other roof-integrated solar
solutions like the Dow POWERHOUSE solar shingle. SunTegra is privileged
to be to be helping their solar offering moving forward. "

Moonworks and SunTegra have projects already installed across Rhode
Tropical isle and Massachusetts numerous more planned in next yr.

Moonworks is an unique roofing and solar builder offering homeowners
full-service roofer expertise along with a roof-integrated solar
shingle and tile installation. Using its merged roofing and solar power
unit installation service, Moonworks saves homeowners money while offering a
 roof-integrated solar solution that is vastly preferred due to its visual
appeal.

"We are thrilled to offer sun roofing as a key competency of our
business" said Matt Weiner, GMC of Moonworks Solar. "Solar roofing helps
homeowners take good thing about tax incentives to reduce their utility
costs, help the environment and enhance the overall value of their homes.
We look to support home owners in their roof purchasing decisions,
educating them on the worthiness that solar roof covering provides versus
traditional roofer materials. "

SunTegra Shingles and SunTegra Tiles offer customers a viable
and cost-effective way to easily integrate solar into their roofs.
SunTegra products add directly to roof decking or battens, and
function both as a -panel and a roofing material. The two products are
UL 1703 certified and carry a Class A fire ranking.

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Vision Solar and Zing Solar Merge to Form One National Residential Solar Installer

Eyesight
Solar, one of the country's speediest growing household sun
installers, and Zest Solar, an established non commercial solar leader in
the southwestern Us, announced a merger of both the companies.
The combined entity will be named ION Sun.





Today's merger of two of the major non commercial rooftop solar
installers (No. 85 and No. 139 on the 2016 Best Solar Contractors list,
respectively) also results in one of the country's most significant privately held
residential solar power companies.

"Homeowners will gain as ION Solar understands significant economies of
size, reducing equipment and in business costs, and giving homeowners
access to additional loans and increased solar options, " said Matt
Rasmussen, CEO of Vision Photo voltaic. "There's an excitement and
enthusiasm here that's not only contagious, it's very fulfilling. We're
doing great things and the nearing together of two extraordinary solar
companies, hundreds of passionate team members, and thousands of sun
customers strengthens our ability to positively impact environmental surroundings
with clean solar energy, inch Matt continued.

The combination will be completed before year-end allowing for remarkable
growth initiatives to release next year.

"Zing Photo voltaic and Vision Solar have always shared one eyesight that's
 been apparent in your record growth of our two companies and the
a large number of satisfied households who've switched to solar power, lowered their
bills, and reduced their carbon impact, " said Jimmy Slemboski,
President of Zing Photo voltaic. "The triple-digit growth we have experienced
since inception at Zing has been extended validation that homeowners
want the highest-quality equipment on their home when they choose solar
and in addition they value a sincere, personal strategy to their customer service
experience. Vision has always mirrored that attention to detail,
quality, transparency, and loyalty to customers. The compounding
associated with unifying our amazing people as ION Solar is something we're
all very thrilled about, " Jimmy continuing.

Additionally, each company has created significant market
differentiators including streamlined field operations, tight quality
control practices, and forward thinking customer service techniques.

ION Solar is now positioned for fast expansion across proper
marketplaces. With current functions in California, New Mexico,
The state of nevada, Colorado, Texas, Sc, Fresh Jersey, and it's home point out
of Utah, ION Solar will immediately become a top-ten solar tech
and continue bringing cheap renewable energy and beautiful solar
installations to homeowners across the country.

Nautilus Solar Acquires 7.4-MW Virtual Net Metering Project

Nautilus Solar Energy, a leading national solar project development and asset management company, announced the acquisition of a ~7. 4-MW
ground-mounted solar project positioned in Ma from Seaboard
Solar Coalition.

Nautilus has been working with Seaboard through the solar development, acquisition and will now oversee the final development and development of the project. The project will be possessed by Virgo Helios, an affiliate of Virgo Expenditure Group, which is also a community
shareholder of Nautilus. Nautilus, through its full service platform,
will provide asset management services once the project is located in
service. The project's power offtake agreement benefits low-income
housing authorities, who have signed up to receive the project's net
metering credits.

