We wanted to share the good news that Sunetric is now the ONLY solar company in Hawaii, and among just a dozen companies around the globe, to earn the coveted Elite Dealer status from SunPower Corporation.

We are proud to be an Elite Dealer of SunPower’s highly efficient solar solutions and technology, and even more excited to know that we have so many happy customers reaping the benefits!

“This really validates our commitment to training and absolute, 100% customer satisfaction. If people want the top level of service and expertise, it only makes sense that they go to an Elite Dealer.

It’s an honor to pass down our hard work to our deserving clientele.”

-Sunetric CEO Alex Tiller

In order to qualify for this prestigious honor we have to maintain strict adherence to best practices, rigorous training and exceptionally high levels of customer satisfaction.

Among the many qualifications necessary to be recognized as an Elite Dealer:

• Sunetric is required to have 90% customer satisfaction and be above the 75th percentile rank for customer satisfaction for ALL SunPower dealers in the U.S. 
• Sunetric personnel are required to maintain a certification and training regimen more rigorous than any other SunPower dealer in Hawaii.
• Sunetric employees must not only complete the cursory SunPower training required of all ‘Authorized’ and ‘Premier’ dealers, but as an Elite dealer, Sunetric is required to have at least two full-time employees who maintain Advanced Design and Advanced Installation certifications.
• Every Sunetric Energy Consultant is required to maintain Advanced Sales training from SunPower (Note: this is training which is neither required nor available to most other dealers.)

Learn more about Sunetric’s Elite Dealer status.

Share in the excitement as we work towards flipping the switch on Kona’s new PV system in September with our Solar Powered Beer Sweepstakes!

Head on over to Facebook to submit your entry!

And here’s some detail of that beautiful new T-shirt!

Good news from the Administration today as Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will provide the Kahuku Wind Power project in Kahuku, Hawaii, with a $117 million loan guarantee to help complete the development of an innovative 30 megawatt (MW) wind power plant that will supply electricity to approximately 7,700 households per year and create over 200 jobs on the island of Oahu.

In a statement, Secretary Chu said the project was an “example of America’s leadership in the global clean energy economy” and noted the Energy Department saw such projects  as helping to add jobs in the short-term and create the “foundation for additional job creation in the long term.”

Both Hawaii Sens. Inouye and Akaka and Congresswoman Mazie K. Hirono praised the loan guarantee:

Sen. Inouye: “This project represents what our national energy policy is attempting to accomplish: clean energy displacing imported oil in Hawaii to generate electricity, and in the process reducing our carbon output and creating green jobs.”

Sen. Akaka: “The Kahuku wind project will bring Hawaii 30 MW closer to energy independence. Reducing our reliance on imported oil will mean cleaner skies and more local jobs. This project is an important step forward.”

Congresswoman Hirono: “The Kahuku Wind Project is the type of project that Hawaii needs to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and keep billions of dollars in our economy.”

Let’s hope this support continues as we look to expand the use of solar and other renewable energy projects throughout the state.

Check out other DOE renewable energy loan commitments here.

Kahuku wind:

“Drill baby, drill” didn’t work out very well for those folks along the Gulf Coast, did it?

And even if it had, those folks who still believe in drilling fail to realize that even if those companies had found more oil in the Gulf or in Alaska than the Royal House of Saud ever dreamed about, it will never help the average American one bit. In fact, that oil – drilled from public, tax-payer owned lands –  will be put up for sale on the world market, where we’ll be forced to bid against China and Japan, with all the profits going straight into the pockets of the huge oil corporations who pay almost ZERO taxes towards the upkeep and maintenance of our country and don’t care much about our people – including the brave servicemen and women who are over in Iraq and Afghanistan protecting their interests.

At least taxpayers in Alaska get yearly royalty checks for oil company use of their public lands…but there’s a better solution coming up over the eastern horizon – literally.

And – not to wax poetic – the solution lies in revolution; a Solar Revolution, to be exact.

That’s the title of a book by Travis Bradford. It’s not a new book – MIT put it out about four years ago – but now that the political, social, environmental and particularly the economic consequences of America’s oil addiction are becoming painfully clear, this book is finally getting some traction. That last point is the most important because as marketplaces once again start functioning the way they’re supposed  to – by meeting and serving real, human needs instead of gambling with “financial instruments” that even professional economists can’t figure out – the Solar Revolution is going to move forward by the efforts of small-scale entrepreneurs, motivated by good old fashioned self-interest.

