Former CleanTechnica Owner One Block Off the Grid (1BOG) Is Acquired

July 10th, 2012 by Zachary Shahan

Some of our long-time readers may remember a day when all the ads on this site were for One Block Off the Grid (1BOG). Back at that time, CleanTechnica was fully owned by 1BOG (and, for a bit before 1BOG owned us, by the startup Virgance, which also owned the blog network we are a part of — when it was called Green Options media — after acquiring it from the site and network founder, David Anderson).

Now, apparently, it’s 1BOG’s turn to be acquired. It was announced just yesterday that Pure Energies Group (PEG) has acquired the company, as 1BOG CEO and founder Dave Llorens let me know by email.

“One Block Off the Grid also announced an expanded comparison shopping service designed to empower homeowners to get the best deal on solar power, following a recent round of capital raised from existing investor New Enterprise Associates (NEA),” the news release stated.

PEG Wants More of the North American Solar Potential

Apparently, this is part of a big push PEG is making to expand beyond its Ontario roots into the US home solar market.

“This acquisition affirms PEG’s strategy to expand throughout North America, becoming the trusted adviser to homeowners as they evaluate solar power or energy conservation equipment options. As with its initial customer focus on the Ontario Feed in Tariff, PEG will continue to focus on helping consumers achieve the best possible value in implementing solar energy and energy conservation solutions.”

With the US solar market more than doubling last year, and the country consistently ranking at the #1 position for solar energy investment attractiveness, according to Ernst & Young, there’s clearly a rush to capitalize on that potential.

1BOG’s New Comparison Shopping Options

So, what’s this new 1BOG offering all about? According to the news release, “One Block Off the Grid’s new shopping service aims to help homeowners secure the best deal on solar power by providing price comparisons that allow consumers to choose from industry-leading solar providers within a specific geographic area. One Block Off the Grid will partner with PURE energies, a subsidiary of PEG, to screen and select providers that offer the best price points and the highest level of consumer satisfaction.”

“We want to give homeowners the best deal possible, by having all the best options in any given geography, and offering the fastest and most painless online sales process you can get,” said Llorens, who will now become its COO. “Getting multiple quotes is a chore. We let the customer skip past that with a one-stop-shop. Becoming part of Pure Energies lets us do that faster, better and in more places.”

This is becoming a very competitive space as the price of solar systems continue to drop rapidly, demand rises, and several companies look to reduce the “soft costs” of going solar by making the installation marketplace more competitive and easier to navigate. (For more on that, just see the numerous DOE SunShot grants recently dished out to bring down such costs.)

Good luck to PEG and 1BOG! And, most importantly, good luck to getting more homeowners to go solar!

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Tags: 1BOG, one block off the grid, online solar shopping, PEG, pure energies group, solar discounts, solar providers, solar shopping

About the Author

Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.