“If you can’t install solar at $3.45/watt, you’re going out of business.” Straight Talk on Solar with Jigar Shah at NESEA 2012 Jigar Shah was my favorite presenter at this year’s Building Energy Conference. Mr. Shah founded SunEdison in 2003 and sold it five years later for $200 million. Here are some quotes he offered up in the “Energy Subsidies and the… Continue reading ““If you can’t install solar at $3.45/watt, you’re going out of business.” Straight Talk on Solar with Jigar Shah at NESEA 2012″
Selling Geothermal as a Hedge Against Rising Energy Prices Those of us in the ground source heat pump (GSHP) industry already know of the many benefits that these systems hold over conventional heating and cooling systems (and have probably explained them a hundred times over). But as the appeal… Continue reading “Selling Geothermal as a Hedge Against Rising Energy Prices”
[Free Tool] A Really Simple Solar PV Site Visit Checklist for Salespeople There are three areas that the most profitable and well run residential solar and geothermal companies do really well. Turn visitors into leads and know how qualified those leads are. The most profitable companies have an extremely clear process for… Continue reading “[Free Tool] A Really Simple Solar PV Site Visit Checklist for Salespeople”
Solar Hot Water Doesn’t Need R+D, IT NEEDS Promotion In the 2012 January/February issue of Solar Today, Bob Ramlow was featured discussing his thoughts on the future of the solar thermal industry. Bob entered the solar industry 40 years ago, designing and installing solar hot water systems and distributing… Continue reading “Solar Hot Water Doesn’t Need R+D, IT NEEDS Promotion”
5 Tips on Designing Vertical or Slinky Geothermal Loop Fields Designing a geothermal ground loop field requires balancing flow rates, pipe sizing, and installation costs to hit your target performance. Here are five tips for getting vertical bore and slinky loop designs right. Key Points Vertical and slinky (horizontal) loop… Continue reading “5 Tips on Designing Vertical or Slinky Geothermal Loop Fields”
How Do you Handle Your Customers’ Tough Questions About Solar Leases? This is the third video in a five part series that HeatSpring created with BrightGrid Renewable Energy Finance to help residential solar contractors learn more about solar financing and leases. The goal is simple, we want to help installers to… Continue reading “How Do you Handle Your Customers’ Tough Questions About Solar Leases?”
HS TV Ep 9: How to Attract Top Talent or Find a Job in the Renewable Energy Industry Here is something I did not know. It has been as difficult for renewable energy companies to find amazing talent, as it has been for professionals to find a job in the renewable energy industry. Last week, I had an… Continue reading “HS TV Ep 9: How to Attract Top Talent or Find a Job in the Renewable Energy Industry”
HS TV Ep 8: 1/2 the Drilling Depth, 1/3 the Footprint, SCW vs. Closed Loop Geothermal Systems Standing column well geothermal projects have significant advantages over closed geothermal projects in certain circumstances. Standing column wells typically need half the amount of drilling then traditional closed systems, because they can transfer heat so much faster. Also, they be… Continue reading “HS TV Ep 8: 1/2 the Drilling Depth, 1/3 the Footprint, SCW vs. Closed Loop Geothermal Systems”
[Video] How to Select Solar Hot Water Components and System Types In this video, author and ISPQ Certified Master Trainer Bob Ramlow provides a detailed outline of common components found in solar thermal systems, and the four most common types of systems.
How Does a Solar Lease Work and How Do you Sell its Value The above video is part 2 in a 5 part series HeatSpring created with BrightGrid Renewable Energy Finance for solar installers about solar financing and solar leases. You can watch the full 5 part series “How to User Solar Leases… Continue reading “How Does a Solar Lease Work and How Do you Sell its Value”
The 4 Differences Between Geothermal Standing Column Well and Closed Loop Systems Key points There are four major differences between standing column well (SCW) and closed loop geothermal systems. 1. The Use of Exchange Fluid. The fundamental difference between the two systems is the exchange fluid used to affect the heat… Continue reading “The 4 Differences Between Geothermal Standing Column Well and Closed Loop Systems”
What Residential Solar Companies Need to do to Successfully Offer a Solar Lease According to the State of California Energy Commission, in Q3 of 2011, the majority of residential systems were financed. What does this mean for solar installers? Simple. The solar lease is becoming the industry norm and you need to be… Continue reading “What Residential Solar Companies Need to do to Successfully Offer a Solar Lease”
Geothermal Loop Design: Series vs Parallel Flow Path Analysis When designing geothermal ground loops, this is an issue that a lot of people get hung up on. Because of the advantages of, we use parallel circuits in ground loops almost exclusively in our industry. Read more to hear why. When loops are tied… Continue reading “Geothermal Loop Design: Series vs Parallel Flow Path Analysis”
What You Need to know About Quoting and Selling Standing Column Well Systems It’s much easier to answer this question for residential applications. The price is composed of three pieces: the drilling cost, the loop field installation including underground piping to/from the building, and the HVAC system installation. Many times the driller is… Continue reading “What You Need to know About Quoting and Selling Standing Column Well Systems”
“Best Practices for Selling Geothermal” on Wednesday’s #GeoChat On 11am on Wednesday, January 18th, HeatSpring will be hosting a #geochat with guest expert Martin Orio, VP at Water Energy Distributors on twitter. Read more about the #geochat here. The topic for the first #geochat is “Best Practices for… Continue reading ““Best Practices for Selling Geothermal” on Wednesday’s #GeoChat”
HS TV Ep. 7: “Geothermal Will Give you Better Returns than the Stock Market” One of our goals in 2012 is to explore what can be done to make geothermal a mainstream technology. To get some more insights into what we need to do as an industry, I had a conversion with Harold, the… Continue reading “HS TV Ep. 7: “Geothermal Will Give you Better Returns than the Stock Market””
13 Steps to Basic Geothermal Standing Column Well Design HeatSpring Instructor Albert Koenig discusses the 13 steps to basic Geothermal Standing Column Well (SCW) Design… Unlike closed loop geothermal installations, open loop systems, in particular, standing column well (SCW), require more diligence from the designer than just the well… Continue reading “13 Steps to Basic Geothermal Standing Column Well Design”
Top Alternative Energy Articles of 2011: Companies Love Technology but want Sales 2011 was an amazing year for renewable energy. All industries had impressive growth, product innovation, and business model innovation. Here are the top 10 posts from HeatSpring Magazine in 2011, based on the number of reads each post received, and… Continue reading “Top Alternative Energy Articles of 2011: Companies Love Technology but want Sales”
The Top 7 Trends that Will Impact Renewable Energy Profits in 2012 The beginning of 2012 is here and the lookout is bright for renewable energy. There are some roadblocks ahead and some barriers we cannot yet see that will become clear. Overall, the renewable energy industries are becoming a force to… Continue reading “The Top 7 Trends that Will Impact Renewable Energy Profits in 2012”
Q+A with Solar Thermal Expert Bob Ramlow: Hard Water Issues, PV Powered Solar Thermal and Air Venting Bob Ramlow answers student questions about solar thermal. He tackles hard water, PV powered solar thermal systems, and best practices for air vent installations. Is hard water an issue with closed loop solar thermal systems? Are solar PV powered solar thermal… Continue reading “Q+A with Solar Thermal Expert Bob Ramlow: Hard Water Issues, PV Powered Solar Thermal and Air Venting”