Workmanship

One of the biggest concerns we hear from potential customers is how the installation process will affect their roof. After all, what good is having awesome solar panels if they wreak havoc on your roof or become loose/detached over time?   With that said, here are few key tips on installation that will save you a ton of time and headache in the future:  

Materials

Use racking with high-grade aluminum
Racking is the equipment used to attach the solar panels to your roof, and it’s usually made from anodized aluminum. High quality racking is made from higher-grade aluminum, such as “marine grade 6000,” which is much stronger and more durable. Better racking prevents problems with your roof.

Flashing is the best way to secure panels and racking to your roof
Flashing are thin pieces of metal placed over the area where the bolts that hold down the racking are fastened to your roof. Their purpose is to keep the water out so your roof doesn’t leak, which can cause significant and expensive damage. Be aware of solar installers that simply drill holes into your roof to hold the racking in place.  

More efficient panels means less holes in your roof
A solar panel with superior efficiency will be lighter and smaller than a panel that requires more surface area to produce the same amount of power. Therefore, you won’t need to drill as many holes in your roof for the fastening bolts. Lighter panels also means less weight and stress on your roof, and less area covered in panels.  

Labor

Find a company that specializes in solar installation
Just as you wouldn’t ask a plumber to work on your electric, you shouldn’t ask anyone else but a solar expert to handle your installation. Beware of companies that boast about many years of experience but don’t specify what that experience is in. They may have 30 years of experience in standard electrical contracting, but only began installing solar in the last year.

Reputable solar companies split their installation teams up into electric and roofing specialists who are required to have a hundreds of hours of experience before they can work on your home. Sometimes you’ll even find multiple roofing specialists to help with different kinds of rooftops.

Ask to see photos of past installations
You should be able to tell from past project photos if the solar installer you’re considering is a professional. The installation should look clean, with no exposed wires running along or dangling off the roof. The lines and angles of the panels, as well as the fastening bolts (if shown), should be even. 

NABCEP certifications are highly recommended
The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) is an industry-accrediting body with highly stringent criteria for membership. Having a NABCEP-certified worker on your job means you are getting a higher quality of installation from the moment planning begins.

Good solar installers guarantee their work
A guarantee on workmanship offer protection for your home, your new solar panels and your peace of mind. It’s also good sign that an installer is confident of the quality of their work.

The post The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Solar Installer, Part 2: Workmanship appeared first on RevoluSun.

Earth Day was started in the United States and has been going strong for 43 years. Globally, this year’s theme is “The Face of Climate Change,” and we’re joining other organizers in asking you to do your part to help the planet by participating in a sustainable act (or two, or three…). Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Plant a tree or a home garden
• Start composting 
• Recycle and reuse old stuff
• Volunteer for a local Earth Day clean-up
• Go to a nearby Earth Day festival
• Walk, bike or skateboard to work
• Blog or Facebook a personal message about Earth Day
• Pick up trash at the beach, park or your neighborhood

Win this awesome solar backpack

We’re so excited about your Earth Day participation that we’re giving away a solar backpack to one special winner. The backpack is super cool because it uses solar panels to charge your phone, laptop and other devices. It’s also made from waterproof eco-friendly PET fabric, which is derived from recycled plastic bottles.

Here’s how to win:

1. Take videos and/or pictures of yourself doing sustainable acts on Earth Day
2. Post them to your local RevoluSun Facebook page between April 22-26 
3. The video/picture with the most “likes” by May 1st wins. The public can get involved by “liking” the posts, so ask your friends and family to vote for your picture!

Here are the links to our RevoluSun Facebook pages:

Hawaii: https://www.facebook.com/RevoluSun
Massachusetts: https://www.facebook.com/RevolusunMA

Good luck and Happy Earth Day!

The post Celebrate Earth Day and Win a Solar Backpack from RevoluSun appeared first on RevoluSun.

Peak oil begs the obvious question — how do we respond to energy production so we can survive and thrive as a species?

