1BOG Wraps Up $5 Million in Solar Funding

One Block Off The Grid – 1BOG for short – is at the heart of the grassroots residential solar power movement. The organization, founded by Dave Llorens and two partners in 2008, has been a pioneer in spreading the good word about group buying and collective bargaining among prospective solar homeowners. Llorens was once a solar salesman who would go from home to home recruiting eco-friendly homeowners to the cause (and years of free and clean energy). But the high up-front costs made sales and wide distribution of home solar power difficult.

That’s where 1BOG came in. Why not get homeowners together to negotiate bulk pricing and more affordable solar power systems? The idea has worked. 1BOG facilitated 600 solar installations in 2009 and has plans to expand in 2010. A good deal of that expansion, which the organization projects will involve 10 times as many projects as last year, will come as a result of $5 million in funding recently acquired from venture capital firm, New Enterprise Associates.

In addition to expanding into new regions (the company is based in the Bay Area), 1BOG will also nearly triple its workforce from 15 employees to 40. 1BOG utilizes the Internet fully in order to recruit and organize homeowners, which benefits the owners in terms of lower costs and helps installers like SolarCity by lowering their costs for customer-acquisition.

I, for one, am glad to see 1BOG growing. The company has turned marketing into a collective campaign that unites communities and neighborhoods in the name of solar power and a sustainable future. It’s an idea with obvious merit, to which 1BOG’s broad renown attests, and one that is spreading from West to East and hopefully beyond.

Source: www.physorg.com

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Posted on February 19th in Solar Funding by Dan.