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For contractors looking for new business opportunities, offering solar energy might be the wave of the future.
Take Hal Smith, for instance. Smith, president of Halco in Phelps, New York, has always been pro - gressive with how he approaches his business. He's offered home- performance and geothermal ser - vices for several years and decided to add solar to his business about five years ago.
"We were involved with geother - mal first, then customers were asking how to not have a utility bill," Smith said. "We were already doing home performance, so the missing link was solar. We decided to get into that business. It just continues to grow."
Smith now staffs four crews specializing in solar panel installa - tion. He expects this sector to push the $4 million mark in 2014.
"There are different stumbling blocks and learning experiences like any new business, but everything goes together so well. It makes a ton of sense," Smith said. "We just finished up a project where the cus - tomers won't have a propane bill, or an electric bill, and they're not going to pay for gasoline either. They had a large enough roof for us to put enough solar in so they could charge their two Chevy Volts. It's cool stuff."
Larry Waters, service manager, A-1 Guaranteed Heating and Air Inc., Vallejo, California, dipped his toes into the solar market in 2010 by attending photovoltaic instal - lation and sales training. However, the company decided not to take the plunge right away, as it wanted to concentrate on its home-perfor - mance division before embarking into solar. As things fell into place, the company proudly introduced its first solar offering about a year ago.
"We try to be as good as we can, regardless what we are doing," Waters said. "Between our first look in 2010 and when we took solar on, the technology increased pretty dramatically. Financing has really surged ahead, as it's now viable for the customer and contractor."
Waters believes solar work will open up a...