BBC Radio One Story on Solar By Soldiers

Tipping Point's Solar By Soldiers (SM) program continues to garner attention for our efforts to match unemployed veterans with jobs installing solar panels.   Now, we are even starting to get attention internationally.

BBC Radio One  Reporter Greg Dawson recently spent the day with us in Columbus learning more about our program and meeting some of the veterans who will be working with us on solar panel installations in Ohio going forward.   Although we have already been using veterans on our small and mid-size commercial installation, the first large project will be the installation of nearly 3000 solar panels on the roof of the Fleet Maintenance Building for the City of Columbus. 

Not having the right qualifications is a common problem for many servicemen and women as they look to use their experience to get job outside the military.

The most recent unemployment statistics in the US show that the overall rate dropped to 8.5% in December 2011. However, the veteran rate climbed to 13.5%.

Tipping Point co-founder Eric Zimmer says soldiers have a "good work ethic"

Eric Zimmer is the co-founder of Tipping Point. He says although his company is small he wanted to do his bit to help.

"These are people that served our country and allow us to be a business and have freedom," he says.

"They bring a lot to the job that goes beyond just their skills. They bring a good mentality and work ethic."

Not having the right qualifications is a common problem for many servicemen and women as they look to use their experience to get job outside the military.
The most recent unemployment statistics in the US show that the overall rate dropped to 8.5% in December 2011. However, the veteran rate climbed to 13.5%.
Tipping Point co-founder Eric Zimmer says soldiers have a "good work ethic"Eric Zimmer is the co-founder of Tipping Point. He says although his company is small he wanted to do his bit to help.
"These are people that served our country and allow us to be a business and have freedom," he says.
"They bring a lot to the job that goes beyond just their skills. They bring a good mentality and work ethic."

 A link to the whole story can be found here. More information about solar by soldiers program can be found here.

Deloitte on Future Energy Costs

We are often asked about what electricity rates are going to do in the future. Here is an opinion from a large consulting group:

" U.S. businesses have enjoyed stable and predictable electricity prices over the past decade due in large part to nuclear facilities operating in force and coal plants burning an inexpensive fuel source. But this is about to change. With many energy producing facilities scheduled to retire in the next ten years, some of which will be replaced by more expensive facilities, the price organizations pay for a kilowatt of electricity is expected to rise. As a result, electricity prices the next ten years may be unlike the past ten years. With a typical operation already spending a significant portion of its annual revenue on energy, what can your organization do to insulate itself from the expected increase in energy prices?"

 - Deloitte Energy Management Strategy Report

Full report here

AEP Rates Stun Small Businesses

Today the Dispatch posted an article about how new AEP rates have hurt small businesses. Some of them have seen increases of upwards of 45%.

This is a factor of many different influences and an increasingly complicated Ohio electricity market. Some day when we have more time we can share our perspective, but for now I want to focus on solutions for small business owners.

This rate increase is most likely a result of your load factor. A load factor is a way of comparing how much total energy you use versus the most you use at any one time.

Note: Utility tariff nerds leave me be. I'm focusing on explaining this at a level the average business owner needs to understand so detailed techical innacuracies need not be sent my way :)

On a utility bill you are charged for electricity in different ways. To make it simple I'll say that you are charged for how much you actually use and how much the utility has to keep ready that you might use. This second part is known as demand. Fior example, if at one time during a month you need 75kw of energy then the utility basically assumes that you could need that much at any time. So they have to have it available. If however that 75kw is a rare occurence and you use much less energy the rest of the time you still have to pay for the utilities need to be prepared.

That difference between your peak use and average use is known as your load factor.

There are ways to improve this. Looking at when and how you run machines in your workplace, looking at moving certain processes to off hours time, controlling your demand are all ways to improve this.

Solar energy, used correctly, can be a way to improve this.

Here is an article that goes into more details about load factor and potential solutions.

If you'd like to learn more about how you can reduce your bills please contact us and we would be glad to present solutions and see if we can help. As a small business ourself we know how unexpected cost jumps can be very painful.

Good luck to you!

Renewable Energy Interconnections in Ohio

Just read a good summary of the rules for interconnecting a solar (or any renewable energy) installation to electric utilities in Ohio.  Tom O'Brien, an attorney at Bricker & Eckler, published a summary in the firm's 

Consumers considering distributed generation need to be aware that, unless you are going to go “off the grid” completely, the distributed generation facility must be able to operate “in parallel” with the local electric distribution system, or for large installations, the interstate transmission system.

We end up having to describe interconnection, net metering and the impacts of rates a lot, so thanks, Tom, for this useful article that we can point to as a primer.

Here's the link.

TechColumbus Names Tipping Point as Semi-Finalist for 2011 Innovation Award

Tipping Point Renewable Energy is proud to be named as a semi-finalist for the TechColumbus 2011 Innovation Award in the category of Green Innovation.  

According to the TechColumbus website:

The TechColumbus Innovation Awards celebrate and honor individuals and teams in a variety of disciplines. Each award category is an important component of the technology and innovation community. Receiving the top honor in an award category showcases the dramatic impact of the awardee’s contributions in Central Ohio and beyond. (Link)

The Green Innovation award is for a company that has EITHER: Developed a Green product or service that is commercially available and in production, and is in use with at least one customer/client; OR Applied or implemented a technology or process change that has a net positive impact on the environment.

The final award winners will be announced at the Innovation Awards dinner on February 2, 2012 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center - Battelle Grand Ballroom.  More information on the awards dinner is available at the Innovation Awards' website.