HelioPower client, Charles Smith in Encinitas, CA shows how solar energy powers his home, pool pump, spa, fountain and even the electric motorcyle that takes him to lunch in this YouTube video:
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Happy Earth Day! This wonderful list of ways you can help celebrate the 40th anniversary of Earth Day with free "green" stuff comes from FreeSampleFreak.com:
- Free Disney Baseball Cap: Bring in any 6 plastic water bottles or 6 recyclable cans and get a Free Disney Baseball Cap
- Origins: FREE Full Size Cleanser when you bring in an empty skincare bottle/package
- Babies R Us: Free Tote Bag and a Fill-A-Bag Sale, 25% off all clothing and shoes you can fit in the Tote!
- Free Reusable Tote at Earth Fare: First 200 people on Earth Day
- Pottery Barns Kids: Free Activities from 11am-3pm, kids will get a prize they can bring home and plant!
- Free Hanes Earth Day T-Shirt: Buy 3 Hanes products and the Arbor day Foundation will plant a tree in your honor, PLUS they’ll send you a FREE Earth Day T-shirt
- Free Reusable Tote for Teachers: Share your feedback about thinking “green” in your classroom
- Free Alice Reusable Tote with any green purchase at Alice.com
- Celebrate Earth Day with Nickelodeon: Premier NEW episodes of: SpongeBob Squarepants, Go Diego Go, Team Umizoomi, Ni Hao Kai-Lan, The Backyardigans and the Fresh Beat Band
- Free Download of Planet Earth: Series One
- Free Jack Johnson MP3 download from Stonyfield Organic (I LOVE Jack Johnson!)
- Get Ink Refills for only $1 from Walgreens with in-ad coupon from the 4/18 advertisement
- Send in three (3) plastic bags to Target and get a coupon for $1 off a Reusable Tote Bag (makes it close to free):
Terracycle
121 New York Avenue
Trenton, NJ 08638
Join HelioPower and over 1 billion people in 190 countries for this year's 40th anniversary celebration of Earth Day on Thursday, April 22.
This year's theme, "Power the Earth Day Movement," is a clear call to action 
for solar enthusiasts.
What better way to "power" Earth Day 2010 than by going solar?
HelioPower is here to help you go solar for Earth Day. We're offering a "free flowers"* Earth day bookmark to remind you that this is the year to get involved with the largest secular civic event on the planet. We are making going solar easy by offering great solar financing, with the SunRun program that makes it possible for you to go solar for as little as $1,000.**
There are three ways you can request your 40th anniversary Earth Day bookmark: call us at 1-87-SOLAR-888, send us your address via email or visit the HelioPower booth at selected Earth Day events.
Our "free flowers for Earth Day" bookmark includes seeded paper embedded with a handful of annual and perennial wildflowers. Directions are included to plant the paper. In a short time you'll enjoy free flowers from HelioPower. By going solar for Earth Day 2010 you'll celebrate green electricity for a lifetime!
Happy Earth Day from your solar energy team at HelioPower!
*While supplies last. Bookmark can only be mailed to residents of the U.S. Please allow 2-4 weeks delivery. Flower results not guaranteed.
**California residents only. Restrictions apply.
Agreement brings former SolFocus founding member, Ty Jagerson, to company’s executive management team
Helio Micro Utility (Helio mU), a developer and financier of solar energy projects, today announced the acquisition of Simple Energies LLC, a renewable energy project development company with a 50 megawatt global pipeline. The agreement brings renewable energy veteran and Simple Energies CEO Ty Jagerson to the company’s executive management team. Jagerson, who was a founding executive of SolFocus and co-founder of the Xerox PARC Cleantech Initiative, becomes President of Helio Micro Utility; he also steps in to lead commercial and utility scale sales for affiliated company HelioPower, becoming Executive Vice President, Commercial Sales.
Helio Micro Utility, spun out of HelioPower in 2007, works with established financial partners to develop, own and operate large commercial and utility scale solar assets in the United States and abroad. In 2008 the firm worked with Citi Community Capital, a division of Citi, to form the Helio Green Energy Community Investment Fund, a $100 million solar financing program. The initial project for the Helio Green Energy Fund was The Tech Museum in San Jose, CA. Sister company HelioPower, founded in 2001, has installed more than 1000 solar power systems worldwide. Terms of the acquisition agreement were not disclosed.
