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One Block Off The Grid Empowers Coachella Valley to Drive Down Cost of Solar Energy

Posted on: Monday, 12 October 2009, 09:00 CDT

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- One Block Off the Grid (1BOG), the nation's largest solar collective, today announced the launch of Coachella Valley's first solar community purchasing campaign. For the first time, homeowners in Coachella Valley are eligible for group discounts and vendor-neutral advice about solar power. Homeowners who want to buy solar panels can sign up online for free to join the 1BOG community, enjoy massive group discounts, and receive impartial advice about buying solar power. Partnering with HelioPower, 1BOG is able to offer its lowest group discount rate to date -- $5.49 per watt of solar power.

Homeowners looking to buy solar panels often face a complicated, stressful process of researching installers and manufacturers, scheduling home evaluations, and analyzing quotes and warranty programs. By organizing interested homeowners into a community and selecting an installer partner based on a rigorous vetting process, 1BOG can harness the group's solar purchasing power to negotiate winning rates, while eliminating each homeowner's need to shop around for the best deal.

"Teaming up with HelioPower for the Coachella Valley solar program will bolster local efforts to reduce the region's energy consumption and reliance on non-sustainable energy sources. By streamlining the process to offer a simple and affordable alternative energy option for local residents, we are lowering the barrier to entry for solar adoption," said Dave Llorens, Co-Founder and General Manager of 1BOG. "Every program we run is a significant step towards our goal of making solar energy widely accessible to create a new norm for powering homes."

For each regional program, 1BOG invites local installers to bid for the project. After a rigorous, month-long evaluation of local installer companies, 1BOG selected HelioPower as its partner for this Coachella Valley program, to service the local community with timely installation of quality solar products. 1BOG's strict evaluation process eliminates the need for homeowners to research installers and technology options themselves, while at the same time securing solar installation costs that range from 10-20% below market rates by aggregating local demand.

HelioPower, founded in 2001, was also selected as 1BOG's installer partner for the San Diego program that ran in May 2009. HelioPower was selected for its unbeatable pricing on four special product packages, as well as its track record of successful installations and reliable warranty offering. For details about the different packages available, visit: http://solarcoachellavalley.1bog.org/campaign-costs.

"Exposure to extreme desert conditions means that homes in Coachella Valley use 150% more power than the average home in California, which is incredibly expensive and harmful to the environment. Being selected as 1BOG's Coachella Valley partner is not only a huge win for HelioPower, but it's a much-needed kick start for the region's health and economic success," said Scott Gordon, Vice President, Residential Sales for HelioPower. "We are thrilled to work with 1BOG's solar group model again because we will be able to show this community how easy and cost-effective it can be to go solar."

The Coachella Valley 1BOG program is available now to local homeowners in the entire Coachella Valley from Desert Hot Springs to Coachella through December 12, 2009. For more information or to sign up, visit http://solarcoachellavalley.1bog.org/

1BOG and HelioPower will be hosting a free Webinar and online information session with details about the Coachella Valley solar program on Thursday, October 22 at 7:00 p.m. PST. To sign up visit: http://solarcoachellavalley.1bog.org/faqs-and-webinar/

About One Block Off the Grid:

One Block Off the Grid (1BOG), is the largest community-based initiative in the country focused on driving widespread adoption of renewable energy and sustainable solutions through education, community building and group discount programs. Privately backed and founded in San Francisco in June 2008, 1BOG has launched programs in eight US cities. 1BOG is a subsidiary of Virgance, Inc. For more information please visit http://www.1BOG.org.

About HelioPower

HelioPower has been committed to engineering solar power solutions for residential, commercial, community and utility scale partners since 2001. A leading sustainable energy integration firm, HelioPower operates in California and Nevada, serving clients worldwide. HelioPower can be reached toll free at 1 87 SOLAR 888 or on the web at www.HelioPower.com.

Contact: 1BOG HelioPower For media inquiries: Glenna Wiseman Rebecca Geller gwiseman@HelioPower.com PR Manager 760-518-6158 press@1bog.org 415-963-4339 x10 General inquiries: Brad Burton info@1bog.org 415-963-4339 x 10

SOURCE One Block Off the Grid (1BOG)

Source: PR Newswire

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