Now, you’ve probably heard that solar technology is too expensive to be a viable alternative to oil and coal (and even hydroelectric, which exacts its own environmental costs). This may have been true at one time, but with current incentives, it’s not true today. After all, just think about what has happened with the personal computer over the last twenty years. Twenty years ago someone would pay between five and ten thousand dollars for a big machine that at best allowed you to do some word processing and play “Pong.” Today, you can get a high-end laptop that will fit into a small suitcase, allow you to watch movies, build virtual models and surf the World Wide Web for a couple hundred dollars.

According to Bradford (himself once one of those Wall Street buyout kings), this is what is going to happen within the next twenty years. Thanks to advancing solar technology that is getting cheaper by the day, by around 2030, the Solar Revolution will have created energy that is virtually free (something that’s really got those oil execs’ panties is a twist). Why? Because everyone’s home can be its own power plant. The new “energy grid” won’t be a grid at all; each individual home and building will have its own photovoltaic array to meet its users’ energy needs. It’s already happening in Germany, where people take out loans to install solar panels on their homes, which then pay for themselves over a few years as the owners sell their excess energy back to the utilities. It’s happening in Japan as well – and in Hawaii and the American Southwest, which Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has aptly described as the “Saudi Arabia of Solar.”

Does this mean you should wait for solar technology to drop in price before you buy? No way, and here is why.  Solar is affordable today because of government subsidies. (State and Federal) These subsidies are intended to drive demand up, which helps the solar manufacturing industry reach economies of scale, thus driving down the base price of solar.  As prices drop, it is likely that the government subsidies will diminish in tandem with the price reductions.  The net result is that you -the consumer -won’t really achieve any lower cost in the future than you can achieve right now. We suggest you do yourself a favor and switch to solar today because the bottom line cost to the consumer isn’t likely to get any better, any time soon, and you can reap a multitude of savings between now and the theoretical date Bradford suggests of 2030.

Recommended Reading: Go to your local library and check out Solar Revolution today, or order a copy online – used copies are going for as little as four bucks. (Remember to reuse and recycle)

Please sign Senator Mark Udall’s petition to set a Renewable Energy Standard (RES) for the entire country. Hawaii, California, and Colorado along with a few other states have already stepped up and set their own standards. Now, we need the rest of the country to do the same.

Sign the Petition here.

Help spread the word on Twitter and Facebook (sign-in required).

Russ Winkelman, Sunetric’s supply chain director, brings a decade of experience in purchasing and logistics to the company. As the supply chain director, Russ manages and oversees overall supply chain operations, including purchasing, inventory of materials, and logistics. <br/><br/>

Russ describes his job as “try[ing] to reduce the total cost of procuring all goods and services for the company.” He says that with a lower cost of materials, Sunetric can pass the savings on to the customer and gain a competitive price advantage.

According to Russ, price is just one component of the purchasing decision. As supply chain director he also has to evaluate the quality and reliability of each supplier, including lead times, payment terms, warranties, transaction costs, transportation costs, and disposal costs. With all of these things to balance, managing the supply chain is as much an art as it is a science. Add to this already-complex process Hawaii’s geographic location, and the difficulties and costs of transportation become even more pronounced. Because of the rising demand of solar products, there are often shortages of materials to contend with, and so Russ is constantly occupied with sales forecasts and keeping a steady supply of solar materials flowing into Hawaii and to our customers.

Originally from Odessa, Texas, Russ attended Arizona State University in Tempe and graduated with a degree in Supply Chain Management. Russ came to Hawaii with his wife and began working at Sunetric in January, 2010. While he is new to solar power, he has always been drawn to more technical companies and the challenges of procuring non-traditional materials. Prior to Sunetric, Russ worked in the aerospace industry with a company that manufactures turbine engine blades for military and commercial applications, and at Motorola’s semiconductor division in Phoenix, Arizona.

Russ has some strong personal feelings when it comes to solar power. “I often see comparisons of wind, solar, and nuclear energy in terms of price per watt compared to oil or coal, but for me the true economic impact of energy has to include the environmental cost. In this context, solar is superior to all other types of energy.”

Idealism has been complemented by practicality. Russ also notes that consumer interest seems to have shifted beyond the abstract concept of “clean energy is good for the planet” and has moved into the more practical issue of reducing a residential electric bill—a real and tangible issue that Sunetric can address today.

Russ works tirelessly to make Sunetric’s solar installations affordable and efficient, and uses his logistical skills to open up Hawaii to the world of solar power. When asked what sets Sunetric apart from other solar companies, Russ says simply, “pride.” He feels that there is a true sense of pride at Sunetric in every aspect of the business—from the product and the installation to the larger environmental benefits of solar. It seems clear that Russ Winkelman is living that philosophy each and every day.

