Startup breaks barriers to solar

by Becky Brun - 7.10.08
SAN FRANCISCO

With a mission to drive wider residential solar adoption, a new Bay Area startup is using bulk purchasing to bring the costs of solar down for individual homeowners.

“We are trying to leverage numbers and drive savings for people,” says Sylvia Ventura, co-founder of 1BOG, or One Block Off the Grid.

The for-profit organization is aiming to help homeowners install 200 kilowatts of solar power, or the equivalent of the electricity used by a typical San Francisco city block, in its first campaign.

It plans to do so by working neighborhood by neighborhood with residents interested in investing in solar electric systems, which would create economies of scale and drive down the costs of installation.

Seventy qualified homeowners signed up with 1BOG in its first month, according to Ventura. The company is gearing up to issue a Request For Proposals to solar electric system installers that can handle numerous orders for solar electric systems within one neighborhood. “Our goal is 60 houses in 30 days,” Ventura says.

Ventura also says 1BOG’s goal is to help cut the price of solar installations in half. 1BOG, which is completely self-funded by Ventura and her husband Dan Barahona, is seeking private funding to help further finance the first 50 customers that install solar electric systems. The company helps educate homeowners by going into neighborhoods and explaining solar incentives and rebates. As such, the company says it helps create camaraderie among neighbors.

“People don’t want to be the first one on their street to install solar, to go through the permitting process, etc.,” she says. “So we identify others who are interested so you don’t feel alone. There is a level of comfort that we bring.”

1BOG, is looking to partner with corporations such as Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) that are helping drive more widespread adoption of renewable energy technology.

Ventura says 1BOG recently launched a second campaign in Washington, D.C., and is working to raise private funding to continue launching in new markets.