Northwest Green Home Tour – April 25-26

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Look for Blue Frog Simple Solar on the NW Green Home Tour, April 26 in Seattle.

We’ll be onsite at the amazing Ballard Emerald Star Net Zero Home, built by our friends at Dwell Development.

Located just blocks from Ballard’s vibrant cultural core, this beautiful new home is topped with itek Energy’s Washington-made solar panels (using Blue Frog microinverters, of course) and will feature net-zero energy consumption, earning credits for energy sent back to the grid.

We expect this to be a very popular stop on the tour, with a gourmet food truck and maybe even ice cream – come by for lunch!

Meet the Blue Frog team and find out more about our Simple Solar program, and how you can put the power of Washington-made solar to work for you.

Find out more on the NW Green Home Tour and Dwell Development’s outstanding Ballard Emerald Star Net Zero Home right here.

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Blue Frog, Greendrinks & some holiday cheer

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Simple Solar is coming to town!

Blue Frog’s Simple Solar program will be featured at the upcoming Greendrinks mixer, Tuesday, Dec. 9 at Tesla Motor Works in Seattle.

The team from A&R Solar will be on hand to answer questions about Simple Solar, Blue Frog’s zero-pain, zero-down way to get the power of Made In Washington solar working for you in the new year.46

We’ll also be highlighting Extend the Day, our nonprofit effort that brings solar lighting to students in Namibia, Bangladesh and other developing nations. Come find out how you can brighten the lives of families across the globe this holiday season, or see www.extendtheday.org.

The good cheer doesn’t stop there: The evening also marks the Seattle Good Business Network/Sustainable Seattle annual holiday fair. Pick out some locally made gifts while enjoying tasty food and beverages, music and merriment.

The event runs 5:30-9 p.m. Dec. 9 at the Tesla showroom, 435 Westlake Avenue N. in South Lake Union.

See www.seattlegreendrinks.org. for more information on the holiday fair, then come down and greet the season with Blue Frog Simple Solar.

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Simple Solar makes sense, Kitsap Business Journal says

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Blue Frog Solar and our Simple Solar program got some great press this week with an in-depth feature in the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal.  Read it Here.

The KPBJ ives a comprehensive look at the incentives that make Washington solar such a great deal — and Simple Solar, which makes it easier than ever to make the move to energy self-sufficiency. It’s a great move for both existing homes and new construction.

As the Business Journal notes:

Blue Frog is collaborating on the largest residential solar project in Kitsap County — Bainbridge Island’s Grow Community, a project of real estate development and investment firm Asani. It’s an example of effectively designing and building homes to accommodate rooftop solar panels.
“We knew from the outset that our goal was to create a net-zero community using solar,” says Marja Preston, senior director of development at Asani and owner of a solar home at Grow. “So everything there was designed, including the apartments, so we could get enough solar panels on the roof to provide all the energy needed for the homeowner.”

Thanks to the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal and editor Tim Kelly for the great coverage! Find out more about Simple Solar here.

 

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Simple Solar on the KIRO-FM airwaves

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Blue Frog Solar and our new Simple Solar program are radio stars, featured on KIRO-FM’s “Real Estate Today” program recently.

Host Tom Kelly interviewed the Simple Solar team including Tim Bailey, Blue Frog founder and principal; Shannon Ellis-Brock, COO of Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union; and Reeves Clippard, founder and CEO of A&R Solar of Seattle. Also on hand was Greg Lotakis, project manager for Grow Community, the largest planned solar community in Washington state and powered by Blue Frog/APS microinverter technology.

The hour-long discussion covered today’s dramatic solar incentives and the ease of financing a new solar system for homeowners. On-air callers had great questions for the in-studio team.

Listen to a podcast of the program on the Real Estate Today website.

Thanks to Tom Kelly and KIRO-FM 97.3 for hosting Blue Frog Solar and the Simple Solar team!

If you’ve not yet seen it, check out our new Simple Solar program online and see what Blue Frog Solar can do for you. We’re especially interested in partnering with new homebuilders to build solar in to their projects. Spread the word — Simple Solar is here!

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BLUE FROG SOLAR LAUNCHES NEW ‘SIMPLE SOLAR’ CAMPAIGN FOR BUILDERS, DEVELOPERS

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 15, 2014

SEATTLE — Demand for solar homes in the Washington market is at an all-time high. Builders offering a solar option on new construction find that their homes sell twice as fast as those without a renewable energy option.

But not everyone understands how simple it is to finance a residential solar system – or just how fast the return on investment is with today’s incentives. Blue Frog Solar is changing that, with its new Simple Solar campaign for builders, developers and homebuyers.simple-headerimage

Blue Frog has partnered with A&R Solar, one of Washington’s top installers, and Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union to create a complete solar financing, materials and installation package. The Simple Solar program will offer the best pricing and simplest process for installing Made in Washington solar arrays on homes.

“Solar’s time is here in Washington,” said Tim Bailey, director of the Simple Solar campaign for Blue Frog Solar. “It’s been difficult in the past for a builder to include solar as a standard part of a new home package because the financing and incentives haven’t lined up. We’ve figured out a way to let buyers take advantage of current incentives and still have solar be part of the developer’s program.”

Dwell Development of Seattle is the first to offer the Simple Solar package to customers, and a promotional event for Dwell homebuyers will be held May 15 in Columbia City. The event is by invitation.

bfsimplesolar1The Simple Solar package takes advantage of the  excellent incentives available for consumer investment in residential solar systems. The average Washington homeowner who goes solar today will enjoy $760 in energy savings annually, while state and federal incentives (including sales tax exemptions and energy buyback from utilities) have lowered the payback period to as little as five or six years. With a 30 percent federal tax credit and product incentives through 2020, a homeowner could get a $25,000 residential solar system for a net investment of just over $1,300.

Along with their “1-2-3” steps to Simple Solar -– apply for zero-down financing through PSCCU, sign a contract with A&R, and set a date for solar install –- Blue Frog is also showing builders and developers how to make their homes solar-ready at the point of design and construction. Measures range from orienting homes to maximize sun exposure and leaving unobstructed roof space, to pre-wiring needed conduit and leaving breaker box space for solar equipment.

“When we say ‘Simple Solar,’ we mean it,” Bailey said. “Blue Frog is the first distributor in the state to offer a solar package like this, and to help builders and homebuyers go solar from the start.”

While the program is focusing on new construction at launch, all Washington homeowners can take advantage of the Simple Solar package. The Blue Frog Solar website will guide anyone through the process in just a few minutes.

For information on the Simple Solar program, see www.bfsimplesolar.com, email simple@bluefrogsolar.com, or call (206) 855-5149.

For information on Dwell Development’s participation in the Simple Solar program, see www.dwelldevelopment.net or call 206.683.7595.