October 11, 2004
Bright idea | An Arundel company markets a small solar generator to consumers
By Dorothy Ogrodowczyk
According to the National Renewable Energy Lab, more solar energy hits the Earth each day than the planet's 6.1 billion inhabitants would consume in 27 years. But, currently, just 2.3% of the energy consumed in the United States comes from renewable sources, and 0.001% comes from solar.
NREL's goal is to increase solar energy use to 10% by 2030 ˆ which would mean that solar energy use would have to grow 10,000 times the current growth rate of 30% a year. "We're never going to reach that in 25 years," says Naoto Inoue, CEO of Arundel-based Solar Market, which designs and installs renewable energy systems. "[The growth rate] could be much bigger than 30% per year, but the current way to deliver solar energy isn't going to get us there."
Traditional solar energy systems, which cost $15,000 to $20,000, arrive at a home or business in parts, and an installer assembles the system onsite. Inoue says the process is labor-intensive and inefficient, and the price dissuades otherwise interested people from buying it.
That's why he and a colleague, Craig Carni of Two Seas Metalworks Inc., a Wilitis, Calif.-based manufacturer of solar energy components, partnered to develop a new product designed to make solar energy use convenient and affordable. Their new company, Arundel-based Blue Link Solar Network LLC, will manufacture and sell the product, the Blue Link 480, a factory-assembled solar energy generating appliance that retails for less than $4,400. All a consumer has to do, Inoue says, is "open up the unit, plug it in and it could start producing energy within a half-hour."
Inoue and Carni, who launched their company in July, hope the product will attract environmentally aware consumers who either don't want to invest in a traditional solar energy system or can't afford to. The duo's larger goal is to create what Inoue describes as a virtual network of solar energy users, which he says will reduce overall fossil fuel consumption and emissions. "If you have one" unit in operation, he says, "it doesn't mean much. If you have bunch, then it makes a difference." Inoue estimates that if one million Blue Links were in use in North America, three large coal-burning power plants could be shut down.
A solar energy generating appliance like the Blue Link might have more market potential than a system that has to be installed, according to Tom Surek, technology manager at NREL in Golden, Colo. "Certainly, when a manufacturer can produce a packaged system," he says, "that is preferred by a consumer." He can't say whether a product like the Blue Link would appeal to environmentalists, but, he says, "I think this type of unit would be perfectly applicable for emergency or backup power."
Tom Bowman, an acupuncturist in Portland, was the first person in Maine to buy the Blue Link 480. He says he decided to purchase the unit in August because he believes it's an investment in the planet's future, and he feels it's a grassroots solution to what he describes as "our pollution and power problems." While he expects to save some money on his electric bills, that was not his primary motivation. Bowman says he and his wife, Julie, "hope to save about 15%, but that's secondary. If it was one percent, I would have still bought it."
Small unit, big plans
The Blue Link is the first solar energy generating appliance on the market, according to Inoue. Its development came about six months ago, according to Inoue, when manufacturers began making smaller inverters, the devices that turn the DC power generated by solar power systems into the AC power that comes out of a household electrical socket. The new inverters are about two-thirds the size of previous models. As Inoue worked on a large installation job using a traditional solar generating systems, he says he realized he could divide a large system into consumer-friendly pieces if he swapped the large inverter for a smaller one. Two Seas designed a base, and the Blue Link was born.
The unit, which will be manufactured in Maine and California, produces a fraction of the energy that a traditional system would produce because it has fewer photovoltaic panels ˆ three, instead of a traditional system's minimum of eight. In fact, the Blue Link produces only 480 watts of energy, or about 15% of the average energy needs of a Maine home.
In Maine, where the average monthly energy bill is $60 to $70, the average monthly cost savings with a Blue Link is about $8 to $10. At a cost savings of $10 a month, it would take almost 37 years to recoup the initial investment in the unit. While Inoue expects the unit could last that long ˆ it's warrantied for 25 years ˆ a consumer would do as well from a financial standpoint with a savings account with an interest rate as low as 0.1%. (The Blue Link website points out, though, that rising energy prices and inflation could improve the Blue Link's financial performance over time.)
Inoue's decision to push a small solar energy generating product puts him at odds with the rest of the industry; he says most manufacturers in the industry today are thinking bigger systems, not smaller ones. Surek echoes that thought, saying that large solar systems are more cost effective for consumers. But Inoue's vision for the Blue Link relies not so much on cost effectiveness, but on customers' desire to protect the environment. "We can't go down the route of cost savings," Inoue says. "We have to think about what it could do for community and environment collectively."
Although his marketing strategy for the Blue Link relies almost exclusively on word of mouth, Inoue expects to sell a million Blue Links in the next five years, and 100 million within his lifetime. (He's 53.) And like any other businessman, he expects it to be profitable. "If there's no profit," he says, "I don't want to do it."