The buy comes as part of Nautilus's robust expansion strategy
into the New The united kingdom marketplace. "We are incredibly able to
announce this purchase, as this development is one of the major
virtual net metering solar power developments in Massachusetts and brings
high-quality assets to our growing portfolio with Virgo, " said Rick Rice,
CEO of Nautilus Solar. "Going forward, we continue to seek
new opportunities in the region to increase leverage our system. inches

"Nautilus has quickly been gaining traction through New England, "
said Shawn Brazo, President of Seaboard Solar Holdings. "Through
this complex acquisition process, we've seen that the Nautilus team is
in a position of delivering outstanding results in an expedited manner and we anticipate continue working with their team on other solar
improvements. "

250MW Solar Project Officially Commissioned by First Solar

Localized, state and federal market leaders joined executives from NextEra Energy
Resources and First of all Solar to signify the ordering of Silver State
To the south, a 250-MWac solar energy center capable of making enough
clean energy to power approximately 80,500 homes.

"Nevada has abundant sunshine, and with the Silver State South Solar power
Energy Center we are harvesting that valuable reference for the benefit
of everybody in this region, " said Armando Pimentel, president and CEO of
NextEra Energy Resources, which will own and operate the solar energy
middle. "From the jobs and tax earnings it is creating, to the clean
energy it will eventually generate over the next 3 years, this is a job that
all can take great pride in. inch

The Silver State Southern Solar Energy Center, created by First Solar,
features more than 3. 4 million First Solar thin-film PV solar panels
attached on single-axis trackers that will follow the sunlight from east to
west daily to maximize energy development. The energy will provide
El monte Edison consumers starting this coming year, under a 20-year
power purchase agreement between SCE and NextEra Strength Resources.

"First Solar's PHOTOVOLTAIC technology is setting the standard for creating
affordable, clean energy, " said First Solar Chief Functioning Officer
Tymen deJong. "By continually driving down the price tag on solar
electricity and offering a solution that details energy security and
drinking water scarcity, we are providing on responsibility to build a more
sustainable energy future. "

By using power from the sunlight, this project will avoid
approximately 150, 000 metric tons per year of carbon dioxide exhausts
that would have been produced if the electricity have been made
using fossil powers - the equivalent of taking practically 30, 1000 cars off the
street. The solar energy centre creates no air or water quality and
uses no water to make electricity. It stretches across 2, 000 quadrat
of federal lands managed by the U. S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

"America has made great advancements in developing clean energy
sources over the earlier eight years, " said BLM Overseer
Neil Kornze. "Since the start of the Obama Administration,
the BLM has approved 60 large-scale breeze, solar and geothermal
tasks that will produce enough energy to power 5 million homes.
It's interesting to see Silver Express South come online and continue
the irreversible 03 toward clean power for our nation. "

The project has created a significant economical boost for Clark State
creating more than 2, 100 careers during the construction period, with most
of the staff coming from the neighborhood. From labor and materials, to
housing, health care and construction - a wide variety of local
businesses have tips from the influx of monetary activity.

Over the operational life, the Metallic State South Solar Strength Center is
 expected to generate more than $78 million in property fees to benefit
local universities, first responders and other essential services in Cs
County.

"This project has provided good jobs for Clark County residents, and
positive monetary activity for local businesses, " said Clark County
Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick. "The investment in Nevada's workforce
has received a great positive impact on the Nevada economy. inches

"The development of the Silver State South Sun facility is a
successful consequence of the state energy policies and incentives, inches said
Angela Dkyema, overseer of the Governor's Business office of Energy. "It
features our commitment to position Nevada to lead the nation in clean
 energy development and exportation while also realizing the neighborhood
financial benefits such projects bring. We look forward to finding
more solar tasks with this scale locate here in Nevada. "

Saturday, December 10, 2016

Four Ways that Solar Contractors May Use Customer Experience to Obtain Profitable

Did you work a lot harder in 2016 for a great deal less money? Did you grow your amount of projects but not your net revenue?