TED talk speaker Rob Hopkins has spent a great deal of time working to solve this problem using what he calls Transition response. It’s a way for communities to face the challenges of peak oil and climate change with creativity, adaptability and imagination. For example:

• Community-owned renewable energy companies that invest money into themselves while establishing much-needed renewable energy infrastructure
• Local food production projects like community-supported agriculture, shared urban food gardens and local food directories
• Alternative currencies that you can only spend within a town, as a way of cycling money within the local economy (like the English town of Lewes, which recently launched their own “Lewes Pound“
• Collaborative consumption business models such as car sharing and home sharing

Although Transition responses will naturally vary by region and circumstance, they share important common virtues:

• Viral — ideas spread very quickly with little to no bureaucratic meddling
• Open source — everyone involves develops and passes on as they work on it
• Self-organizing — people take ideas and run with them instead of depending on the power of a central organization
• Solutions-focused — versus process-focused
• Sensitive to place and scale — what people can respond to where they are in the moment

At the heart of Hopkins’s Transition response, where common humanity comes together, are “the stories we live on” — the narratives of our evolution. In other words, if things like air travel and supermarkets were once the stuff of our dreams, then what stories will we tell ourselves as we transition from oil?

Watch the TED video below to learn more about Transition response. Share your thoughts in the comments!

The post RevoluSunary Series: How Do We Transition from Oil? appeared first on RevoluSun.

Enter RevoluSun’s Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Solar Installer. We created this guide to make you feel as comfortable and as informed as possible when it comes to choosing your solar installer. Remember — just like your home, solar is a long-term investment. The better your solar installer is, the better return on investment you’ll get over the life of your system.

Photovoltaic Panels

Photovoltaic panel quality is one of the most important factors you need to consider when purchasing solar. There are three main variables to keep in mind: efficiency, warranty and weather resistance.

Efficiency refers to how well your panels perform over the life of the system. All panels will lose some of their efficiency over time. A good manufacturer like SunPower will offer a Power Production Warranty that guarantees no more than 5% efficiency loss over five years (9.1% more energy over 25 years). Inferior panels tend to have a greater immediate drop in efficiency and a sharper decline over the life of the system.

Weather resistance is exactly what you think it is — a panel’s ability to withstand years of wear and tear from the elements. In Hawaii, our biggest concerns are rain, sun and the big one: salt. Well-built panels are crafted from high-grade aluminum (6000 series marine grade, for example) and include a salt mist certification.

Warranty is tied to efficiency and weather resistance. A good panel warranty should guarantee against manufacturing defects and assure performance at its stated efficiency over the duration of the warranty. Typical panel warranties last 10 years, with more superior panels offering offering 25 year warranties.

***

The bottom line: you’re much better off going with panels that guarantee higher efficiency over a longer warranty period. SunPower panels, for example, offer the highest efficiency over 25 years as well as a 25 year warranty on the panels.

5 questions to ask any solar installer about panels

• Which company manufactures the panels?
• What is the Power Production Warranty on the panels?
• What grade of material is used in the panels?
• How long is the panel warranty and what does it guarantee?
• Do panels come with salt mist certification?

The post The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Solar Installer, Part One: Panels appeared first on RevoluSun.

After pouring through tons of TED speaker presentations, we uncovered the top five that offer a hopeful, intelligent and inspiring look at the future of alternative, renewable energy. We’re going to post one per week for the next several weeks, with the hope to inspire and empower you to change the world, too! This week’s talk:

Donald Sadoway: The missing link to renewable energy

As solar and wind energy become the norm, how do we solve the problem of energy storage? After all, there is no battery out there today capable of meeting the demanding performance requirements of the grid — namely uncommonly high power, long service lifetime and super-low cost.

To tackle this immense challenge, MIT scientist and inventor Donald Sadoway approached the problem from a much different perspective — he researched the history of aluminum production. The process was invented in 1886 and transformed the once precious costing as much as silver to a common structural material costing less than 50 cents a pound.

Applying lessons of aluminum production, Sadoway set out to find the right combination of cheap, readily-available chemicals to build his miracle battery (it turned out to be magnesium for the top layer and antimony for the bottom layer, separated by liquid salt). He then recruited a team of passionate and dedicated scientists to build the battery.

Today, Sadoway’s MIT campus team is building battery cells 16 inches in diameter with a capacity of one kilowatt-hour (aka “the pizza”). Coming soon is a four kilowatt-hour cell that will be 36 inches in diameter. One variant of the technology allows the batteries to be stacked into one giant battery equaling two megawatt-hours, which is enough energy to power 200 American households per day.

