Monday, January 30th, 2012
One of our primary goals at SolarTown is to educate consumers on solar energy in general and solar energy products in particular. We know that you have perused the over thousand solar energy products that we are selling. We hope that you have also spent some time at SolarTown’s Learning Center to learn about solar power products. We know that our customers like our Learning Center, but as the number of articles has ballooned, it has become more unwieldy to navigate. We have put in a new interface to allow you to click on the category that you are looking for.
Tags: solar backpacks, Solar Energy Products, Solar Energy System, solar modules, solar ovens, solar panel, solar panels, solar power products, Solar Refrigerator, solar showers, SolarTown
Posted in Solar Energy Products, SolarTown Current Affairs | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011
Look here for the top ten solar gifts for this holiday season. You are getting nervous as the holiday season approaches and you don’t have any ideas of what to get your eco minded friends and relatives. Please do not fret as we are offering all kinds of green and solar gift ideas for every budget and for every taste. A solar gift for the holidays is just what you are looking for. You will notice some repeats from previous years, just more efficient and better quality. The basic technology has not changed very much in decades. We continue to think that solar landscape lights make terrific gifts. The quality and brightness of our selection of solar powered lights continues to improve every year so take a look at our featured products or just browse our solar lights and garden section. Check out these and other solar gift ideas.
Tags: Eco Friendly Gifts, eco gifts, green gifts, outdoors products, Solar Electronics, solar gift ideas, solar gifts, solar landscape, solar landscape lights, solar lights, Solar Oven, solar panels, solar power products, solar powered lights, solar shower, solar showers
Posted in Solar Energy Products | 1 Comment »
Friday, November 11th, 2011
If you are getting your holiday gift lists ready, you will definitely need to include some solar gifts for your friends and relatives who are energy conscious. SolarTown is now offering free standard shipping in the Continental US on orders over $49 on most of our solar energy products. At this time, you will need to enter promo code freeship during checkout to receive this offer.
Tags: free shipping, free shipping policy, promotional code, solar backpack, Solar Electronics, Solar Energy Products, solar gifts, solar lights, solar power products, solar powered lights, solar radio
Posted in Solar Energy Products, SolarTown Current Affairs | 2 Comments »
Friday, October 28th, 2011
What do you do if you are protesting corporate greed in the Nation’s Capital and spending the night in McPherson Square? Do you fire up that old diesel generator that is going to contribute to global warming? Surely not, when there are solar energy alternatives. One of the protesters visited SolarTown’s offices.What solar power products do you have for me, she asked. Like a lot of customers who call us, she wanted to find out what solar energy products you can use off the grid. She purchased a portable solar shower—make that two, she said. It is sunny today in Washington, DC, but unseasonably cold. So if you want to see some protestors across from the White House bathing in warm water from a portable solar shower, you should get down to McPherson Square today. Dress warmly.
Tags: solar backpack, solar bag, Solar Electronics, Solar Energy Products, solar kits, solar ovens, Solar Portable Charger, solar portable module, solar power products, Solar Products, solar shower
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Monday, October 3rd, 2011
You think that the solar industry is just emerging. Well, you may be right, but don’t tell that to the people who have been on the solar home tours for the past 21 years. The 21st Annual Metro Washington, D.C. Tour of Slar and Green Homes took place this past weekend, and if you missed this solar home tour or the one in your area, then you missed out on seeing some of the vibrant solar homes that have taken the solar challenge. This year’s solar home tours, like the Solar Decathlon on the National Mall a week before, was not blessed with sunny weather, but that did not deter the spirits of those who wanted to check out the solar home panels, and solar water heater systems throughout the DC metro region. Despite the rain, solar homeowners were eager to show off their energy efficient houses and to show that, even when it is not sunny, their solar arrays help save on energy costs.
Tags: energy efficient houses, home solar panels, Solar Decathlon, solar heating systems, solar home, Solar Home Panel, solar home tour, solar homes, solar industry, solar thermal panels, Solar Water Heater
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Friday, August 26th, 2011
Washington DC is known for being in the political epicenter of the world, but is not generally known for natural disasters. But with a week of earthquakes shaking our foundation and the impending hurricane that is expected to come ashore just about 150 miles away in Ocean City, Maryland, we are thinking about natural disasters and some solar energy products that may help you weather the storm. Let’s go over just a few of the solar power products that SolarTown offers that will help you in an emergency. But there are a number of other solar energy products that will help you through the storm. You may not have electricity from your power sockets, but you definitely should have a solar flashlight or a solar radio. If all of the gas is shut off, your gas oven is not going to work. You can take out your solar oven and cook up a chicken for your family—so long as there is some sun. Right, if there is a hurricane outside, you are not going to be able to use the solar oven, but after the storm passes, the sun may come out, and then take out your solar oven.