That's the real problem with the much-lauded falling expense of solar. There's a great deal less margin to go around. For example, a 30% markup on $0. 45/watt modules amounts to a lot less than it did on $1. 50/watt modules. And you may see the same effect across labor and BOS markup.

More so, that perimeter has a lot of hungry mouths to supply: office rent, truck maintenance, financing-related fees and customer acquisition, just to name a few.

Many small solar contracting business owners are plagued with similar problems no matter where they are in the usa. Of the business owners We talk to, many believe acquiring more customers will help them offset these deficits by increasing cash stream.

Making up these failures in additional volume of projects is not an option. Losses compound. This really is a scary race to the bottom and really time to reverse now. So, what are some concrete steps business owners can do to get out of the contest to the bottom?



you ) Are you actually customer-focused? Pay attention to the market.

Stop shoving a package down the throats of possible customers. Many solar businesses have oriented themselves around messaging and sales styles popularized by the surge of third-party ownership. Should you be not selling third-party possession, you have an possibility to really listen to can be driving the customer to consider solar and enable their concerns and needs control the conversation. Stop being so focused on creating efficient sales funnels and spend more time pondering from the perspective of a possible customer who knows nothing about sun and nothing about structure. They don't really know what to expect. They often no longer really know what they don't know. Be nice. The time you spend educating now is the perfect investment in referrals that will come tomorrow.



2. Examine Finance Dealer Fees and Related Operational Complexity

Is a tail wagging the dog? Should your choice of customer finance is dictating your customer demographic, you may have better customers to focus on in your area nevertheless they won't work together with you because you're not offering what they want.

Dealer fees, transaction costs and techniques dictated by financing associates can make a whole lot of confusion, extra steps (read: overhead) and stress and delays for you, your staff along with your customer. Simpler processes lead to a shorter sale-to-PTO, which boosts cash flow. Easier processes mean simpler and fewer expensive software to manage your business.



3. Orient Everything Around the Customer

An easy assertion, a more difficult proposal. And it's really much easier to speak about customer experience than actually do something about it. Although unlike other home services, homeowners are first-time buyers of solar. They avoid really know what to expect and usually can't say for sure someone who has done it. Basic but powerful activities like asking the customer how they need to be contacted and the best time of day to contact them is and sticking to that help. Think of the new trends jooxie is seeing now in call centers, where rather than seated in a hold line up for an unknown amount of time, you can select when to provide an available representative call you back. That's being customer-centric. How can you take that approach into your company?



4. Take those Long View

When you give attention to how the customer wants to interact (what types of communication and when), provide resources in the formats they want during the process and provide a genuine and traditional education process, you're on your way. But to secure potential referrals, you need to keep to truly engage the customer up to date of zestful the system and teaching them for years to come. Why? Because when customers continue to learn about their system and about potential rate changes in their area, plus they continue to engage with your company and the solar experience after the project is long done, they'll remember you when a friend or neighbors asks for a suggestion. It's a long game, but building a relationship-based book of business is the key to critically reducing customer acquisition costs and creating an eco friendly, long-term business.


So this is all about marketing right? Not entirely. This is certainly about creating a truly customer-focused procedure from your brand all the way through to long-term customer engagement, including many detailed strategies. It's not simply making a really sleek sales experience and then dumping the client into the black gap of project fulfillment with horribly set expectations. This takes process design, staff engagement, customer interviews, brand management, software choices, sales training, commission structure and much more. It's a truly end-to-end process for which there is absolutely no silver topic solution. This can be the real work. Successful small installers in our industry have proven it's a winning strategy by growing the most effective when the market frontrunners of the last few years have not expanded as quickly.

Ready to take on this obstacle? Until the end of 2016, I'm offering businesses of U. S. -based residential solar installers a free of charge 30-minute consultation to help identify potential solutions to achieve profitability in 2017. Book your appointment today (subject to availability, first come/first served, no purchase required).