Says Sadoway, “So here you have it, grid-level storage: silent, emissions-free, no moving parts, remotely controlled, designed to the market price point without subsidy.”

Sadoway’s corporation, the Liquid Metal Battery Corporation, has started commercial production of the batteries. Imagine the incredible potential if we could leverage this kind of novel power storage in the very near future!

The post RevoluSunary Series: Pioneering the Future of Energy Storage appeared first on RevoluSun.

“We congratulate RevoluSun for its exceptional performance in 2012 and 2011,” said Howard Wenger, SunPower president, regions. “We commend them, as a SunPower Elite Dealer, for demonstrating a level of quality and commitment to solar excellence exceeding expectations. We look forward to their continued success in 2013.”

RevoluSun installed 11.4 megawatts (MW) of residential solar energy in 2012, and to date has designed and installed more than 25 MW of clean, renewable energy since the company was founded in 2009.

“RevoluSun is proud to share this award with our customers,” said Eric Carlson, RevoluSun principal. “We look forward to helping even more people make the switch to solar electricity in 2013. Together, we are changing the way the world is powered.”

Hawaii-based RevoluSun has offices on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island and in 2012 opened two franchise locations in Massachusetts.

“It has always been RevoluSun’s goal to accelerate the use of solar energy, while getting away from fossil fuel use,” Carlson added. “By constantly being on the cutting-edge of solar technology, installation methods customer service and financing programs, we continue to show our commitment to homeowners interested in solar electricity. RevoluSun will continue to focus on these core items and passionately spread the message clean energy in Hawaii, Massachusetts and beyond.”

The SunPower dealer network includes more than 2,000 dealers worldwide, with approximately 500 of them located in the United States.

About RevoluSun LLC

Award-winning RevoluSun is Hawaii’s leading solar provider, designing and installing thousands of photovoltaic projects generating more than 20 MW of energy. Providing the highest quality of service, technology and design in renewable energy, RevoluSun is bringing cleaner, smarter energy to communities, one rooftop at a time. With its extensive network of alternative energy partners, RevoluSun makes renewable solar energy an affordable, attractive and simple process for both homeowners and businesses. For more information about RevoluSun visit www.RevoluSun.com or call 808.748.8888.

For more information about RevoluSun call 855.949.7386 (855-WHYREVO).

FOR MEDIA ONLY:  For digital images or an interview with Todd Georgopapadakos, please contact Jennifer Pang at (808) 371-2882 or jpang@pangcomm.com or Starr Dods at (808) 358-4658 or starrd@gmail.com.

The post RevoluSun Takes National Award, Second Year in a Row! appeared first on RevoluSun.

“The RiSE™ platform is a web application capable of complete management of a photovoltaic integrator’s business from sales to operations and construction,” said RevoluSun President Todd Georgopapadakos. “Every piece of information is integrated into one system for complete visibility and optimum efficiency. RevoluSun developed and fine-tuned this hard-working application over the past three years, so now it offers users an amazingly effective tool to sell, manage and complete a solar project whether it be a small residential system to a complex, multi-faceted commercial project.”

Through the RiSE™ platform clients can compare and contrast various solar technology side-by-side, to determine what products are best for their roof and their energy needs. The RiSE™ software suite also acts as the source to manage the project, collecting and storing all the client’s project information in one portal. This allows for the entire solar team to easily access project data, and keep tabs from the initial quote through design and permitting. Combined with the project developer’s expertise, this technology offers clarity and efficiency so clients truly understand the timeline, cost and products.

Specifically, the RiSE™ platform provides a myriad of benefits including:

• Web application with robust three-tier architecture with Google Web Toolkit at the frontend
• Sales module that allows sales force to operate autonomously generating proposals and contracts on site.
• Operations module allowing tracking of projects through all phases of construction process.
• Design module facilitating communication and document management through design process.
• Integration with accounting, procurement, inventory management, email and other key systems.
• Scalable platform allowing for customization of almost every aspect of workflow.
• Document management system allowing project documents to be connected to individual projects.
• Customer Satisfaction module to track service issues, complaints and problems.
• Marketing module to track campaign efficacy via lead gen and closing ratios from various marketing programs.

