Shade and Solar Performance Insolation is the amount of solar radiation reaching a given area. Shade reduces the insolation (solar radiation) that reaches a solar PV (photovoltaic) or thermal array.  Your PV array only needs to be partially shaded to suffer significant production losses. Shading can literally determine whether the financial investment in a solar installation succeeds or…

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Cost Effective O&M for Commercial Systems O&M is one area that presents some opportunities. Many of the cost effective O&M considerations that impact cost and revenue—such as performance optimization, system up time and operational efficiency—relate directly to inverter and monitoring system selection. The performance ratio for a commercial PV system compares the actual energy production…

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Save Solar Power Systems! Did your solar company go away with rebates? Do you have questions about your solar production? Does your solar system need saving? Do you want to save solar power? Save our solar! The Situation Tens of thousands of California homeowners enjoy the pleasure of going solar. Unfortunately, many have had the unfortunate…

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Useful Solar tips from a company insider Buying a solar electricity system can be a very exciting experience. But don’t get too carried away by advertising. Be sure to focus on the important aspects of your purchase as it’s a substantial investment and one you’ll be living with for a long time. Which is why…

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Yosemite Style: Understanding Renewable Energy Back in 2000, I was a field biologist inventorying the birds of Yosemite National Park. I lived in a trailer without hot water and had a big dirty dishes problem.  To solve my problem, I made a trip to the local hardware store and bought some black plastic pipe, hose…

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HelioPower announces formation of Storage Solutions Practice HelioPower is pleased to announce the formal launching of its energy storage practice, providing complete energy solutions for home and business. MURRIETA, Calif.—March 2, 2016—HelioPower, Inc. is pleased to announce the formal launch of its innovative energy storage solution practices to provide complete, sustainable energy solutions for residential…

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Energy Storage Technologies: The next big thing today! HelioPower focuses on four core technologies: Solar Photovoltaics (PV), Electric Vehicle (EV) Chargers, PredictEnergy analytics software, and energy storage technologies. Energy storage technologies provide energy autonomy and cost reduction for residential and commercial clients. The benefits include load management, asset management, energy security, and most importantly energy autonomy.…

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Modernism Week: An Insider’s Guide to Modern Innovation With its short distance from Los Angeles, last Thursday, Palm Springs kicked off their perennial cultural phenomenon that is Modernism Week! For those not familiar with Modernism Week, it is a signature February event held annually in the Palm Springs area. Every year, thousands of people attend…

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Understanding Energy For this installment of the HelioKids GATE Program, Jonah Liebes, Senior Vice President at HelioPower, presents: “Understanding Energy”. What is energy? What are the different forms of energy? How can we use energy? These were the questions we answered in this recent installment of the HelioKids GATE program. Jonah Liebes, Senior Vice President…

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Smart Energy Storage System Installed for Homeowner sonnenBatterie eco smart energy storage system utilizes intelligent energy management software to store PV and manage household energy usage. It is easily extensible to meet any home’s needs. BONSALL, MURRIETA, and LOS ANGELES, Calif.—JULY 2016—sonnen and HelioPower announce the successful installation of a sonnenBatterie eco 10 System in…

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Energy Storage in the commercial environment The current jargon heard these days when discussing energy, energy savings and energy management is all about commercial energy storage.  But what is exactly is it? Here’s what you need to know. Energy storage can be any technology that captures energy from an available source and stores it for…

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GreenThink Radio Interview GreenThink is a radio show hosted by Tracy Thomas, who is considered a media thought leader in the renewable energy space.  She was kind enough to ask me to be on her show on November 29th at the College of the Desert radio station. The interview was prerecorded and she asked me…

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Money Per Kilowatt Hour When deciding to get solar for your home or business, it’s very important to understand the math.  The numbers don’t lie. A “watt” is a basic unit of energy. For example, a typical incandescent light bulb may draw 60W. 1000 watts = 1 kW. 1000 watts consumed in one hour = 1 kWh.…

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