Possible Reach 2.4 GW of Installed Private Rooftop Solar

Ocean Gas and Electric Organization (PG&E) announced the company will soon reach a milestone of 2, 409 MW of installed private rooftop solar capacity on the energy grid, which represents more than 275, 500 solar customers in Upper and Central California. PG&E expects to reach this state-mandated limit for their current rooftop solar program this month.

With this milestone, new solar customers that PG&E connects to the energy grid will land on the next version of the internet energy metering (NEM) program - called NEM installment repayments on your NEM is the program for private rooftop solar customers who generate their own photo voltaic energy and use PG&E energy at night or when the sun's not shining.

"PG&E is dedicated to supporting our consumers' choice and control when it comes to their energy. Because of our commitment to clean energy, we want to be sure our customers are well-informed and prepared as they start on their solar trip. We're here to help these groups throughout the process and as well as quickly hook up them to the power grid, inch said Aaron Johnson, Vice President of PG&E's Consumer Energy Solutions.

While NEM 2 makes modest changes to the structure which has been in place for more than 20 years, caribbean solar customers continue to receive subsidies that are borne by all other customers. The solar market has evolved and PG&E is committed to dealing with all parties to find the right balance to support the continued development of solar and line-up the expense of the vitality grid for all customers.

Going through the NEM 2 program

The NEM 2 program for brand spanking new solar customers makes modest adjustments compared to the existing program, including:


A one-time cost for PG&E to safely and quickly hook up an user's rooftop solar system to the power grid, which will be $145 can be installing a system that is one megawatt or less in size. A great average residential customer's solar power system is five kwatts in size.


A small charge for state-mandated costs contributing to public goal programs such as low-income or energy efficiency customer programs. New solar customers on the NEM 2 program will pay these charges on electricity each uses from PG&E's main grid, however, not on electricity they use that's made by their solar panels. Other PG&E customers pay the charges for all of their energy use.


Fresh solar customers will be on a time-of-use rate plan in which the price of electricity is determined by enough time of the day.

Solar customers who alreay have installed their sun panels and are on the existing version of NEM will be grandfathered into that program for 20 years from the date their solar system was linked to the grid.

Continued Support for Solar in California

As 1993, PG&E has linked more than 275, 500 solar customers to the energy grid in North and Central California, addressing about 25 percent of the country's rooftop solar power. PG&E connects about six, 000 new solar customers every month and each new solar customer within three business days - compared to the industry average of four several weeks.

PG&E offers a range of tips, tools and resources to help customers considering solar get started out:


Prepare your home: Making sure the project their home is energy efficient prior to going solar, customers can decrease the size of their solar system and save money in upfront costs.


Right-size your system: Customers may use PG&E's Solar Calculator to help estimate the cost and size of the sun system listen up for them. A new feature in the calculator will help customers maximize savings by viewing a custom-made side-by-side rate analysis using their historic electric consumption data to determine the best time-of-use rate for them.


The actual math: Buyers should find out about different loans options for solar to make an informed decision that works based on their budget and lifestyle.


Pick your partner: PG&E recommends obtaining bids from at least three solar power contractors, just like other home improvement projects, and checking out other ways to retain the services of a vendor that's right for them.

Recording, PG&E's announced a new offering for customers to go solar without installing systems. PG&E's Solar Choice program offers customers the option to get their electricity from solar energy made from new projects built in PG&E's service area. This kind of option allows renters, homeowners and businesses to support solar energy regardless of their location or capability to physically install photo voltaic panels.

US Army Releases Review Related to Streamlining of Solar Permitting

The U.S. Division of the Military announce in the December. 2 Federal government Register it has completed a Programmatic Environmental Analysis (PEA) for building, procedure, and maintenance of solar photovoltaic (PV) alternative energy assignments on Military installations and is also making the PEA and a draft Finding of No Significant Impact (FNSI) designed for public comment.

The draft FNSI has the PEA, which will not identify any significant environmental influences from the suggested action or the alternatives. The draft FNSI concludes that prep of the environmental impact declaration (EIS) is not needed, and therefore will never be ready. The PEA is countrywide and programmatic in range.

