Nation’s Most Effective Solar Community Purchasing Program Descends Upon Los Angeles
After representing 20% of all solar installs in San Francisco in Q4 2008, 1Block Off the Grid (1BOG) is now bringing a major solar community program to Los Angeles, CA.
1BOG began building its solar community in San Francisco (as depicted in the takeover of the map above). The original pilot campaign brought in 184 San Francisco residents who signed up for solar discounts from RealGoods, and 42 of them followed through to buy a system—double the normal adoption rate. The latest 1BOG campaign in the Bay Area has already brought in 1,070 sign ups, a 6x increase over the pilot. SolarCity has been selected as the installer for this round.
Definition, 1BOG: a nationwide, community-based program that organizes residents locally and negotiates group discounts with solar installers, using a comprehensive vendor selection process.
So far, 1BOG has done a great job in making solar panels more affordable for homeowners. In the last quarter of 2008, 1BOG:
- Represented 20% of all solar installations in San Francisco
- Saved residents 18% off typical system costs
- Generated approximately $800,000 in revenue for local California businesses
- Received San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s endorsement (listen to Mayor Newsom’s radio show on 1BOG)
Interested in Solar Power in Los Angeles? This is how 1Block Off the Grid works:
Say you live in LA and are interested in solar. Lucky for you, just like your neighbors to the north, you too will be able to turn to 1BOG to solve your problems upgrading your home to solar:
- 1BOG uses the buying power of a large group to negotiate discounts that would not be possible as for individual consumers.
- 1BOG’s experts vet the technologies for consumers and take the complexity out of the equation.
- As an independent party working on behalf of consumers, consumers can trust that 1BOG is working in their best interest.
1BOG expects to have twice the change impact in LA because of its size and energy usage, and being knowledgeable about local and state rebates should save homeowners even more money. The goal is to install one megawatt of solar power in Southern California. Find out more on 1BOG’s website.
If you own a home you can sign-up for LA solar here. Don’t own a home but still want to get involved? Become a solar organizer.
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January 27th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
This is really great !!
January 27th, 2009 at 11:36 pm
Yea, I think so! I wish there would have been an organization like this to make going solar easy and cheaper when we first went off-the-grid.
January 27th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
I started a similar program in Denver, Colorado – [Neighborhood Solar](http://neighborlysolar.com/). It’ll be a while before we can claim anywhere near the success 1Bog enjoys, but it’s good to see group purchasing take hold in California.
January 27th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
That is so exciting, Jennifer! I nearly started something similar directly (with Solar City) for my neighborhood last year, but got sidetracked by other issues.
Now this year I have just begun a new career selling solar power, and it is such a good feeling to be able to be part of the solution.
May that green carpet roll out across the land!
January 28th, 2009 at 12:24 am
Susan, Do you sell panels? I’m thinking with this third year of drought we need to expand our PV array. Not sure our creek will hold up this summer for our micro hydro turbine. I don’t need an installer, just need the group discount of buying panels in bulk.
January 31st, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Why does this article discuss the success of solar installations in San Francisco and then show a graphic of Oakland area installations? That’s a bit sloppy.
February 5th, 2009 at 2:52 am
There could be a tide rolling to the NW, here.
What do you think? EN
February 5th, 2009 at 9:05 pm
[...] a great time to invest in a rooftop solar system. Last month, 1 Block Off the Grid announced the expansion of its community solar purchasing program, and now SunRun has announced the availability of two new [...]