Here’s a sunny way to help veterans. SolarCure is a New Jersey-based public relations and marketing firm that runs an innovative program, Adopt A Solar Panel, encouraging donors to pay for solar panels on the roofs of non-profit organizations such as VFW halls and American Legion posts. The veterans’ organizations get the benefit of reduced energy rates and can even earn some money from the solar panels through Solar Renewable Energy Credits. SolarCure works with veteran-owned companies or companies that employ veterans to install the panels. SolarCure’s CEO, Mike Ferraro, served in the Air Force for 32 years. “When I came back from Vietnam we did not receive a very nice welcome,” Participant Frank Buono, president of Intelligent Business Concepts, said in a statement. “Due to that experience, I am always looking for ways to assist our new veterans. SolarCure is one of those ways.”
MORE: How Doing Something With Veterans Does Something for Them (And America)
Tag: solar energy
Here’s a Number That Will Change How You Think About Solar Power
This is big. A new report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission found that in October of this year, 72.1% of all the country’s new utility-scale electrical generating capacity came from solar power. “This is truly astonishing, not to mention historic, and should serve as a reminder to everyone in Washington and in state capitals that smart public policies — such as the solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC), net energy metering (NEM) and Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) — are paying huge dividends for America,” the Solar Energy Industries Association said in a statement.
New York State Wants to Invest $225 Million in This Emerging Industry
Silevo, a high-tech solar panel start up, recently announced plans to build a 200-megawatt solar cell factory in Buffalo. New York state plans to invest $225 million in the facilities, which would house Silevo and LED firm Soraa, and employ 475 people at the site by 2015. The solar industry is still young and competitive, but New York is apparently ready to take the plunge.
This Man Is a Power Company’s Biggest Threat
Can you imagine a day when you’ll no longer need to have your home hooked up to the national power grid? Marco Krapels of Marin County, Calif. hopes that day will come sooner rather than later—at least for him. He’s a renewable energy financier who’s decked out his roof with 2.4 kilowatts worth of solar paneling. In his garage, there’s a 10-kilowatt battery for storing all that energy. Everything, including his car, runs on solar. In the long run, this independent approach to renewable energy could save a lot of money for families, cut back dramatically on greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce the national security threat associated with our over-reliance on the grid.
Solar Store Gives Customers the Genius Treatment
I don’t know how my cell phone works, but I know that I’ll get what I need when I go into that big shiny white store. The person helping me asks me questions about what I need to do, if I take a lot of photos, or if I watch movies with my phone. This is common sense selling, but it hasn’t been part of the consumer solar market. There’s all this talk about kilowatts and panel efficiency and deal-squashing upfront costs. But a sustainable living store in Austin called Treehouse is turning that around by giving customers what they need, in plain English. Treehouse also handles financing in the familiar way most of us buy cars: with low- or no-interest loans. By taking the tech and the hassle out of the equation, they help customers get to the important stuff: living more sustainably and using renewable energy. They’re setting a customer-first example that I bet we’ll start seeing with a lot of other green-tech companies. If you’re in a tech innovation space, how could you make your offering simpler to connect with more customers?