For years the tried and true method to process solar energy has been the centralized inverter unit. But with time, technology advances creating new products that often improve our lives in many ways. This is the case with rooftop micro-inverters, which are only a few years on the market.

Like many advancements, there is a lot of misinformation with new equipment that can make opting for micro-inverters seem like a risk. In reality, micro-inverters are a rethinking of solar energy processing. Their advanced design enables them to work under extreme conditions, and they are proving to be as reliable as the traditional centralized units.

The main difference between the Enphase inverter and other inverters is the small size. Along with its relatively lower cost, the Enphase Micro-Inverter is designed to be installed individually to a single photovoltaic module. This configuration means that the inverters are connected to the system in parallel rather than in series, so if one module is not producing at peak efficiency, it will not affect the overall performance of the system.

One of the biggest drawbacks of the traditional centralized unit is the large thermal footprint. Because the units often process large quantities of power — upwards of 3,000 unified watts — they create a tremendous amount of waste heat and if not mounted in a cool location they can overheat and fail. This design also requires live DC energy flowing through your house any time power is being generated.

With rooftop micro-inverters, like the Enphase microinverters used by Sunetric, the amount each unit is processing is only a fraction of a centralized unit. Processing lower DC input voltages allows for greater integration of semiconductors, which reduces the number of components in each unit. This makes each unit smaller and stable in rooftop environments. Best of all DC energy becomes AC energy on the roof, so you now have total control over the live energy in your home.

The design and construction of the Enphase units makes overheating a non-issue, even in the extreme temperatures on Hawaiian roofs. Each unit is housed in a NEMA 6 rated “potted” design that surrounds the micro-inverter in an encapsulating compound. This compound helps to dissipate the heat generated by processing solar power and protects the micro-inverter from the elements. In addition, the heat generated under your PV panels naturally rises to the roof’s ridgeline, creating a passive cooling method for every inverter in the system.

The Nema 6 rated housing also makes the micro-inverters better suited for exposure to the elements on Hawaiian roofs. Classic centralized inverters are NEMA 3R rated and only water-protected. The modern Enphase units are waterproof from the top down to prevent damage not just from water but also dust, external air and insects. Centralized units cannot offer that protection.

We understand the tendency to compare the long-term durability of traditional centralized inverters to micro-inverters:  micro-inverters are a new technology and as a solar customer you want to be sure they will be reliable. Both centralized inverters and micro-inverters have a failure rate of roughly 0.005%. In the case of a malfunction with a micro-inverter, however, Enphase is not only quick to respond with replacement parts at their cost, they also offer to pay for the power lost to the customer. A centralized unit is much larger, which increases the freight costs and delivery time when repairs are needed.

It’s true – rooftop micro-inverters are new and may seem contrary to what you know of solar energy converters right now. But technology has changed the way we now look at converting solar into usable energy. Ignoring this is like stepping back ten years, looking at the MP3 player and thinking “40,000 songs in my pocket? That’s ridiculous.”

You can now have safe, reliable energy created right on your roof. And you’ll have the assurance of Enphase with each unit, no matter how hot it gets up there.

Last week, the Molokai Dispatch reported that due to increased renewable energy grid activity Maui Electric Company (MECO) has closed the circuit to new renewable energy systems. MECO says the move was made to ensure stability and reliability of electric service to residents of Kaunakakai.<br/><br/> The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for Hawaii has set limits on how much intermittent energy from renewable sources such as solar and wind feeds into every circuit. If a circuit is heavily reliant on intermittent renewable energy, it could affect the reliability of electrical service for customers, according to MECO. Currently, the PUC limit on renewable energy is 15 percent of the circuit and that limit has been reached in Kaunakakai. This is known as reaching the “feeder penetration” limit. <br/><br/> While this news is disappointing, Sunetric understands that the utility has a mandate to provide reliable uninterrupted energy to all residents of Hawaii.  <br/><br/> In many ways, this news can be looked at positively as an indication that homeowners and businesses are taking renewable energy seriously and there is wide-spread acceptance and adoption.  Renewable energy is definitely gaining a foothold among energy consumers in Hawaii.<br/><br/> While we don’t expect this to happen soon on Oahu because of total demand and grid infrastructure, consumers who are contemplating owning their own energy should act now to insure they don’t miss any potential cutoffs.  The time is now. <br/><br/> Going forward, this will be a concern that will grow until a suitable and affordable storage and load leveling technology is developed that can store and regulate the load output from renewable energy sources like solar.<br/>