What am I thankful for? My incredible team that has decided to join me in riding the solar coaster. My beautiful wife that has supported me through every twist and turn of owning and operating a solar installation company based in Seattle. Easy access to coffee (see that out our front window? That’s the Starbucks Global HQ) to fuel my work. Last but not least, our incredible customers that are our constant cheerleaders and champions.
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Seattle based Amazon finally joins other tech giants in announcing plans to go to 100 percent renewable energy power sources for its operations.
We just finished up construction on a 25kW Community Solar project for Seattle City Light. We were also selected to build out a 75kW Community Solar project for Clark Public Utilities. Community owned/Utility managed systems are becoming more popular. West side utilities are not the only ones building projects. Inland Power and Light in Spokane is expanding their current system to bring in more participants.
Another Seattle based company, enerG2, has partnered with BASF to increase market penetration of their energy storage technologies.
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The US military is probably the most forward looking and risk adverse organization in the world. What do the Marines (and therefore the US Navy) want? More solar so they can be more secure.
Investment websites like The Motley Fool have put out a buying guide for solar panels. Why? Because solar is a sound investment if you make prudent choices, and cheaper is not always better.
On Your Head
I’ve always told people the future of thin film (printable, paintable, flexible) solar is in “wearables.” A UK company has a Kickstarter campaign underway to build Bluetooth connected, solar powered headphones.