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Run on Sun Monthly Newsletter

2016 Top 500 Solar Contractors: Still on Top!

It's the time of year again when we hold our breath and hope to be included in the Solar Power World Top 500 Solar Contractors list. As more and more companies come into the solar sector it becomes more and more of a real honor to be included in this prestigious list of the best in the industry.

Run on Sun made the cut!

We'd like to thank our friends at Solar Power World for the valuable work they do delivering well-rounded information on the solar industry to the wider public. They also provide a very important service helping our solar community to share information, best practices, and continue to thrive and grow. This is our fourth year running on the list which has been published for the last five years.

Beyond the Top 500 list, Solar Power World also gathered some data about the industry as a whole through their annual survey. Some interesting facts from the results include:

• Solar continues to provide valuable jobs: Top Solar Contractors employed 133,707 people in 2015, up from 124,967 in 2014.
• Residential markets provide most solar jobs: 287 contractors worked primarily in the residential market; 154 worked primarily in the commercial market
• California continues to lead: 130 companies were headquartered in California
• Many companies are investing in rigorous solar education: 355 companies had at least one NABCEP-certified principal on staff. (Run on Sun is proud to have all principals NABCEP certified)
• Most solar companies are local businesses: 77% of companies reported doing most of their business within its state of headquarters
• Many solar companies are small businesses! 119 contractors reported have 10 or fewer employees; 236 reported having between 11 and 50

While the majority of solar electricity is produced at large utility-scale solar power plants, the majority of jobs are actually located with local small to medium sized companies that service residential and commercial clients.

"No one can deny that local companies are supporting the growth of the industry. Our Top Solar Contractors are the face of the industry—meeting homeowners and business leaders on doorsteps every day." - Kathie Zipp, Managing Editor Solar Power World

When you support solar, you not only benefit the environment but with many solar contractors you are also supporting small local businesses that provide jobs and put money back into our local economies. It's nice to know Run on Sun is in good company and that we have great people like the team at Solar Power World backing our efforts to build a clean-energy future for all. Congratulations to all the top 500 solar contractors of 2016!

Run on Sun's Laurel Hamilton and Josh Sanchez enjoy the Solar Power World booth at Intersolar 2015

Intersolar 2016 - Bests & Worsts of the Hottest Solar Event of the Year

Laurel Hamilton reporting — Its been a couple of weeks since we returned from the most epic solar event of the year - Intersolar North America in San Francisco. Now that we are caught up on the backlog of emails and calls we can take a moment to reflect on key highlights from the event.

Top 2 New Innovative Products to Watch

1. Beamreach - Where do I start with this truly innovative new company??

Beamreach Solar unveiled a product called Sprint that includes the attachments, racking, and panel all in one. The panel frame and "racking" is entirely made of a composite plastic (material tested in automotive and other outdoor conditions for 20+ years). They demonstrated the installation of 6 panels in about 5 minutes! Designed for flat roof commercial projects, the tilt up back end pops out to click into a base which also pops out and sticks with a roofing adhesive to the roof. The front of the next panel then clicks into the base of the first panel and so on. The whole system is obviously much lighter (including a handle in the middle of the panel) and way faster to install than conventional ballasted systems. Best of all, no grounding required since there's no metal to ground! While this is an awesome new product we have to wonder about a few things...

1) Do we have to powerwash the roof first for the adhesive to work? 2) What if a footing is incorrectly placed?! According to the great sales rep we spoke with... while the panels can be removed and replaced easily for maintenance, the footing is solid once it adheres to the roof so you'd have to essentially re-roof if you want to get rid of them. And 3) most roofs are nowhere near as flat as the surface Beamreach demonstrated on. How does the system deal with irregularities on the roof given the sticky feet are basically a flat square? We look forward to following this company as they work out the kinks in their exciting product. Keep your eyes peeled for a blog post where we dig in a little deeper on this.

2. Photon - While we didn't get to actually talk to the masterminds behind this new start-up the idea is spot on. Photon is a subscription based app whereby your smartphone (with the addition of a cheap lens from Amazon) can take a shade analysis on a roof. I don't think many installers would shed a single tear giving up their SunEye or Pathfinders. We may just have to try this innovative new app out.

Top 3 Developments from Existing Partners

1. Energy Toolbase - These guys are the kings of data. We have been working with them since last year's Intersolar to help us show our clients how solar will offset their electric bills with the greatest confidence possible. They are constantly adding more of the dozens of complex rate models around the country to their system. And now they've built in net metering 2.0 in anticipation of this huge change to California rates coming next year as well as storage into their models. Staying ahead of all the rate changes nation-wide is a huge undertaking but these guys are on top of it!

2. Life's Good (LG) - While LG didn't have a booth this year, Run on Sun's CEO Jim Jenal enjoyed a breakfast where LG showed off their mammoth 375 watt, 72 cell panel. This is no surprise as LG continues to churn out higher wattage panels every year with their successful R&D department. Currently 320 watt, 60 cell panels (standard for residential solar) are available to us but it sounds like we can expect even higher efficiency coming within the year.

3. Enphase Energy - Storage beta installations are taking place in Australia where they recently mounted 4 units in just 45 minutes! Can't wait to get our hands on them as many of our clients have expressed interest in storage. Looks like we may be able to get beta Enphase batteries in the coming year! Interested clients (especially those in SCE territory) please let us know if you want to be one of the first!

