SOLAR TODAY - July/August 2009

SOLAR TODAY
July/August 2009
VOl. 23, NO. 6

“Education is my specialty. I need to teach

The following day, Husak sends the Robertsons a follow-up e-mail. It says, in part —

each potential customer why it would or “After an analysis of your electric usage, I put
together a solar system that will save you 30 per-
wouldn’t make sense to get solar.” cent over the next 12 months on your electricity
bill. I also looked at your gas and electric bills over
— Aaron Husak, Solar Communities the past 12 months, and you spent $362 on elec-
tricity and $191 on gas per month on average.
“Over the past 12 months, 88 percent of your
bill was in tiers three and four, which have gone
up 12 percent per year over the past five years.
My estimate of your savings over the next 12
months only assumes a 5 percent increase in elec-
tricity prices….”

No one knows how quickly utility prices will rise over the next few years, so Husak is conservative in his sales approach. He does not try to make the homeowner fearful about rising costs, but he does trace the recent five-year trend.

If the Robertsons decide to go forward, Husak will return with a ladder and climb onto the roof. He’ll use a device to determine the hours of sunlight on the rooftop for a 12-month cycle, accounting for the seasonal path of the sun. He’ll use a compass and tape measure to figure the area available for mounting a solar array and its orientation to the sun.

Husak’s background includes selling house painting services while attending California state university at long Beach, where he earned a degree in international business and

buys in for $2,000 is guaranteed a 20 percent finance. “It was like my own business, but it
reduction in the utility bill. With this program, wasn’t,” he recalls. “I was trained by the com-
Husak’s employer, Applied solar Inc., will pany to do all my own management, market-
own the PV array installed on the Robertson ing and create value for my customers.” After
roof and sell them power at a fixed rate for graduating, he took renewable energy classes
20 years. at the solar living Institute and at commu-
to determine the financial viability of the nity colleges. For 30 months, he was market-
system, Husak first estimates the home’s elec- ing coordinator at Clean Power systems, an
trical demand and future demand. At this first installer in san Diego. He joined Applied solar
visit, the Robertsons pull out their utility bills in March. Now, at 27, he plans to enroll in the
from san Diego gas & Electric (sDg&E). North American Board of Certified Energy
using an analysis package on a laptop com- Practitioners’ licensing program in July.
puter, Husak reviews the charges separately Most customers approach solar systems
for electricity and gas and points out the differ- knowing nothing except the size of their
ent rates, organized in four pricing tiers. This monthly utility bill. Consequently, Husak says,
discussion is critical, says Husak, to establish a “Education is my specialty. I need to teach each
consensus on financial objectives. potential customer why it would or wouldn’t
Husak and the Robertsons agree on a sys- make sense to get solar.”
tem size and a goal: Reduce the monthly bill And he continues to educate himself. After
by at least 20 percent. On the first pass, that his third sales call of the day, Husak visits a
would pay back the initial investment in about regional home show where no fewer than 13
18 months. solar sales/installer companies have displays.

It’s just one way Husak can keep up with what’s happening in a local market that’s becoming increasingly competitive.

Mary Beth McCabe, a doctor of business administration, is the president of Sun Marketing, media buyers in English and Spanish for everything under thesunsince1979.Re ach her at mbmccabe@ sunmarketing.net.

Process Engineering Manager:

Tim Barry

MARY BE TH MCCABE

Community Solar’s aaron husak and a home– owner go over utility bills.

By Seth MaSia

THE NEW ABOuND solar factory in long-mont, Colo., opened in April. It sprawls across 250,000 square feet ( 23,226 square meters) of prairie, and its automated production line, 185 yards (164 meters) long, will eventually crank out a 70-watt photovoltaic (PV) panel every 30 seconds, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In theory, that’s more than 73 megawatts (MW) of PV capacity each year. If competitive pricing and marketing objectives are met, Abound will generate roughly $100 million in annual revenue.

tim Barry, the company’s process engineering manager, is one of two engineers responsible for making the complex line run smoothly. Automation means that the glass panels are never touched by human hands. Pallets of heat-treated window glass come in the front door. Robot arms load the panes onto the first of a series of conveyors linking machine to machine. After two hours on the line, the glass emerges as a packaged PV module, ready for rooftop installation. Once the line is up to speed, Barry will oversee its efficient three-shift operation and continued improvement in product performance.

During the start-up phase, while test batch-es glide through machines still being tuned up to full-speed operation, Barry arrives at 5 a.m. to get in some desk time before the day shift comes on at 6 a.m. He has e-mail to deal with, and he walks the line to see the status of the equipment. He turns on a number of machines so they’ll be up to operating temperature before his crew arrives.