With a bold red ribbon taped from one side of her AC point of connection to the conduit going back to the meter, Ja was ready for action.   Just before flipping the back-feeding breaker, she swung her scissors out with a flourish and sliced apart the ribbon (in full OSHA compliant fashion). It was a beautiful moment.  Tears of joy were shed by all in attendance and in the faint distance one could almost hear her appliances breathe sighs of relief over their new cleaner, greener power source.

If you’re anything like me, right about now you’re thinking, “What ceremony is complete without tasty treats?”  Rest assured, there were tasty treats a-plenty.  Ja served up  homemade organic banana-walnut bread to commemorate the moment and it was DELICIOUS.  To be fair, I wasn’t present to verify the degree of deliciousness, but our Field Manager Benjamin M. says it was by far the best banana bread he’s ever had, and Benjamin is a trustworthy type of guy.

You can file this post under: This is why we love our customers.  If you don’t have any additional room in the T section of your file box then go ahead and file it under We have the best customers in the world.

It’s not just Ja that we love —  we love all of our customers.  Let us know if you’re having an energizing ceremony that you’d like us to attend.  If we can make it there then the banana-walnut bread is on us :-)

Blake (one of our Project Managers) and some coworkers found her in Jack London Square last Friday. After getting to know her a bit they named her Honey, which is not an homage to a classic Mariah Carey song, but rather a hint at how sweet she is!  They gave posters to the Oakland SPCA, and put posters all over downtown Oakland, but so far no one has called.

Honey is approx 1 1/2 yrs old, a mixed breed, and approximately 50 pounds.  She is not microchipped and her collar didn’t have a tag on it.  According to people in the area, Honey had been seen the previous week wandering around all over Oakland, Telegraph/29th, Broadway/30th, Broadway/10th.

Unfortunately, the current Sungevity Foster Parent can not keep her any longer and she needs a new home ASAP (ideally by tomorrow).  Can you help us get the word out and connect Honey to her rightful owner?  She’s a total sweetheart and someone out there must be heartbroken that she’s gone.  Please spread this blog post to all of your social networks if you live in the Bay Area or have a lot of Bay Area friends.

Honey is very friendly with kids, babies, adults (men and women), and comfortable with noise.  She is house trained, but currently in heat.  She is great in the car and okay on a leash (she pulls a bit, but not too bad).  Most importantly, she loves to give hugs, cuddle and play fetch.

If we can’t find her owner then we will need someone to foster her or adopt her.  If you’re interested then please leave a comment and I will connect you to Blake.

After a long summer on the road, Tonks is finally taking a well-deserved breather.  As she kicks back and gets a new mani, pedi, and everything in between, I am going to take advantage of the down time to  show you how everything started.  Do you remember those Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood episodes where Mr. Rogers gave kids insight into the unsolved mysteries of the world?  Mysteries like, “how are crayons made” and “what does the inside of a construction paper factory look like”?  This video you’re about to watch is our version of a Mr. Rogers peek at how we took an ordinary postal truck and transformed it into a Rolling Rooftop Revolution:

If you think this revolution is over then think again; we’re just getting started.

As soon as Tonks’ spa treatments are over we are loading her onto a flatbed so that she can bring solar power to the people in a new part of the country.  A part of the country that won’t scoff at the idea of eating ice pops in October :-)

P.S. If you missed the Mr. Rogers crayon episode (which is one of my all time favorites) click on the image below for an early holiday gift from me to you.  You’re welcome, neighbor :-)

That just doesn’t make any sense.

Unless of course it’s a SOLAR DECATHLON!

If you follow all the solar news that’s fit to print then you probably already know about the Solar Decathlon, which officially kicks off tomorrow at the National Mall’s West Potomac Park in DC.  If not, here’s the background (straight from the DOE’s website):

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon is an award-winning program that challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency.  Open to the public free of charge, visitors can tour the houses, gather ideas to use in their own homes, and learn how energy-saving features can help them save money today.

The first Solar Decathlon was held in 2002, and the competition is biennial, meaning this year is the 6th anniversary of the event.  Twenty teams from all over the world gathered in DC on September 13th to transform their cutting-edge designs into realities.  Tomorrow the homes officially open to the public.

The DOE Solar Decathlon official website has lots of bells and whistles, including time lapse videos of the creation of the solar village and photos of the houses from past decathlons.

Planet Forward also has an outstanding section of their website devoted to the Solar Decathlon, complete with snapshots of each team, videos, and even a matchmaking quiz where you can figure out (in 6 simple questions) which house is the best for your lifestyle.  I matched to the indoor/outdoor New Zealand house called First Light house

Take the quiz and find out which house is right for you, then share the results in the comments.

The program is called A Liter of Light, and not only is it creating green jobs, it is breathing new life into plastic bottles and changing the way many Filipinos live.  A Liter of Light aims to fit 1 million homes in the Philippines with plastic bottle lights by the end of 2012.  At present there are a bit over 10,000 bottle lights installed in Manila and Laguna.

If you think about it, it seems like an obvious recipe for success.

Ingredients:

• 1 country with ample sunshine (avg. solar radiation in the Philippines is 128-203 watts/m2).
• 1 large heap of households with black painted ceilings and no windows, where the homeowners can not always afford to turn their lights on.
• 3 million+ homes outside of Manila without power
• 1 surplus of plastic bottles, destined for landfills
• Water
• Bleach (to prevent algae growth)

Instructions:

Blend all six ingredients at high speed.  Slowly add in the light refracting properties of water.  Bake under the sun.  Serves 1 million.