Tags: Hurricane Irene, natural disasters, solar bag, solar battery chargers, Solar Energy Products, Solar Energy System, solar flashlight, Solar Freezer, solar lamp post lights, Solar Oven, solar panels, solar power products, solar radio, Solar Refrigerator
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Thursday, August 11th, 2011
The cookies were baking in our solar oven, the music was blaring on our solar radio, and our solar car mascot, “the Turtle,” was laboring down the sidewalk. All was good for SolarTown’s open house, which we celebrated yesterday here in our new home in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, DC. We may not have had throngs, but we had a good turnout of friends and neighbors who came to show their support for SolarTown and to share their latest solar war story. The weather was perfect to hold the open house on our patio, but since we held it late in the afternoon we were not sure whether we would be able to “fire up the grill.” In this case, the “fire” had to come from the sun as the solar oven does not store the sun’s rays. It was late in the afternoon, and the first challenge was the large cumulus clouds looming over us. With the sun oven, it is pretty clear, if the sun doesn’t get through, the oven won’t heat up.
Tags: columbia heights, solar car, Solar Oven, solar panels, solar radio, sun oven
Posted in Solar Energy Products, SolarTown Current Affairs | 1 Comment »
Thursday, June 16th, 2011
Enphase Energy just released its next generation microinverter. Let’s face it: Enphase is synonymous with microinverters. By continuing to release new solar inverters, Enphase is staying ahead of the competition—which is not insignificant. We have heard of at least twenty, that’s right, twenty other firms that are trying to home in on the microinverter market. They are of course correct, because the first-to-market advantage does not always last. At least today, Enphase seems to be doing everything right, generating over $60 million in sales last year and on target to ship their one millionth product in the coming months. Yesterday the announcement came that Enphase is seeking to raise a cool $100 million in an initial public offering. Money is flowing easily into the microinverter market as Enecsys, probably Enphase’s closest competitor, also raised $41 million in a series B round of financing. Enecsys likes to call its products micro inverters and sometimes micro-inverters. What’s there not to love about a product that converts the electrifying DC to AC right at the panel level (actually plenty according to the big central solar inverter companies, but that is another story). Enphase just released its new generation Enphase M215 microinverter, which we are already carrying at SolarTown. This latest microinverter product from Enphase will change how solar panels will be installed in your home solar system or commercial solar energy system.
Tags: Enphase Energy, Enphase M215, Enphase microinverter, Enphase warranty, solar inverters, solar panel, solar panels for home
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Thursday, April 28th, 2011
We have had some false starts but the cherry blossoms finally bloomed in the Nation’s Capital and spring has finally arrived, and so has the surge of interest in and orders for solar powered lights. Most of our customers who are interested in solar lights are newbies to solar energy, and indeed there is no better wait to start down the road to solar energy with some solar lights. You don’t need a solar farm to get into the solar business. You can start with some simple, inexpensive solar lights. And springtime has brought the customers to SolarTown who want to see solar technology in action.
Tags: Gama Sonic Solar Lights, Maxsa solar lights, Smart Solar lights, solar energy, solar lamp post, solar lamp posts, solar lighting, solar lights, solar powered lighting, solar powered lights
Posted in Solar Energy Products | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
The blog that we posted on the warranty claim with Enphase received some attention—from Enphase. The director of customer support read the SolarTown blog on the warranty claim on the Enphase Envoy and wrote to us directly: “It sounds like someone may still have an unresolved issue, which I would personally like the opportunity to escalate to resolution… I would be happy to intervene and fix the situation.” And true to his word, Enphase replaced the Envoy that wasn’t working. Issue resolved and our hours on the phone were behind us. Enphase will need to continue to support its customer relations folks if it wants to hold onto its leadership role in the inverter market. Enphase is also reportedly considering offering a longer warranty than the current 15 years that it currently offers. That would assure consumers that the microinverters will work reliably for almost as long as the 20-25 years that the solar modules are expected to generate electricity. The warranty is only as good as the company that is standing behind its products. We hope that the intervention in the warranty claim that we had better represents the company’s customer service approach than what we experienced initially. That could keep Enphase in the leadership position for some time to come.
Tags: central inverters, Enphase Warranty Claim, Microinverter, solar array
Posted in Solar Energy Products, Solar Home Panels | 1 Comment »