For years, the Military has examined and put in place photovoltaic tasks at Military installations over the countrywide country. Within the PEA, the Army leveraged this experience with the purpose of streamlining the National Environmental Policy Act process for future photovoltaic proposals, as appropriate, in a manner regular with Council on Environmental Department and Quality of the Army regulations.

The general public comment period should go for thirty days beyond December. 2.

The suggested action is to create, operate, and keep maintaining photovoltaic arrays and/or ancillary ability systems on Military installations, to add U.S. Military Reserve facilities, Military National Officer sites, and joint bases handled by the Division of the Military. The suggested action includes, for those photovoltaic projects where in fact the existing facilities is insufficient, creating (or upgrading) and keeping the associated facilities necessary for the transmitting and management of the made electricity to the electric grid. Associated facilities includes but is not limited by electricity transformers, distribution and transmission lines, and sub or transitioning channels; as well as ancillary vitality control systems such as energy storage space systems, micro-grid components, and back-up electricity generators.

The suggested action can include real estate activities on Military lands where in fact the assignments could be funded and made by the Military, funded through an authorized Power Purchase Contract utilizing a rent of Military or Joint Platform land to an unbiased power company or the neighborhood regulated tool company, or funded via various other marriage with a open public or private entity.

The assignments being examined and examined would range between around 10 MW to 100 MW per site generally; however, the projects beyond this MW range (e.g., significantly less than 10 MW) are inclusive in this suggested action.

The alternatives analyzed and considered in the PEA will be the No Action choice and three action alternatives, that are to put into action the suggested action on greenfield sites (Alternate 1), on recently developed sites (Substitute 2), and on or higher constructions or impervious floors, such as properties and carports (Substitute 3). Installations might choose any or every one of the action solution methods to solar PV.

The purpose of this programmatic way is to streamline the NEPA process for the structure, procedure, and maintenance of photovoltaic renewable energy jobs by giving installations with sufficient fine detail about environmental influences on resources to permit those to tier from the PEA, as appropriate. Tiering out of this PEA would avoid or decrease the costs of repetitive, similar analyses, and invite the Army to target resources on only those site-specific environmental conditions that merit a deeper research. Installations tiering from the checklist would be utilized by the PEA contained in the PEA to identify site-specific NEPA requirements. Where further analysis would be asked to meet site-specific NEPA requirements, the PEA may be used for tiering, allowing the installation to give attention to those resources which require site-specific analysis.

Announces $87M Investment for Solar Energy

In the opening of the Circumstance. S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Solar Decathlon on the National Mall, Strength Secretary Steven Chu declared up to $87 mil will be made available to support the development of new solar energy technologies and the quick deployment of available carbon-free solar energy systems. Of this funding, $50 mil comes from the North american Recovery and Reinvestment Take action. The 47 projects with universities, electric power programs, DOE's national laboratories, and local governments have recently been selected to support use of solar technologies in U. S. cities, help address technical challenges, ensure reliable connectivity with the electrical grid, and educate a new generation of solar staff to mount and maintain solar powered energy systems. These projects can help rate adoption of solar powered energy country wide, while supporting progress a skilled workforce, and carrying on to pursue new clinical breakthroughs to boost the efficiency and lower the expense of photo voltaic technologies.

DOE-article"Today's awards are among the many opportunities made to create new jobs and a clean energy future with sun power. The projects will assist accelerate the use of solar powered energy by residents, businesses and communities, and promote the long-term viability of solar powered energy by investing in the technologies of the future" said Secretary Chu. "I applaud each one of these merit winners who are essential to moving our country towards a sustainable solar power infrastructure. "

The chosen projects will help increase the commercialization of photo voltaic technologies in an work to achieve cost-competitive photo voltaic electricity by 2015, in addition to developing advanced solar technologies for the future. Projects give attention to both technology improvements and the elimination of market boundaries to help make photo voltaic electricity accessible to a wide variety of consumers.