The recipe is so obvious, in fact, that others who came before MIT and Illac also built the light bottles, but without all of the press.  Many credit the invention of the lights to a Brazilian named Alfredo Moser, who installed some in his own home during a long electrical shortage in São Paulo in 2002.

However they came to be, they are an innovative way to channel the sun’s light and change the way entire communities live.

The bottle lights have a 5 year life expectancy, as the end of which it will be simple for homeowners to swap out the old bottle for a new one.

What this means is that now Lowe’s shoppers have three easy ways to get an iQuote – online, by phone, or via mobile scan.

Have you been inside of a NorCal Lowe’s store this summer to see what it all looks like?Here’s a peek:

Stirring up some Sunshine Yellow paint?  Why not stir up some savings by going solar?

Grabbing a key?  Did you know that the key to saving money on your electric bill is going solar with Sungevity?

Fancy a plant to purify the air in your house?  Purify the air AROUND your house by switching over to a clean energy source — the sun!

We have a thorough in-store experience where strategically placed displays provide portals to the iQuote sales process so that customers can get firm quotes within 24 hours without a home visit.

While going solar isn’t exactly a d.i.y. project, it’s certainly e.z.p.z. when you do it through Lowe’s and Sungevity. :-)

For those of you who live in New Jersey, you can catch our solar powered ice pop truck at Lowe’s in Paramus on 9/17 and at Lowe’s in Patterson on 9/18 from 11-2.

1 former USPS truck + 10 solar panels + a few planks of reclaimed Douglas Fir from a train station in Maine + 5 iPads + 4 vats of blood, sweat, and tears from Rob Ida Concepts + 70 gallons of fuel capacity + 1 enchanting playlist featuring 77 songs about the sun = 1 Rolling Rooftop Revolution!

Speaking of magic, I have seen people look downright enchanted when they first lay eyes on Tonks.  The orange!  The shimmering panels! The popsicle infographics! The free and all-natural GoodPops!  What’s not to love?  Have you seen her yet?  She is truly a stunner.   And the way she purrs. .  . It’s like being in a room full of elated kittens shaking maracas and shooting off M80s.  Soothing to say the least.  She doesn’t quite fit the required height/weight to get her onto the next season of America’s Next Top Model, but we’re sure if she qualified that she would win the runway walk-off. Va-va-va-ZOOM!

Am I biased?  Maybe, but I’m not the only person who is crushing on the truck. Our Rolling Rooftop Revolution was covered by Huffington Post, LA Times, Treehugger, NY Daily News, Inhabitat, and too many more to count.  Our 250+ employees are also smitten.  They come in early and wait in a line that wraps around the block just to pose for a photo in a mock-up of the truck.

Elvis loves our truck too.

Honestly, how can you NOT love this truck?   She’s a biodiesel solar-powered ice pop truck driving around the Eastern Seaboard making people smile and giving them brief but delicious sanctuary from the heat.  How refreshing!  If I haven’t convinced you of her greatness, check out some of the pics from New York and Massachusetts on Facebook. While you’re already there, don’t forget to officially ”like” our Facebook page.  We donate $1 to The Solar Foundation for every new like we get.

Switching topics slightly, do you know what state is often labeled “The Diner Capital of the World”?  Hint: it is also home to the Miss America pageant, jughandle turns, and the first EVER drive-in movie theatre.  If you guessed New Jersey then you get a gold star on your chart.  If you LIVE in New Jersey then you are in for a treat, because our Rolling Rooftop Revolution is headed there next!  Follow Sungevity on Twitter to find out when the Rolling Rooftop Revolution is in your neck of the woods. Or city.  Or beach.  Or whatnot.

Come on out.  Grab a free all-natural ice pop.  Pose for a pic.  Chat with us about solar. We can’t wait to see you there!

We faced roving packs of kids in need of a refreshing and tasty treat.

And now, much like the Muppets and so many others before us, we’re taking on MANHATTAN!

This summer Sungevity is celebrating our launch in DE, MA, MD, NJ, and NY by rolling out a Rooftop Revolution.  In our solar-powered biodiesel ice pop truck we are slinging ice pops along the Eastern Seaboard and teaching people how they can save money on their electric bills by going solar!

Check out this piece in the Huffington Post and follow our truck on Facebook and Twitter.

For every new “like” we get on Facebook we are donating $1 to The Solar Foundation, so start spreading the news!

The Institute of Science in Society has an answer: The Institute’s life cycle analysis shows that the energy payback for polycrystalline panels (which is what Sungevity uses) is 2.2 years.  In other words, after 2.2 years, the power generated by the panels exceeds the power used to manufacture them. The panels have a lifespan of at least 25 years which means 23 years of clean, green energy on your roof. That’s a fantastic energy payback by any standard and makes us doubly confident that solar is the single best way to go green.

There goes the neighborhood

At Sungevity, we’ve known for a long time that the best way to spread solar is neighbor-to-neighbor and friend-to-friend. Customers in our Sunshine Network are solar evangelists who often get their friends and family to go solar too.

So we were happy but not surprised to see the Stanford study that found that for every 1% increase in the number of solar homes in a neighborhood, the length of time before the next solar installation decreases by 1%. Now that might sound trivial to you (if, like me, your math skills topped out in 5th grade). But there’s an exponential effect at play here that causes solar adoption to snowball. John Farrell from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance explains it like this:

If you start with a neighborhood with 25 solar installations, where it was 100 days between the 24th and 25th installation, this peer pressure effect will reduce the time between installations to just 10 days by the 250th [photovoltaic] project.

The graph below shows how this plays out:

We’d like to thank our customers and all solar homeowners for helping form this giant (and paradoxical) solar snowball!  Keep it up and solar homes will some day soon become the new normal.