“More than $100 million in project value has been managed through RiSE™ in an iterative process of steady improvement and refinement via agile development process,” Georgopapadakos said. “When others see the clear benefit of the RiSE platform, it is one more reason to join the RevoluSun network.”

About RevoluSun LLC

Award-winning RevoluSun is Hawaii’s leading solar provider, designing and installing thousands of photovoltaic projects generating more than 20 MW of energy. Providing the highest quality of service, technology and design in renewable energy, RevoluSun is bringing cleaner, smarter energy to communities, one rooftop at a time. With its extensive network of alternative energy partners, RevoluSun makes renewable solar energy an affordable, attractive and simple process for both homeowners and businesses. For more information about RevoluSun visit www.RevoluSun.com or call 808.748.8888.

For more information about RevoluSun call 855.949.7386 (855-WHYREVO).

FOR MEDIA ONLY:  For digital images or an interview with Todd Georgopapadakos, please contact Jennifer Pang at (808) 371-2882 or jpang@pangcomm.com or Starr Dods at (808) 358-4658 or starrd@gmail.com.

The post RevoluSun® showcases the power of RiSE™ Software Suite at SPI appeared first on RevoluSun.

“As a non-profit serving Hawaii’s youth, we feel that we have a responsibility to run our organization in the smartest, most cost-effective way to ensure that the majority of our funding goes to our mission of providing a high-quality education at an affordable rate for our students,” said Chuck Larson, Seagull Schools executive director.

There were no upfront costs for the new solar systems through a leasing program.

“Sustainability and renewable energy has always been important to us at Seagull Schools,” Larson said. “Our schools were designed to be healthy places for our students and to be energy efficient. These new solar systems enhance our energy efficiency. This project has been a another way for us to show our students how we can all protect our environment.”

RevoluSun designed and installed the solar system comprised of 413 LG 255 watt modules and 132 Sunpower 240 watt modules across three campuses in three months. This system will offset 7.5 million pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the environment during its lifetime and the burning of 448 barrels of oil per year for all three systems.

“We are very pleased to partner with Seagull Schools to harness solar energy to power their schools,” said Todd Georgopapadakos, RevoluSun Principal. “Educating the public, especially our future generations, on the importance of renewable energy is a priority for us at RevoluSun. Knowing that this project will help create awareness of the importance of renewable energy to young students makes this project a special one for us.”

About Seagull Schools

Seagull Schools is a private, non-profit corporation that has been serving communities by developing and operating early education facilities since 1971. It is one of the state’s largest childcare providers, serving approximately 900 children from mixed socio-economic backgrounds. The School’s centers are located in Kailua, Ewa Beach, Ko Olina, Kapolei (2) and Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, and at the Mauna Lani Resort on the island of Hawaii. Last year Seagull was nationally recognized through the Let’s Move!, an initiative created by the First Lady to get young children on the path to a healthy lifestyle. Seagull also operates a food service program, which prepares over 1,500 meals a day and an adult day service program from its Kapolei site where 50 disabled seniors and 240 children have the opportunity to interact with one another daily. For more information visit www.seagullschools.com

About RevoluSun LLC

Award-winning RevoluSun is Hawaii’s leading solar provider, designing and installing thousands of photovoltaic projects generating more than 20 MW of energy. Providing the highest quality of service, technology and design in renewable energy, RevoluSun is bringing cleaner, smarter energy to communities, one rooftop at a time. With its extensive network of alternative energy partners, RevoluSun makes renewable solar energy an affordable, attractive and simple process for both homeowners and businesses. For more information about RevoluSun visit www.RevoluSun.com or call 808.748.8888.

For more information about RevoluSun call 855.949.7386 (855-WHYREVO).

FOR MEDIA ONLY:  For digital images or an interview with Todd Georgopapadakos, please contact Jennifer Pang at (808) 371-2882 or jpang@pangcomm.com or Starr Dods at (808) 358-4658 or starrd@gmail.com.

The post Seagull Schools furthers its “naturally healthy” environment with new solar systems appeared first on RevoluSun.

“With such fierce competition in this award category, we are so honored to be named Hawaii’s Best in Business,” said Todd Georgopapadakos, RevoluSun Principal. “Our success is driven by need to innovate, and our commitment to provide the best in service, design, installation and management for solar energy.”