In the end, Inoue says his strategy isn't to get consumers' feet wet with the Blue Link so they'll eventually buy larger systems. "That's not my hope at all," he says. "The best thing for [satisfied Blue Link customers] to do is to tell others to do their share. They've already done 10,000 times better than [if they bought electricity from] the grid. They met NREL's goal of 10% solar 25 years early."
NREL's goal is to increase solar energy use to 10% by 2030 ˆ which would mean that solar energy use would have to grow 10,000 times the current growth rate of 30% a year. "We're never going to reach that in 25 years," says Naoto Inoue, CEO of Arundel-based Solar Market, which designs and installs renewable energy systems. "[The growth rate] could be much bigger than 30% per year, but the current way to deliver solar energy isn't going to get us there."
Traditional solar energy systems, which cost $15,000 to $20,000, arrive at a home or business in parts, and an installer assembles the system onsite. Inoue says the process is labor-intensive and inefficient, and the price dissuades otherwise interested people from buying it.
That's why he and a colleague, Craig Carni of Two Seas Metalworks Inc., a Wilitis, Calif.-based manufacturer of solar energy components, partnered to develop a new product designed to make solar energy use convenient and affordable. Their new company, Arundel-based Blue Link Solar Network LLC, will manufacture and sell the product, the Blue Link 480, a factory-assembled solar energy generating appliance that retails for less than $4,400. All a consumer has to do, Inoue says, is "open up the unit, plug it in and it could start producing energy within a half-hour."
Inoue and Carni, who launched their company in July, hope the product will attract environmentally aware consumers who either don't want to invest in a traditional solar energy system or can't afford to. The duo's larger goal is to create what Inoue describes as a virtual network of solar energy users, which he says will reduce overall fossil fuel consumption and emissions. "If you have one" unit in operation, he says, "it doesn't mean much. If you have bunch, then it makes a difference." Inoue estimates that if one million Blue Links were in use in North America, three large coal-burning power plants could be shut down.
A solar energy generating appliance like the Blue Link might have more market potential than a system that has to be installed, according to Tom Surek, technology manager at NREL in Golden, Colo. "Certainly, when a manufacturer can produce a packaged system," he says, "that is preferred by a consumer." He can't say whether a product like the Blue Link would appeal to environmentalists, but, he says, "I think this type of unit would be perfectly applicable for emergency or backup power."
Tom Bowman, an acupuncturist in Portland, was the first person in Maine to buy the Blue Link 480. He says he decided to purchase the unit in August because he believes it's an investment in the planet's future, and he feels it's a grassroots solution to what he describes as "our pollution and power problems." While he expects to save some money on his electric bills, that was not his primary motivation. Bowman says he and his wife, Julie, "hope to save about 15%, but that's secondary. If it was one percent, I would have still bought it."
Small unit, big plans
The Blue Link is the first solar energy generating appliance on the market, according to Inoue. Its development came about six months ago, according to Inoue, when manufacturers began making smaller inverters, the devices that turn the DC power generated by solar power systems into the AC power that comes out of a household electrical socket. The new inverters are about two-thirds the size of previous models. As Inoue worked on a large installation job using a traditional solar generating systems, he says he realized he could divide a large system into consumer-friendly pieces if he swapped the large inverter for a smaller one. Two Seas designed a base, and the Blue Link was born.
The unit, which will be manufactured in Maine and California, produces a fraction of the energy that a traditional system would produce because it has fewer photovoltaic panels ˆ three, instead of a traditional system's minimum of eight. In fact, the Blue Link produces only 480 watts of energy, or about 15% of the average energy needs of a Maine home.
In Maine, where the average monthly energy bill is $60 to $70, the average monthly cost savings with a Blue Link is about $8 to $10. At a cost savings of $10 a month, it would take almost 37 years to recoup the initial investment in the unit. While Inoue expects the unit could last that long ˆ it's warrantied for 25 years ˆ a consumer would do as well from a financial standpoint with a savings account with an interest rate as low as 0.1%. (The Blue Link website points out, though, that rising energy prices and inflation could improve the Blue Link's financial performance over time.)
Inoue's decision to push a small solar energy generating product puts him at odds with the rest of the industry; he says most manufacturers in the industry today are thinking bigger systems, not smaller ones. Surek echoes that thought, saying that large solar systems are more cost effective for consumers. But Inoue's vision for the Blue Link relies not so much on cost effectiveness, but on customers' desire to protect the environment. "We can't go down the route of cost savings," Inoue says. "We have to think about what it could do for community and environment collectively."
Although his marketing strategy for the Blue Link relies almost exclusively on word of mouth, Inoue expects to sell a million Blue Links in the next five years, and 100 million within his lifetime. (He's 53.) And like any other businessman, he expects it to be profitable. "If there's no profit," he says, "I don't want to do it."
In the end, Inoue says his strategy isn't to get consumers' feet wet with the Blue Link so they'll eventually buy larger systems. "That's not my hope at all," he says. "The best thing for [satisfied Blue Link customers] to do is to tell others to do their share. They've already done 10,000 times better than [if they bought electricity from] the grid. They met NREL's goal of 10% solar 25 years early."
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