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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Solar Panel Company Plans New Stores for the Valley

SolarMax Technology Inc., a solar panel installer and provider, is opening retail shops in the Valley and beyond as it eyes new ways to boost business. The company, based in the City of Industry, is embarking on a rapid retail expansion to educate customers about their products and the various government incentives available to solar adopters. By the end of the year, the company hopes to have 25 retail shops throughout Southern California, including one in Thousand Oaks and another in Lancaster. “Solar is something you hear about on the radio or come across on the Internet — it’s very spotty,” Sales Director Guillermo Santomauro said. The new retail locations aim to change that, he said, by providing a brick-and-mortar store where consumers can browse and learn about the product. The Thousand Oaks store is located at 1655 Thousand Oaks Blvd. A grand-opening is scheduled in late April. The Lancaster store is scheduled to open by the end of 2012, but a location has yet to be secured. The company currently has five stores including Thousand Oaks, which will be SolarMax’s first with a showroom, Santomauro said. In December, SolarMax announced plans for a Simi Valley store, which was to open in February. But Santomauro said the company scrapped that plan, choosing instead to open up in Thousand Oaks due to its more central location. The greater Valley area, in particular, is an attractive investment for SolarMax due to its large homes, hot temperatures and high electricity bills, Santomauro said. “It’s just set up beautifully for solar,” he said. Both the Thousand Oaks and Lancaster stores will employ about 10 workers, which could rise to 30 within three months of the openings, Santomauro said. Across the United States, last year was a good year for solar installers. Americans installed 1,855 megawatts of photovoltaic solar systems in 2011, a 109 percent jump from a year earlier, according to a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association. Santomauro said the solar market has opened up in recent years as more emphasis is placed on leasing the expensive panels instead of pitching consumers on buying the devices outright. About 70 percent of SolarMax’s deals are for leases, which typically run 20 years, he said. Jared Blanton, spokesman for the Solar Energy Industries Association, said leasing is becoming increasingly popular. In 2009, there were only three companies in California offering such an option for residents, but that number has increased to more than a dozen, he said. During the fourth quarter last year, “for the first time in California’s residential market, more systems were leased than purchased outright,” Blanton said in an e-mail, citing the most recent data available. SolarMax currently does about 95 percent of its business through in-home sales, but is aiming to eventually ink 50 percent of its sales through its expanding retail locations. The solar panels SolarMax sells, leases and installs are manufactured by San Jose-based SunPower and other brands, Santomauro said. The Silicon Valley firm, like many solar panel manufacturers, is increasingly fighting Chinese competitors that have caused panel prices to fall. SunPower recently announced plans to trim costs as it seeks to compete. For SolarMax, there are no more current plans for stores in the Valley, but that could change if demand increase, Santomauro said. “The Valley is huge. So there is definitely more potential,” he said.

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