The projects selected for negotiation of awards are in four categories:

Great Penetration Solar Deployment. Several projects will model, test, and evaluate the impact of enormous amounts of photovoltaic (PV) electricity on the reliability and stableness of the electrical power system. These projects will assist front the way for larger adoption and growth of grid-tied solar energy systems by increasing understanding of the impact of PHOTO VOLTAIC electricity on the main grid.

Solar America Cities Valuable Projects. As the fill centers of energy use across the nation, urban centers play a strategic role in accelerating solar technology adoption at the local level. Sixteen cities have been selected for assignments that will address specific barriers to solar re-homing in urban settings and support progressive approaches that can be widely duplicated. Many cities will use this funding for multiple efforts.

Solar Installer Schooling. Nine colleges, universities, and local organizations have recently been selected to acquire local solar installation "train-the-trainer" programs. The projects will support a national ramp-up and coordinated network to coach programs. This funding may help address the critical needs for qualified solar energy system installers.

Research tasks at DOE national labs. Fifteen projects at DOE national laboratories will seek to improve technologies, devices, and processes for the PV and Concentrating Solar powered energy (CSP) industry. PV jobs give attention to development of next generation devices and techniques, as well as resource chain technologies for the whole PV system. CSP assignments concentrate on improved energy safe-keeping technologies to allow steady and reliable energy technology.

Solar Shingles will Change the future of Solar Energy Game

Innovators and planners have since quite a while ago imagined a rooftop or window that created sun oriented power moderately. In any case, up to this point no organization had mass created such a gadget. Rather, the shopper market was ruled by housetop boards which require a decent measure of upkeep, are generally delicate, and are somewhat costly.

That is about to change, be that as it may. Dow Chemical Co., one of America's best synthetic firms, is propelling the primary mass-delivered buyer sun powered shingle one year from now and will arrange a wide-scale rollout by 2011. The firm predicts a blasting $5B USD advertise for the shingles.

The new shingles utilize a thin film of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) to catch sun based vitality. Accordingly, the cells which are encased in shaped plastic are generally adaptable, not at all like their photovoltaic cousins. Keeping in mind these components are very costly in mass, they're utilized to a great degree sparingly, minimizing expenses.

The shingles one shortcoming is that they oversee a little more than 10 percent efficiencies, not exactly customary boards. In spite of this littler era limit, they create control at a 10 to 15 percent bring down cost on a for every watt premise because of generation and establishment cost investment funds.

Material temporary workers welcomed the news with "an excited reaction" as indicated by Dow, as the shingles require no extra exceptional aptitudes to introduce. A top of the shingles can be introduced in around 10 hours, versus anywhere in the range of 22 to 30 hours of particular work to introduce customary boards. These establishment expenses are a vital issue as they contain roughly a large portion of the cost of conventional boards.

It is hazy what wiring will be important to associate the shingles to family unit control, yet Dow trusts it won't be excessively testing. Altogether, Dow's answer will turn into the greatest player in a prospering business sector of "Building Integrated Photovoltaic" (BIPV) frameworks. While other BIPV arrangements exist, many are just accessible to organizations, and the cost is ordinarily 30 to 40 percent higher than Dow's framework.

Dow's framework is to a great degree adaptable and can be intermixed with customary black-top shingles.

Jane Palmieri, overseeing chief of Dow Solar Solutions states, "We're taking a gander at this one item that could produce $5 billion in income by 2015 and $10 billion by 2020."

The new shingles will be created locally, with quite a bit of generation originating from a 1,350-ton Husky Quadloc Tandem infusion press recently introduced in Midland, Michigan in 2008.

The main arrangements of the shingles will be in new lodging ventures one year from now through accomplices, for example, Lennar Corp and Pulte Homes Inc. These littler tasks will develop to a full rollout the next year. The U.S. Bureau of Energy has conceded Dow a little credit of $20M USD to make that vision a reality and finish the commercialization of this promising item.

This won't be Dow's first invasion into the sun oriented market. It has fabricated high-effectiveness photovoltaic board material for quite a while, furthermore delivers the warmth catching fluid utilized as a part of concentrated sun oriented power frameworks.