Give the Gift of Light

One Million Lights is a nonprofit devoted to brightening futures all over the world. Their goal is to improve the lives of children and adults by providing and distributing one million clean and efficient solar lights to replace harmful kerosene lamps. Lighting can improve the quality of life for everyone; children can study and read during the dark hours of the night, and parents can cook and clean their home after a hard day at work. Not to mention, solar lights are emission and cost FREE to use! 

NC Solar Now is a proud sponsor of One Million Lights. For every system we install, we donate lights to the nonprofit. Additionally, if we reach our goal of 500 likes on our Facebook page, we will donate $500. We respect the work that One Million Lights does and are excited to be able to support and prolong it! 

Give the gift of light this holiday season. For just $15 you can donate a light to a child or adult in need. There are many other ways to help as well, including becoming an ambassador, sponsor, partner, volunteer, or even just sharing what they do with others. You can also help by simply liking our Facebook page! Help us help One Million Lights solarize the world and give everyone the chance for a brighter and healthier future.

22.88 kW Commercial Installation

This week our team installed a commercial Solar PV System for Clinard Insurance Agency in Winston-Salem. The 22.88 kW system consists of 88 LG 260 Watt Solar Panels and Fronius Inverters, as well as an Internet Monitoring System to view and monitor the systems production. The system is expected to put the building close to or at net-zero year round, allowing them to crank up the heat this winter while keeping the bills at bare minimum. 

Click here to see more photos from the installation on Porch!

Tips for a Sustainable Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, we thought we'd share some sustainable tips before you prep your Thanksgiving dinner! For those who have a huge family gathering planned, or even one with just the immediate family, these tips can help save you more than just the planet.

Go Organic. Buying organic food helps support a cleaner and healthier environment. Organic food doesn't involve the use of harmful chemicals to manipulate its growth. Instead natural fertilizers are used, which is better for you, the environment, and it tastes better too! As far as your organic turkey goes, it wasn't treated with hormones or fed any byproducts or other unnatural chemicals. Those few extra dollars are well worth it when purchasing the healthier and more sustainable option. 

Shop at Your Local Farmers' Market. Yes, you can most likely find organic food in your local grocery store, but supporting your local farmers' market means you are also supporting local farmers. Local farming reduces stress on our environment by having more scattered small and sustainable plots of land for growing crops and shorter transportation routes for delivery. You will also be supporting sustainable farming by purchasing in-season produce grown in natural conditions.

Eliminate Plastic & Paper Use. Break out that beautiful China you've been storing all year long and put it to good use! Avoid using paper and plastic dinnerware and spend a little extra time after dinner to wash your dishes.  Use washable napkins and table cloths as well, eliminating the unnecessary quick build up of trash at the end of the night.

Store Your Leftovers. More than likely you will cook enough food for 4 families, so why throw out all that extra food you slaved over in the kitchen for all day long? Invest in Tupperware and make room in your fridge to save it. Just to think you could be eating Thanksgiving dinner for an entire week! And if you really don't want it, I'm sure those leftovers will make someone at your table a very happy person. 

Save Your Scraps. Dedicate a bucket for food scraps while you're cooking instead of throwing them in the trash. Use this bucket to turn your food scraps into compost for your or even your community's garden. Don't forget to throw in the left over food from your company's plates!  

Our team wishes you a very happy Thanksgiving and hope these tips help keep your bills down and our environment in good hands!

Solar to Reach Grid Parity by 2020

Solar electricity (PV) is expected to reach grid parity by 2020, according to Navigant Research's most recent "Solar PV Market Forecasts." The article states that prices will be cost-competitive with retail electricity without subsidies by 2017. Solar costs are expected to continue to drop internationally, causing installations and the industry to continue to skyrocket.

Navigant predicts that module costs will continue to fall between 3-8% annually, reaching an average of $1.50-$2.19 per watt globally by 2020. Navigant also foresees solar PV capacity increasing from this year's 35.9 gigawatts to 73.4 gigawatts in 2020. Dropping costs, and available rebates and tax credits have made solar appealing to, and affordable for all social classes, as well as developing nations.

At the rate solar PV is soaring across the globe thanks to dropping costs and increasing technology, it will not be long before grid parity is reached especially with the high-cost of today's retail electricity.  And solar WILL be the next disruptive technology when grid parity is ultimately reached. 

Click here to view the original article.

Is Solar Energy this Century's Automobile?

Solar energy is this week's hot topic as being the next disruptive technology. With prices dropping and technology becoming more efficient and available, solar will be everywhere in the coming decades. It is the next automobile, projected to be implemented into peoples' standards of living across the globe. The main difference being that solar energy has a positive impact on our environment, health, and well-being. Just as how smart phones and Netflix eliminated land-lines and Blockbuster, it will soon "disrupt" the need for power companies. Solar energy is the clean energy source of this century, and we are in dying need of a fast revolution away from fossil fuels. Homeowners are embracing the possibility of becoming energy independent, and soon solar energy will be the technology that leads this much-needed change. And with the 65% tax credit available in North Carolina, the possibility of net-metering from certain utilities, incredible loans programs, and the actuality of free energy, why wouldn't you go solar? Join the rooftop revolution; this is definitely the next trend everyone should take part in. 

Source: "Home Solar Power = This Century's Automobile"

North Carolina Ranks Third in Solar!

North Carolina is currently ranked third in utility-scale solar development right behind California and Nevada. We have 803 megawatts (MW) of solar in development or under construction, which is enough to power 300,000 homes at peak hours! The amount of solar energy in North Carolina is expected to grow four times as much by 2040 (SNL).

 

Policies like the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (REPS) have contributed to the growth of solar energy throughout the country. Having one of the first and most aggressive REPS in the south, North Carolina utilities are well on track to meet their goal of generating 12.5% of electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Additionally, prices have dropped significantly in the past 5 years, roughly by 14% for residential systems, and are expected to continue to drop.

 

North Carolina's state tax credit of 35% and the federal tax credit of 30% have been a huge motivation for residents to invest in solar. A study done by Market Strategies International found that 51% of respondents were more interested in installing a solar electric system on their home after they found out how the tax credits factor in to the average cost of installing on a typical home of $30,000, which will produce 60% of the home's electricity. The survey also showed that households with incomes below $25,000 were interested in investing in solar. More people are starting to realize that solar is, in fact, a wise investment and the long-term savings are well-worth the now affordable up-front cost.