How to Start a Green Collar, Solar Energy Business on a Shoe String Budget

Daniel J. Stouffer
A home based business is for someone who has a lot of inner drive and personal motivation. Renewable energy, specifically residential solar power, is the wave of the future given our current leaders commitment to freeing us from our dependence upon foreign oil.

Due to this commitment, the Department of Energy will be more than willing to give out grants for something like a home-based, solar energy business. Steven Chu, the new Secretary of Energy has pledged to make the Department of Energy's services more available to the common person. This means that anymore who want to run a business from home promoting the use of solar energy should be able to work their way through the bureaucracy well.

The change in attitude related to renewable, solar energy just offers way more options to a person, who may have lost their job during this economic downturn, to get a let up and start their own, work from home business.

Most of the grants and funding work is done through the Office of Science Grants and Contracts Division. The Office of Science Contracts would make an assessment on whether or not the work from home solar energy business would be viable enough to be worthy of a government subsidy. The DOE has launched what they call the Solar America Initiative. This program hopes to promote more forms of electricity from off of the grid sources by 2015.

There are other options and ways to start your own solar energy business besides getting the whole business operation up and running by yourself. You can look for other established or emerging companies that have inexpensive ways to become affiliated with them. To be a sales associate in most organizations doesn't take a lot of work. You may need to pass a test to show you are qualified and know a little about solar energy but that is usually it.

You do not need to be a college graduate or a seasoned sales executive. All you need to be is someone with the desire to make a difference in this World, and someone who shares the belief that residential solar power will make a big difference in the way we produce electricity.

If you are required to pay a fee to become involved in a business opportunity, it may mean something is fishy. Good business opportunities, especially targeting the home-based entrepreneur, show not fees or additional costs to join. You should be on the lookout if they do. A reputable company will not ask new associates to pay for a "welcome kit" or sample products. The primary objective is about creating a team, a collective of passionate people all doing good by referring U.S. homeowners to exciting aspects of renting a solar energy system for their home.

Obviously the idea of a home based solar energy business that promotes the renting of a solar system versus having to buy one is a super way to offer renewable energy and one great idea that will get us all closer to moving off the grid for good.


A new form of environmental entrepreneur or a green collar worker, was much talked about in the recently election. A green collar job would revive the solar manufacturing base in this country and provide opportunity to people who otherwise might not be able to make a good living or who may have recently lost a job. A small business is the lifeblood of the economy for many communities so when a green collar job is a part of a small business, it is a winning combination.

The exciting aspect of solar energy is the potential for growth. The renewable energy industry is still in its infancy. With less than 2.three percent of the U.S. home solar energy market is tapped currently. Renewable energy has a long way to go and much growth to tap into. What's more, solar power makes up three fifths of a percent of the total renewable share, and yet, solar power has the greatest potential of all renewable types for rapid, exponential growth.

There are also several websites that promote the idea of home based renewable energy. Many of these websites have connections to private equity and venture capital firms who would consider investing in a solar energy company, but the truth is that there is such a calling for something innovative like a home based solar company that large upfront investments are not necessary in many ways.

Home based solar energy companies would fit nicely in the scheme of the President's Advanced Energy Initiative. Dr. Chu, mentioned a couple of times previously, advocates the partnership of private and public sectors as it relates to the required growth of solar.

As a teacher at a large university, Chu wrote much about the pending growth and needed adoption of renewable energy for home usage. He also stressed how it will pave a way off of fossil fuels. Chu has called for a revolution in alternative fuels and he says there is no better time than now to confront challenges like global warming. Without a doubt, the next few years will provide a bounty of opportunities to build a work from home, solar energy business.

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At EcoCrews, our mission is to spread the use of renewable energies as simply as possible. We provide U.S. homeowners the option to rent a solar electric system. We also offer entrepreneurs a no cost method to build their own solar energy business. Learn more about your renewable options at http://www.EcoCrews.com
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Daniel J. Stouffer

I am Daniel Stouffer. I am a part-time writer, passionate Solar Energy Consultant, and a full-time Product Manager for Refrigerant Tracker, a solution to help manage, track, report refrigerant gases.

Educated in English and Mathematics, I dabble in writing pieces of this or that on the Internet while I work my day job building demand side energy management, carbon footprint reporting, and refrigerant gas tracking software.

I work for Verisae, Inc. I'm deeply involved in carbon management and renewable energy. My quest is to bring solar energy to U.S. Residential homeowners and to better manage the substances that harm our environment.

I'm also a small business owner working to promote the adoption of renewable energy. Solargies (Solar Energies), my goal is to spread the use of renewable solar power as simply and as rapidly as possible. He is also a writer, investing his time and energies educating people about renewable energy, the exciting world of interactive marketing, and other oddities of interest. (www.Solargies.com)

My personal mission statement: To gather data, to distill information, to build knowledge, and to attain wisdom. To learn, to work hard, and to be internally motivated when acquiring skills. "Every person that you meet knows something you do not - learn from them."

Verisae's Refrigerant Tracker and the Enterprise Carbon Footprint (ECF) products allows companies to take inventory of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and refrigerant gas emissions. CO2 gas, Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS), and refrigerant gas emissions are tracked and better manage. Organizations can have a direct effect on the environment through better data management and taking accurate inventories of all greenhouse gases (GHGs) that contribute to their Carbon Footprint.

In my position, I work collaboratively with client teams to understand their goals, document the solution, and mange User Centered Design projects. I'm driven to implement solutions that deliver measurable business value and enhanced user experience.

As a Product Manager for Refrigerant Tracker, I help design how to make the right content available to the right people at the right time. My role involves the design of interactive systems that help users find and manage information or functionality more successfully. (www.refrigerant-tracker.com)

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