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Vadim Polikov, president of Astrum Solar, poses next to a solar panel. Astrum Solar provides solar power to residential households. (Baltimore Sun photo by Gabe Dinsmoor / July 18, 2011) |
Solar power is not just for large manufacturers and other companies looking to save on energy costs.
Photovoltaic systems increasingly are turning up on rooftops of residential homes. It's a market on which Astrum Solar is betting.
Based in Annapolis Junction, the four-year-old, privately held company markets itself as a full-service provider of solar power focusing exclusively on homeowners. Astrum Solar operates in 10 states and the District of Columbia.
Installing a solar panel system can be expensive, but tax credits and other incentives and falling equipment prices are helping to drive down the costs.
Astrum Solar scored an endorsement from Baltimore's Constellation Energy Group last month in the form of a minority equity investment. The terms of the investment were not disclosed.
The Baltimore Sun spoke recently with Vadim Polikov, Astrum Solar's president, about the company, Constellation's investment and prospects for residential solar.
How does Astrum Solar distinguish itself from competitors?
We make it very easy for customers to go solar. We do all the paperwork … [we] go out [and] search for the best technologies out there, and we'll do the entire process from sales to pulling permits and project management to installation to solar monitoring.
How much has the company grown since 2007?
We started in 2007 with myself and two co-founders, and now we have about 125 employees. We are serving 10 different states and we have five operation centers, which are offices where we have staff members and warehouses and trucks and panels, and that's all across the eastern U.S. …
Last year we did about 500 installations. And we'll probably grow two to three times that much this year.
How will Constellation's equity investment help Astrum Solar?
It's combining the traditional resources of a large Fortune 500 energy company with the speed and understanding of the solar market that we have.
It allows us to further expand our reach. It allows us to serve customers better in the regions we're in. And there are synergies there with the combination of the two companies as well. Procurement synergies, and working with [Constellation's unregulated division] BGE Home to do solar installations. We'll be working together with financing options.
How did the partnership with Constellation start?
We had our connection with BGE Home before the equity partnership was announced. This has been in the works for a while. …
They … wanted to get involved in the residential solar space. They looked at the companies out there and they picked us. …
It shows that residential solar is something … [whose] time has come and it's ready for prime time.
If Constellation Energy is getting into residential solar, it means it's even more exciting and a growing industry — an industry that's ready to take off even further.
Photovoltaic systems increasingly are turning up on rooftops of residential homes. It's a market on which Astrum Solar is betting.
Based in Annapolis Junction, the four-year-old, privately held company markets itself as a full-service provider of solar power focusing exclusively on homeowners. Astrum Solar operates in 10 states and the District of Columbia.
Installing a solar panel system can be expensive, but tax credits and other incentives and falling equipment prices are helping to drive down the costs.
Astrum Solar scored an endorsement from Baltimore's Constellation Energy Group last month in the form of a minority equity investment. The terms of the investment were not disclosed.
The Baltimore Sun spoke recently with Vadim Polikov, Astrum Solar's president, about the company, Constellation's investment and prospects for residential solar.
How does Astrum Solar distinguish itself from competitors?
We make it very easy for customers to go solar. We do all the paperwork … [we] go out [and] search for the best technologies out there, and we'll do the entire process from sales to pulling permits and project management to installation to solar monitoring.
How much has the company grown since 2007?
We started in 2007 with myself and two co-founders, and now we have about 125 employees. We are serving 10 different states and we have five operation centers, which are offices where we have staff members and warehouses and trucks and panels, and that's all across the eastern U.S. …
Last year we did about 500 installations. And we'll probably grow two to three times that much this year.
How will Constellation's equity investment help Astrum Solar?
It's combining the traditional resources of a large Fortune 500 energy company with the speed and understanding of the solar market that we have.
It allows us to further expand our reach. It allows us to serve customers better in the regions we're in. And there are synergies there with the combination of the two companies as well. Procurement synergies, and working with [Constellation's unregulated division] BGE Home to do solar installations. We'll be working together with financing options.
How did the partnership with Constellation start?
We had our connection with BGE Home before the equity partnership was announced. This has been in the works for a while. …
They … wanted to get involved in the residential solar space. They looked at the companies out there and they picked us. …
It shows that residential solar is something … [whose] time has come and it's ready for prime time.
If Constellation Energy is getting into residential solar, it means it's even more exciting and a growing industry — an industry that's ready to take off even further.