Top 2 Companies Trying too Hard

1. Smartflower POP - There was a lot of hubbub around this giant solar flower thingy. While I like that it has integrated storage and the dual axis tracker is great for increasing output in a big way...we couldn't help but feel like this was way over engineered. There are actually several other solar flowers out there and I think solar-integrated art is a fantastic way to showcase to the public and get the social benefit when a solar system may be hidden on a rooftop. But take a look at this Smartflower. There's some serious mechanics going on to make the thing open in the morning, track the sun, then close at night. Why it needs to open and close is beyond me and just seems overly complicated, heavy, and probably costly. (To be fair, we didn't get the full spiel from the sales guys.) 2. Ten K Solar - Sometimes its a fine line between being innovative and being overly complicated. When you decide to roll three "innovative" products into one maybe that's a sign that you've crossed the line. I'm not sure if I'm more excited about the concept of wiring in series and parallel - making each "half" cell operate independently, or more confused as to why they orient the system north/south and eliminated MC4's. To be sure there are some exciting things about this product and the people at Ten K definitely have thought outside the box. Will be keeping an eye on them for sure.

Top 4 Most Amazing Moments

1. BayWa r.e. Customer Appreciation - As many of you know, Baywa r.e. is our fabulous distributor for many reasons. Namely they share a similar ethos and dedication to quality solar and an accountable honest industry that we do. But beyond sharing similar missions they also treat us really well!
This year BayWa hosted a customer appreciation "chill out" area throughout Intersolar. Anytime the crowds and meetings were too much we could go sit outside in the shade, get a chair massage, and enjoy a cold beverage or lunch! Yeah, you heard me...Chair Massage. Best distribution partners EVER!

Kendra Hubbard, Jim Jenal, Jeff Spies, and me at BotB

2. Solar Summerfest - It wouldn't be Intersolar without an epic party or two! This year's Solar Summerfest did not disappoint. From the variety of food spreads (loved the veg options!) and bars (wine, margaritas AND whiskey?!) to the awesome entertainment provided by professional break dancers... this was such a fun time to relax and get to know our solar friends and partners. As the night went on the real highlights were seeing BayWa's Scott Snyder rock the karaoke stage and CalSEIA's Bernadette del Chiaro cut a serious rug on the dance floor. And according to Jim's pedometer Jim and I danced an impressive 7216 steps with our friends at Everest Solar! 3. Battle of the Bands - And then there was the Battle of the Bands where solar companies show off their employees' musical talents (and the Solar Tribe hangs out, like the four of us in the picture above). Solar folks really know how to party! Special thanks to Jeff Spies for hooking us up with invite only tix!

4. Delorean! - Did I forget to mention the Back to the Future Delorean was on display...and I got to sit in it? That was a pretty cool moment for an 80's kid like myself.

Top 2 Most Annoying Moments

1. What's in a name? - When that guy I met at SolarFred's Solar Tweetup (which was a great event by the way) asked me how Run on Sun was different than SunRun and couldn't wrap his head around how installation companies can be so different. Even when given the most perfect metaphor... "We are like a microbrewery making delicious quality beer for the benefit of the people in the most sustainable thought-driven way, and SunRun is like Coors. NOT THE SAME." He still didn't get it, sigh.

2. Booth Babes - Seriously? - When I casually walked the exhibition floor looking for current and future partners working for the betterment of the solar industry and the world at large...and was confronted with a booth filled with girls dressed in what looked like playboy bunny costumes. Jim already described his take on Talesun's display choices and their obvious lack of understanding for why they received such a negative reaction in another blog. But as a woman working in this industry with a rare position including answering phones, designing layouts, pulling permits, AND torquing bolts on the roof... I felt personally offended by Talesun's decision to use misogynistic objectification to try to sell their product. Due to my many roles I feel I represent, or have an understanding of, a lot of different people in this industry. And I'm not alone, according to the 2015 Solar Foundation National Census women represented 24% of solar jobs, surely even more today! When a quarter of your clientèle are women why in the world would you use booth babes to market your products? Solar is supposed to be different than other male dominated construction industries. This is supposed to be an industry that makes the world a better place and values everyone equally for their contributions.

Talesun's booth did not speak to me positively on any level in any of my roles as installer, administrator, customer service representative, saleslady, health and safety officer, or general solar ninja. On the bright side I was pleased to hear that the majority of Intersolar participants made it very widely known how unacceptable Talesun's display was. This only solidifies my feeling that this is a great industry for women, despite a few bad apples who may never "get it".

Consumer Reports: Now is a good time to consider solar

Consumer watchdog and advocacy organization Consumer Reports is out with an article on the benefits of going solar now! Titled Shedding Light on Solar Power, the article outlines why now may be the time to get off the sidelines, and get solar on your roof.

From the article:

There has probably never been a better time to switch to solar. Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia have regulations that are solar-friendly enough (and electricity rates high enough) to make residential solar financially attractive (see map below), and last December Congress extended through 2021 the generous federal tax credits on solar projects that had been set to expire at the end of this year. Residential solar installations increased almost 60 percent between 2014 and 2015, and in 2015 America averaged one new residential solar installation about every 100 seconds.

Those who want to wait on the sidelines for further price reductions could be disappointed: The cost of solar panels has started to plateau and, while installation labor and other soft costs continue to fall, the phasing out of state tax incentives and utility rebates and grants has largely offset those savings. Adding an element of urgency to the equation are proposals in a number of states that would radically shrink the utility-bill savings of switching to solar power. Because, generally speaking, existing solar customers haven't been subject to those changes, getting your deal done before new regulations are implemented could save you hundreds of dollars each year.

Clearly California is one of those states where the combination of high utility rates and favorable policies has combined to make going solar now pretty much a no-brainer!

So you don't need to take our word for it, Consumer Reports agrees - now is the time to go solar!

Just think how much more you will enjoy this summer if you could declare your independence from high electric bills! So give us a call today and let's get started! (Oh and did I mention, when you call Run on Sun you get to work with a NABCEP certified PV professional, just like Consumer Reports recommends? Sweet!)