A while back we wrote about how everyone seems to want to call us “ibog,” even if they know our name is “1bog.” We’ve gotten dozens of responses to the form on that page, some which make a lot of sense (“it looks like an i vs. a 1.”, “Saw article in Time and it sure looks like IBOG, not 1BOG.”), some not so much (“I bog, you bog, we all bog for cranberries?”)

…So I did the same with lbog, when someone asked me what lbog was while looking at my shirt yesterday.

Hi, this is Matt coming at you live and direct from the call center at One Block Off the Grid headquarters. We speak with thousands of people who are interested in going solar. It doesn’t matter whether you are looking to save money or save the world, we want to help guide you through the process of going solar. We offer unbiased advice and information to help you make the correct choices in your pursuit of energy independence.

After you go to 1bog.org, fill out our webform and provide all the requested information, you are part of the 1 Block Off the Grid Community. Not only will you have helped your friends and neighbors get a great deal on a photovoltaic solar system, but you will have taken the first step towards owning a solar system yourself.

What happens next?

One of the prequalification team members is going to call you, welcome you to the program and determine if solar is the right choice for you and your family. Unfortunately, solar is not right for every home. There are a variety of factors that will determine if solar will be cost effective for your home and we want to help you make a well informed decision. Here are the three major factors that we evaluate when we call:

1. Roof shading can be a major hurdle for solar efficiency. A solar panel is made of many individual silicon cells that, working together, change solar radiation into electricity. If one of the individual cells is shaded, it affects the entire panel. The amount of electricity produced is only as effective as the weakest link. If you have large trees that cast a shadow on your house, you’ll need to trim them if you want your panels to produce the amount of electricity of which they are capable.

2. Solar panels work best facing directly south. While this is ideal, not all homes have this possibility. The next best is facing southwest. Unfortunately, the further off of due south a panel faces, the less efficient it is. If you do not have a suitable south or south-west facing roof section for solar installation, you may need additional panels to get the electricity you require. Another solution to this problem is using a ground mount system. Instead of using your roof, we can mount the system directly on the ground.

3. Do the advantages of solar meet your needs? One of the most attractive pieces of the solar puzzle is that a typical system will pay for itself in 8-10 years, while those who rely solely on an electrical company face ever-increasing rates. The money you save in electric bills will offset the price of the system and after it is paid for, you essentially get free electricity. The only draw back is that a household that spends a lot on electricity will more quickly recoup the cost of the system, while one with a low bill (typically less than $50) won’t recoup the cost as quickly. For some, there is still the incentive to purchase a system out of a commitment to the environment and reducing carbon footprints.

If your house passes this three part test,you are interested in getting your home evaluated for a solar installation, and you’re in an area where we’re running a current campaign, we will be happy to have the selected installer in your area contact you to make an appointment.

At 1Bog, we are committed to helping people adopt solar energy and reduce their dirty power consumption. Please give the team in the Prequalification department a call if you have any questions. Even if you just want to chat, we are here to help and offer advice.

One Block Off the Grid was founded with the intention of causing the tipping point in the adoption of affordable solar energy in as many places around the country as possible.  We’ve been enjoying the ride that has resulted from negotiating on behalf of communities for discounts on solar installations, and have learned some important lessons along the way.  One of those lessons has been that, despite innovative financing, increasing rebates, and lots of solar education, solar is sometimes not the best option for everyone.  Perhaps there are big trees blocking the sun from an otherwise willing roof.  Perhaps electricity isn’t consumed much in some households.  Or perhaps cost is just simply prohibitive.  There are many reasons why solar might not be right for some folks, and we’re well aware of this.

To help address this, and to help more people save money, green their lives, and lower energy consumption all at the same time, we decided to expand our model and offer group purchasing for home energy efficiency.  We searched far and wide, and eventually found Sustainable Spaces, and we couldn’t be more excited.  Sustainable Spaces is the Bay Area’s leading provider of energy audits and home energy efficiency retrofits.  We met with them a few times, only to come to the realization that we couldn’t continue our operation without offering the most cost-effective energy efficiency program out there to our members.  We negotiated a 15% discount on energy efficiency retrofits for our members, the largest pricing discount they’ve ever offered.  Basically, we went in search of an energy efficiency compliment to residential solar, and we hit the jackpot.

If your house is too cold, too hot, too drafty, moldy, if allergies or asthma are issues for your family, if your power bills are too high, or if you’ve been looking to make home improvements that will pay for themselves, energy efficiency retrofits with 1BOG and Recurve is probably a good bet!

Edit: As of late 2009, Sustainable Spaces has renamed itself Recurve.

