Solar Shingles Are Available – Does Anyone Care? I remember many years ago, there was a lot of emphasis and news around solar shingles. Why? Because 3 or 4 years ago many people thought that the look of solar photovoltaic modules would hinder adoption and the whole industry… Continue reading “Solar Shingles Are Available – Does Anyone Care?”
The Battle to Reduce Solar’s “Soft Costs” is Starting and How it Can Increase Your Solar Company’s Profits The solar industry is going through massive change. Module and balance and systems prices are dropping quickly, there has been an influx of new products, financing is becoming commoditized and the solar supply chain is shifting rapidly. The results of… Continue reading “The Battle to Reduce Solar’s “Soft Costs” is Starting and How it Can Increase Your Solar Company’s Profits”
Let’s be Honest, This is Not a Solar Trade War with China As recent news of a “solar trade war” has emerged, I’ve searched for words to convey my opinion on the situation. From the point of a solar installer and the whole industry for that matter, one thing is clear. Lower prices… Continue reading “Let’s be Honest, This is Not a Solar Trade War with China”
IGSHPA Installer Accreditation Versus Vertical Loop Installer (Driller) Accreditation In the past, we’ve written a few articles about what exactly the IGSHPA accreditation is, if it’s worthwhile, and when contractors should get it. The International Ground Source Heat Pump Association (IGSHPA) now has a separate program for drillers, called “Vertical… Continue reading “IGSHPA Installer Accreditation Versus Vertical Loop Installer (Driller) Accreditation”
Renewable Energy is Making the Trades Sexy Again Although I went to Babson College, a relatively conservative business school, I grew up in rural Maine working on farms and doing carpentry. I find huge value in craftsmanship and hard work and its why guys like Gerry Wagner are… Continue reading “Renewable Energy is Making the Trades Sexy Again”
A Couple DIY Solar Thermal Ideas For You I didn’t go to engineering school, but I love engineering and prototyping. I love thinking about systems, how to maximize output (or whatever your goal is) depending on the constraints whether it be space, time, or money. From concept, to design,… Continue reading “A Couple DIY Solar Thermal Ideas For You”
The Best Sales Tool For Small Renewable Energy Companies I’m in the search for the best sales tool to sell solar pv, solar thermal and geothermal. I am building a renewable energy company, and I’m focused on building the most profitable company I can. We’re a small company, we haven’t… Continue reading “The Best Sales Tool For Small Renewable Energy Companies”
HS TV Ep 4: Renewable Energy Politics. A Conversation with Stephen Lacey Politics is hugely important to the renewable energy industry. Above all else, our industry needs stable policy. Being a small businesses, it’s hard to keep up on the very industry-specific policies, even though these policies are very important for your… Continue reading “HS TV Ep 4: Renewable Energy Politics. A Conversation with Stephen Lacey”
The Entrepreneur vs General Contractor. Who Will Win the Clean Energy Race? There’s an interesting split in the residential and light commercial clean energy space lately. As consumer demand is surging and some “old” solar pv players are moving to bigger projects (Nexamp no longer does residential and is installing 4.5 MW… Continue reading “The Entrepreneur vs General Contractor. Who Will Win the Clean Energy Race?”
Solar Financing Options and the Benefits of Each The residential, commercial and utility scale solar financing markets are different and have their own dynamics. If you’re really interested in learn more about financing commercial solar PV projects, I have three resources for you. Click here to sign up… Continue reading “Solar Financing Options and the Benefits of Each”
How to Use Lean Startup Methods in Renewable Energy to Increase Profits In the last few posts I’ve written about the process of expanding an existing construction company into renewable energy business and the single thing our marketing planwill focus on. If you’re new to the solar industry, go to the Solar 101… Continue reading “How to Use Lean Startup Methods in Renewable Energy to Increase Profits”
How to Create a Solar PPA Today the US solar market is booming–67% growth in 2010, according to SEIAs 2010 Solar Market Trends Report–easily the fastest growing industry in the US. In the US Solar photovoltaic market, there are largely two main obstacles to growth. The… Continue reading “How to Create a Solar PPA”
How to Size a Heating and Cooling System – 101 Older space conditioning systems (more than 10 years old) are often unreliable and much less efficient than a modern system. When it’s time for a new replacement, choosing one of the correct size (heating and/or cooling output) is critical to… Continue reading “How to Size a Heating and Cooling System – 101”
HS TV Ep 3. How to Study for the NABCEP Certification HeatSpring TV is coming along nicely. We’re planning on having a combination of interviews and conversations with other industry experts, myself presenting news stories and how it affect contractors, or Brian and I discussing a specific topic. In this episode,… Continue reading “HS TV Ep 3. How to Study for the NABCEP Certification”
What is an SREC? [HS TV Ep. 2] In the past, we’ve written on the basics of SRECs but I wanted to get a more in-depth perspective on what an SREC is, how the markets are developed and are different from each other and how the SREC market… Continue reading “What is an SREC? [HS TV Ep. 2]”
11 Tips for Proper Manual J Calculations for Geothermal Contractors Many geothermal and general contractors pay a subcontractor to perform Manual J calculations when its required. Accurate heating and cooling loads are absolutely critical to properly designing a geothermal system (See 4 Steps to Designing a Geothermal System) and according… Continue reading “11 Tips for Proper Manual J Calculations for Geothermal Contractors”
[Photo Guide] How to Install A Solar Thermal System You’ve held a solar thermal workshop and generated some leads, prepared a solid sales presentation, sold your first job, designed the system and now you’re curious about the installation process. While the installation process may not take a long time compared… Continue reading “[Photo Guide] How to Install A Solar Thermal System”
Designing a “Sellable” Solar (or Geothermal) Company – Part 2 In my last post, I wrote about my marketing plan for starting a renewable energy company that will be an offshoot of an existing construction company in the great state of Maine. Now, I’m going to discuss how we’ll be setting up… Continue reading “Designing a “Sellable” Solar (or Geothermal) Company – Part 2″
Commercial Developers Begin to Seek Solar Expertise Chad Gessin, VP at Chatham Energy Solutions, took HeatSpring’s “Solar Installer Boot Camp” in June 2011 while he was developing the solar division in a third-generation construction development company. Read below for the full story and join HeatSpring facebook page:… Continue reading “Commercial Developers Begin to Seek Solar Expertise”
[Free Whitepaper] Solar Thermal Design and Installation 101 As the traction for the solar thermal industry grows, solar thermal SRECs being developed, and Massachusetts revamping solar thermal incentives, the demand for understanding how solar thermal projects work as well as how to design and install them has been… Continue reading “[Free Whitepaper] Solar Thermal Design and Installation 101”