You must have JavaScript enabled to play this audio
In the not too distant past, solar panels weren't considered the most attractive additions to a home or business. Michael Shore, president of FLS Energy in Asheville, under directions from the developer, went with that assumption while installing a large-scale solar hot water system at the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, the world's first LEED Platinum Certified hotel. But then reporters from The New York Times and National Geographic began calling about the project, and the solar panels were what they most wanted to see.
"That was the photograph that was emblematic of [the developer's] greening efforts," says Shore. So, halfway through the project, FLS created a new design so that the solar panels extended all the way to the end of the building, and are clearly visible from the ground.
"They're part of the whole branding of that hotel," Shore says.
That about-face on the aesthetic appeal of solar shows the dramatic increase in attention to green energy in North Carolina. Just a few years ago, Shore says, there was no solar activity in the state. Now being green is a selling point for businesses, as well as a cost-cutting measure.
"Every day we are getting new commercial clients calling us really interested in how they can incorporate solar not only to save money but because they want to be green."
FLS Energy specializes in solar hot water (solar thermal) and solar electricity (photovoltaic) systems to commercial clients. Their residential branch, First Light Solar, specializes in solar energy systems for homeowners. Their projects range from a new solar farm being installed at the former Blue Ridge Paper in Canton, N.C., to a solar hot water system on the new fudge stand at Grandfather Mountain. The company was founded in 2006 when Shore and partners Hardy LeGwin and Dale Freudenberger met while volunteering to build an extension on the school their children all attended. In three years they've grown from three to 35 employees, and expect to hire another 20 before the end of the year.
"Really the solar age has dawned," says Shore, "and FLS Energy is out there creating jobs and providing clean energy, and also providing significant energy savings for our clients. So it's a triple play."
FLS was recently awarded a 2009 Green Business Fund grant from the N.C. Dept. of Commerce for the implementation of a solar hot water finance system. FLS will install solar energy systems on businesses, then sell the solar-generated hot water to the businesses at a rate significantly lower than what they would pay for conventional fuels to heat the same amount of water. This provides a significant cost savings to hotels, universities, and other organizations that use large amounts of hot water.
"Everybody wants to do solar," says Shore. "They want to do it because it's the right thing to do, and they want to be good stewards."
Such customers have environmental goals that solar energy can help them achieve, but at the same time, they don't want to pay significant up-front costs, even if it has a short payback. That's where FLS Energy's innovative finance program is beneficial.
"It is extremely significant in making solar energy mainstream for a company like ours to to take away the up-front costs of investing in a solar energy system," says Shore. "The grant enables us to further develop this solar energy purchase agreement model for solar hot water systems and then educate large users of solar hot water about this opportunity."