Hundreds and hundreds of people have take our solar quiz. So how did they do? How much do people know about solar and what do they know? Find out which questions stumped them…

HERE ARE THE QUESTIONS THAT MORE THAN 50% OF OUR QUIZ TAKERS ANSWERED INCORRECTLY:

Basic Questions

California’s state rebate decreases as more people go solar – TRUE 47% answered correctly

7. Solar works better in cooler climates – TRUE 42%answered correctly

9. Solar is the most cost effective way to lower your electricity bills – FALSE 36% answered correctly

12. Solar panels are vulnerable to hail – FALSE 36% answered correctly

Intermediate

15. If I produce more electricity than i use, my utility has to write me a check because of net-metering laws – FALSE 43% answered correctly

16. Heliostats, or devices used to track the movement of the sun, can increase the efficiency of your solar system up to 200% – FALSE 19% answered correctly

17. In order to qualify for receiving the state rebate, installers must offer warranties of 10 years for their installation and inverters, and 20-25 years for panels – FALSE 14% answered correctly

19. When my power goes out, my solar system will keep my house running – FALSE 31% answered correctly

Advanced

Our advanced questions weren’t as hard as we thought and more than 50% of quiz takers got them right.  We must have smart quiz takers!

Since the dawning of One Block Off the Grid’s time, people have read “1BOG” as “iBOG“.  Even our own parents would ask us, “Honey, how are things with iBOG?”  I’m pretty sure our CEO once or twice called us iBOG (not really, but he has FOR SURE called us “1BLOG” before — probably daydreaming about Gas2.0).

Originally, we were very concerned that lots of people would never get over the “i” fascination, and we’d fail in our mission to bring low-cost solar energy to as many roofs as possible. We eventually won our battle to buy the URL “www.ibog.org“, so that solved that problem, and even the most “i” insistent could find their way to us. Great success! As a result of that, we got a glimpse into what made people think we were iBOG. A few of our favorites have included, “My fingers just type ibog,” “I have no idea,” and “Scut article logo itouch.” OK, I have to admit that I understand how someone could think that last one.

Honestly though, it’s caused an interesting problem around the One Block Off the Grid office.  Earlier today I heard someone say, “Hey man, can you pass me my 1pod?”  Unacceptable.  Later on, someone said, “Noo!  I cracked my 1phone!”  Sigh.

All that really matters though, is that we’re in the middle of launching campaigns in Los Angeles, San Diego, and New Orleans, bringing solar energy to lots and lots and lots of people.  Frankly, you can call us whatever you like (just not iBOG), as long as you help us spread the word in your city and keep on fighting the good fight.

P.S. (it’s not lbog either)

Our new website!  TA-DA ! It’s prettier, easier to use, and more exciting, or at least we think so.  You can learn about 1bog and see hot solar cities, right on the homepage.  You can check out your city, see what people are saying about us, and even get your own quote on the homepage.  We’ll miss the old website a little, but the new one has all of the same info and is well, just plain better. Don’t worry, we’ve kept the bogman front and center but have just given him a new home. Special thanks to our engineering team and we hope you like the new website.

One Block Off the Grid started in a coffee shop with three people.  Recognizing the demand nationwide for cheaper and easier solar, the 1BOG team quickly realized they could not scale on their own.  They wanted to transform solar markets all over the county and cause a tipping point in residential solar and it just wasn’t going to be possible for them to achieve as three people in a coffee shop.  1BOG joined forces with Virgance, an incubator for campaigns and ideas existing at the cross-section of capitalism and activism.  Virgance provides the framework and infrastructure, which allow campaigns to flourish and cause change.

Click here to listen to CEO Steve Newcomb, talk about “game changers” in the solar market, business transparency, other Virgance campaigns, and what inspires him to make the world a better place.

This morning, Dave and I arrived at the office at about 6:30am to get prepped for a landmark occasion for the 1BOG team: our very first out-of-state installer training session to kick off our very first out-of-state community solar program (which began at 9am CST — you think Dave and I would wake up that early just for the heck of it?  Yes?  OK, you’re right, we probably would).  Although we’ve done remote trainings before, our participation in the New Orleans solar scene felt much more real to me after this experience.  Clearly, this was an exciting moment for us here at 1BOG, but it also seems like an important step in rebuilding New Orleans, and we’re proud to be involved.

We’ve done lots of these training sessions in the past months, all with the intention of explaining a bit more to solar installers why our community model of solar purchasing is an important development for the solar industry.  From dispelling myths about net metering, to getting low cost solar panels, it’s important for installers who are interacting with our members to understand how 1BOG helps people from all over the place feel more confident about installing solar.  Furthermore, it’s important for installers to understand how participating in 1BOG programs is a big win for their companies as well.  In these training sessions, we go over our community model, our process, and how interacting with our member base can help rapidly grow their business.

Clearly, we’re excited about lowering the cost of solar for consumers, but we’re also excited about helping installers grow and maintain healthy, sustainable businesses.  In a lot of our outward-facing communication, it’s sometimes easy to lose sight of this fact – we’re extremely committed to offering affordable solar to our members, and we like talking about it.  Even so, it’s important to remember that we’re also out here to represent and grow the industry from the installer’s point of view as well.

Mostly though, I’m enjoying becoming a pro at using online meeting software.  That’s really why I do this, in case you were wondering…

We’re in print!  Big ads in the Bart stations (it’s like a subway) in San Francisco and the East Bay.  The bogman is on his way to stardom – we want him to be the most popular guy on the block.  The bogman is unstoppable, organizing communities, teaching about solar power, hard bargaining with installers, negotiating never before seen discounts for solar, putting solar on the map, and, well,  generally just looking cool (or cute) depending on who you ask. If the bogman hasn’t already arrived in your area, he will soon so keep your eyes peeled for the bogman in your neighborhood.