RevoluSun developed RiSE®, a proprietary software system that streamlines the design and pricing of its solar energy systems, making everything extremely transparent for the client be it a homeowner or business. The firm also developed REVOS®, which integrates with RiSE® to manage the site assessment, design and construction processes, thereby facilitating better oversight throughout the entire value installation process. Together, RevoluSun’s software tools ensure higher closing rates, reduce back office costs, and make PV systems installation more efficient. In short, RevoluSun’s innovative software systems function as an operating system for the solar integration business.

In the past three years RevoluSun went from solar start-up to industry leader. Today as the largest solar company in Hawaii, RevoluSun works directly with solar manufacturers to purchase equipment, allowing it to manage costs and still offer high-quality products at affordable prices. RevoluSun has, in fact, steadfastly resisted the complacency regarding costs that often accompanies rapid growth and has focused on cost management even as it has grown its market share notably.

Founded in 2009, RevoluSun’s track record is extremely impressive. The firm successfully constructed dozens of commercial systems and over 2,500 residential systems in just three years. Its development pipeline includes single projects as large as 5 MW, in addition to its ongoing work at the residential scale. In 2010, RevoluSun sold more than $18 million in residential PV systems, claiming a 30 percent share of the Oahu market becoming Hawaii’s leading solar provider. Furthermore, 2011 ad 2012 sales continued this rapid acceleration making it one of the largest solar firms in the country.

In early 2011, RevoluSun announced plans to franchise its operations on the mainland, becoming the first photovoltaic company in Hawaii to do so. To date, RevoluSun has established a Boston office and is working with its first franchisee in Burlington, Massachusetts. RevoluSun franchisees employ the company’s proprietary sales and construction management software tools. The firm seeks to establish more than 50 franchises by the end of 2013 across the United States.

About RevoluSun Solar Corporation

Hawaii-owned RevoluSun Solar Corp. is a national solar company, requiring the highest quality of service, technology and design in renewable energy. With its extensive network of renewable energy partners RevoluSun Solar Corp. makes entering the renewable energy business an affordable, attractive proposition for sales-oriented entrepreneurs and existing solar companies looking for new ways to compete in their increasingly competitive local markets. RevoluSun also is leading the way in solar franchising by exporting its highly successful business model to cities nationwide allowing more people to join the solar movement. RevoluSun Network companies provide their residential and commercial customers free, understandable energy evaluations, and can instantly generate accurate customized quotes based on a site’s energy usage, solar insolation, and structural characteristics using its proprietary RiSE™ software platform.

For more information about RevoluSun call 855.949.7386 (855-WHYREVO).

FOR MEDIA ONLY:  For digital images or an interview with Todd Georgopapadakos, please contact Jennifer Pang at (808) 371-2882 or jpang@pangcomm.com or Starr Dods at (808) 358-4658 or starrd@gmail.com.

The post RevoluSun Named Pacific Business News’ 2012 Business Leadership Hawaii BEST IN BUSINESS award winner appeared first on RevoluSun.

After visiting India and seeing young children drink contaminated water from a dirty pool, Deepika “instantly knew she had to do something about the global water crisis” (about 780 million people in developing countries lack access to clean drinking water — yup, it’s a big problem). She hypothesized that an advanced composite of titanium dioxide and zinc oxide could be used to kill waterborne bacteria much faster, cheaper and more portably than current technology.

Leveraging her talent in physics, chemistry, biology and math, Deepika successfully discovered the correct ratio of composite and bonding agents (cement and 3M “glass bubbles”) to create special photocatalytic rods designed for placement in water bottles and other portable purifying systems. Once activated by sunlight, coliform and E. coli levels in contaminated water of her experiment fell to below EPA limits in a matter of hours.

Deepika now plans to approach national foundation and NGOs to help make her invention a reality for millions of people who need it. Let’s hope she takes it all the way!

If you’re interested in the science behind Deepika’s watershed experiment, we recommend you watch the video of her presentation to the judges of the Discovery Education Young Scientist Challenge. A lot of the content might be over your head but it’s nevertheless a huge inspiration to watch a 14-year old high school student be so encouraged to change the world.

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