SOLAR TODAY - Getting Started Fall/Winter 2011

PERSPECTIVE

Solar in the Neighborhood
Roughly 49 percent of America’s energy budget goes to heat, cool and light our buildings. By comparison, trans- portation takes just 28 percent of the energy we buy. It
should be clear that the opportunity to save energy, and the cost
of energy, is bigger for your home and place of business than it is
for your transport between the two.

The ASES National Solar Tour was launched 16 years ago to spotlight outstanding energy-efficient homes and businesses in neighborhoods across the country. More than 5,000 building owners open their doors for the tour this fall, across the nation and in every climate. They’re proud to show what they’ve done to slash the energy they use every day, using available, cost-effective, pollution-free technologies.

We expect more than 100,000 people to tour open-house
buildings this fall. They have dedicated the better part of a
Saturday to see what their neighbors are doing with solar power.

If you’re reading this magazine, you’re probably in the solar
business in some capacity. Those tour-goers represent 100,000

potential customers, and you ought to be out meeting them.
If you’re a homeowner, attending the tour because you’re
curious about solar power and energy efficiency, welcome! You’re
about to see real-world examples of how your neighbors do their
part to reduce energy bills and their impact on the planet.

Special thanks are due to the ASES National Solar Tour spon-
sors, Delta, Trina and Enphase.

This magazine, the Get Started: Guide to Installers, is produced
as an annual bonus issue of SOLAR TODAY. It’s an educational
resource combined with a list of local installers and other solar-
related businesses nationwide, meant to help newcomers to solar
technologies shop intelligently. Our online Solar Basics guide (so-
lartoday.org/solarbasics) offers basic
information on solar technology and
efficient buildings, as a supplement to
what tour-goers learn from neighbors
who have opened their solar-powered
homes. Our goal with this magazine is
to provide a ready resource to encour-
age more solar deployment. Keep the
magazine as a reference you can use
now, tomorrow or next summer.

The solar business in the United
States grew last year by about 113

percent, and is on track to double
again this year. That’s one reason our
Buyers’ Guide (beginning on page

By jeff lyng

Jeff Lyng (chair@ases.
org) is chair of
the ASES board of
directors.

20) has burgeoned to about 4,200
business names. It’s organized by ZIP
code, so it’s easy to find solar businesses in your immediate area.

If you’re looking for vendors, or customers, strategic partners or
political allies, this list is the place to start. Note that business and
professional members of American Solar Energy Society (ASES)

are highlighted in boldface. Most ASES members are homeown-
ers, scientists, engineers, architects, students and academics. You
won’t see them in the Buyers’ Guide.

All of us at ASES are strong advocates for renewable energy technologies, and we can use your support. The ASES National Solar Tour is our program. We founded it, we fund it and we support the local organizers. Please: Attend the tour, meet the tour-goers, recruit new ASES members. They can help build the renewable energy future.

Leading the RenewaBLe eneRgy RevoLution

Solartoday.org
Solar TODAY®

Shaun L. McGrath: ASES Executive Director

Editorial Gina R. Johnson: Editor/Associate Publisher editor@solartoday.org Seth Masia: Deputy Editor smasia@solartoday.org Mike Koshmrl: Associate Editor mkoshmrl@solartoday.org Alexandria Abdallah: Associate Editor aabdallah@solartoday.org

Solartoday.org
Brooke Simmons: Manager of Online Publishing
bsimmons@solartoday.org
Design
Allison J. Gray: Art Director
Peggy Doyle: Designer
Dan Bihn: Photojournalist
Contributors
Richard Crume, Rona Fried, Chuck Kutscher,
Joseph Mc Cabe, Mick Sagrillo, Robert Ukeiley

Advertising Annette Delagrange: Director of Sales, Colorado and Outside the U.S. adelagrange@solartoday.org P: 630.234.9187

Bonnie D. Hunt: Eastern Sales Manager bhunt@solartoday.org P: 215.750.7692 P: 800.598.7947 F: 215.741.4698

Rob Simonelli: Western Sales Manager
rsimonelli@solartoday.org
P: 562.431.1630
F: 562.431.1530
Shari Heinlein: National Sales Assistant
sheinlein@solartoday.org
P: 303.443.3130
F: 303.443.3212

Magazine Advisory Council Gabriela Martin, Chair Dan Bihn Paul Notari Richard Crume Alejandro Palomino Frank Kreith Mick Sagrillo Chuck Kutscher Bob Scheulen Joseph McCabe Robert Ukeiley Dona McClain

ASES Operations Carolyn Beach: Membership Manager The Fellows Group: Virtual Chief Financial Officer Kate Hotchkiss: National Solar Conference Director Ann Huggins: Member Services Dona McClain: Program Coordinator Patty Michaels: Accounting Manager Joel Moore: National Solar Tour Manager | National Solar Conference Assistant Chris Stimpson: Executive Campaigner Solar Nation | Chapters and Divisions Liaison

National Solar Tour

nationalsolartour.org

National Solar Conference | WREF 2012 nationalsolarconference.org

ASES Board of Directors Jeff Lyng, Chair David Hill, Chair-elect Bill Poulin, Treasurer Jason Keyes, Secretary Margot McDonald, ASES Immediate Past Chair John Reynolds, ASES Honorary Past Chair Toni Bouchard Nathalie Osborn Richard Caputo David Panich David Comis Tehri Parker Gregory Edwards Jeff Peterson Trudy Forsyth Tony Silva Allison Gray Phil Smithers Mary Guzowski Mark Thornbloom SOLAR TODAY (ISSN: 1042-0630) is published nine times per year by the American Solar Energy Society, 4760 Walnut Street, Suite 106, Boulder, Colorado 80301, 303.443.3130, fax 303.443.3212, ases@ases. org, ases.org. Copyright © 2011 by the American Solar Energy Society Inc. All rights reserved