Mo Rousso, Chief Executive Officer for Helio mU, said, “By acquiring Simple Energies, Helio Micro Utility expands its pipeline into adjacent solar markets and other renewable energy domains and increases our solar financing strength. Bringing Ty on board in particular adds a seasoned solar industry professional with proven U.S. and international project development skills; this adds the financial acumen we need for this next stage of our growth.” He further added, “As the demand for clean energy continues to accelerate here and abroad, Ty’s expertise will help us scale up in developing, financing, owning, and operating renewable energy assets.”
Ty Jagerson said, “I’m delighted to be joining such a well-established, and well-regarded solar energy team. The track record that Mo and the team have built for performance and profitable growth makes them an ideal match for the renewable energy project portfolio and innovative solar financing products we have developed at Simple Energies.”
By Derek Girling
HelioPower Solar Energy Consultant
This Saturday, April 10th, HelioPower has the privilege of exhibiting at the 1st annual San Bernardino County Earth Day Celebration at the Frontier Project in Rancho Cucamonga. You may not realize it but Rancho Cucamonga represents an ideal solar community on many different levels!
As they say in real estate, the three most important things are location, location, location. Rancho Cucamonga is located on the long, south-facing slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains assuring the vast majority of homes an unobstructed exposure to the sun, which is critical in terms of generating energy and capturing rebate dollars from Southern California Edison (SCE).
Another aspect of the city’s location is the climate. Residents are blessed with comfortable spring and fall seasons and rather mild winters but let’s be clear, summer days can get pretty hot in this territory! This means residents have to either bear the burden of some rather hefty electric bills from
running their AC or sweat it out. Big bills translate into big benefits from solar. Heliopower’s SunRun program enables homeowners to go solar with as little as $1,000. Relief from big electricity bills is only a phone call away.
One of the best characteristics of Rancho Cucamonga is the way the city has embraced green technologies and stewardship of the environment. This is evident at the incredible Frontier Project, a beautiful facility showcasing many of the most energy efficient design elements and technologies. The city’s forward thinking leadership has also extended to residents a $500 rebate on approved energy-efficiency purchases. This includes solar systems and brings the upfront cost of a HelioPower SunRun system down to as little as $500!
If you’re at the Earthday Celebration this Saturday, please stop by the HelioPower table to see how you can start taking advantage of Rancho Cucamonga’s most abundant resource – the sun!
Contact Derek Girling at DGirling@HelioPower.com
By Charles Curley
HelioPower Solar Energy Consultant
Recently I was able to have HelioPower install solar on my home in Escondido, CA. It was a great opportunity for me to take advantage of the SunRun Power Purchase agreement offered by HelioPower for residential
HelioPower solar installation at Curley Residence in Escondido, CA
customers in California.
As a solar energy consultant, I had heard from one of my customers that his local utility’s smart meter did not have the capability of crediting him for the excess electricity generated by his solar power system. Armed with the data from his solar power system monitoring program, this customer was able to go back to his gas and electric company and successfully garner a credit for his electricity overproduction.
Soon after the installation of my solar power system was complete, the moment arrived to “flip the switch.” Even though my local utility had not changed the meter on my home system back to a gear driven model, I was too excited to wait and activated the system.
Immediately I could tell my solar power system was producing more electricity than my household needed and thus was sending electricity back to the power company. Watching the meter, it became apparent that not only was I not being credited for my solar generated electricity, but the number of kilowatt hours charged on the digital meter was actually increasing.
SunPower inverter at Curley Residence
Calling the utility, I was told that not only was my solar power system giving them free green electricity, but I was being charged for it as well. The explanation was the “not-so-smart” meter could not discern the direction of the electrical current, so it charged for everything going through it. It was charging me for current going in and out of my home!
In the end, it was a lesson well learned. As a solar energy consultant, I would rather go through this experience to help my customers avoid a similar situation. The moral of the story is make sure your meter is changed back to a manual meter before you fire up your new solar power system.
A final note: Smart meters are projected to have upgraded software by the end of the year to add the capability of crediting customers for electrical overproduction.
For more information contact Charles Curley at CCurley@HelioPower.com