One Block Off the Grid (1BOG) Launches East Coast's First Solar Group Purchasing Campaign in New Jersey; Partners With Local Installer The Solar Center

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- One Block Off the Grid (1BOG), the nation's largest solar consumer advocate, today announced the launch of the company's first East Coast solar group purchasing campaign. Homeowners throughout the northern part of New Jersey can now sign up for free to join the Northern New Jersey 1BOG solar campaign and buy residential solar energy at a group discount rate of only $5.45 per watt. This is a 16% reduction over standard rates for solar in the region for 2009(i). After a thorough evaluation of local installation companies, 1BOG selected Rockaway, NJ-based solar installer The Solar Center as campaign partner to service the Northern New Jersey 1BOG community.

(Logo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091216/SF26833LOGO)

The Northern New Jersey 1BOG campaign will save homeowners time, energy and money going solar. Now, homeowners who want to go solar but don't know whom to trust can sign up online to speak with a 1BOG solar advisor, receive impartial advice and the pre-negotiated 1BOG group discount rate for solar from The Solar Center. In addition, homeowners can use 1BOG's Online Estimate Tool to receive real-time information about the cost and payback of a solar investment for a specific home.

"We are excited to work with The Solar Center to use the power of group purchasing to lower the cost of solar for New Jersey's homeowners," said 1BOG Co-Founder and General Manager, Dave Llorens. "New Jersey is one of the most solar-friendly states in the US, so it's a natural location for 1BOG's flagship East Coast campaign."

The state of New Jersey provides rebates of up to $1.75 per watt to incent solar purchases. The utilities serving the community also offer programs that help with solar purchases. PSE&G's solar loan program can be repaid with solar renewable energy certificates (SRECs) generated by the system, and JCP&L and Rockland Electric utilities offer up to 15 year fixed price contracts on SRECs. Finally, a federal tax credit of 30% enables homeowners to purchase solar at affordable rates competitive with the cost of conventional power.

"As a local company dedicated to advancing solar energy adoption, we are pleased to have been selected to serve 1BOG's New Jersey community," said The Solar Center CEO, Ed Steins. "New Jersey is second only to California in installed solar capacity, and this joint campaign will help solidify its place as a leader in the U.S. solar landscape."

The New Jersey 1BOG program is available now to local homeowners in Sussex, Passaic, Bergen, Hudson, Essex, Morris, Warren, Hunterdon, Somerset, Union and Middlesex counties through April 12, 2010. For more information, details about pricing and products or to sign up, visit the 1BOG Solar North Jersey homepage.

1BOG and The Solar Center will be hosting a free webinar and online information session with details about the New Jersey solar campaign on Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. EST. To sign up, visit: http://solarnorthjersey.1bog.org/webinar. 

About One Block Off the Grid

One Block Off the Grid (1BOG) is the nation's largest collective bargaining and consumer advocate, dedicated to making home installations easy and affordable. For every regional campaign, 1BOG conducts a rigorous and impartial selection process to identify an ideal installer partner, based on their pricing, track record of quality installations, reliable warranties, premium products and a viable business model. 1BOG organizes interested homeowners into a large solar buying group to negotiate lowest solar group discount rates from the installer partner so that community members can enjoy the best deal for solar power without having to become solar experts themselves. 1BOG was founded in 2008 in San Francisco, California and has campaigns running in nine cities throughout the U.S. For more information, visit www.solarnorthjersey.1BOG.org.

About The Solar Center

The Solar Center (TSC), headquartered in Northern New Jersey, is one of the East Coast's leading providers of solar energy systems. Specializing in turnkey energy solutions, the company engineers, procures and constructs solar energy systems to help its customers lower electric purchases from conventional generation, ensuring a long term supply of fixed priced electricity, and take advantage of significant Federal and State incentives to ensure a superior investment return. Since its founding in 2005, The Solar Center has installed over 600 residential and commercial systems amounting to more than 4.5 MW of solar energy. The Solar Center's energy solutions include solar electric and solar thermal energy systems, and its primary business focus is in the New Jersey, New York, Connecticut Tri-State region. For more information, visit www.TheSolarCenter.com.

(i)  Data from New Jersey Clean Energy Program - http://www.njcleanenergy.com/

SOURCE One Block Off the Grid