Ladies and Gentlemen: Wear Sunscreen (When in Pursuit of Solar Panels!)

I had a thought recently, something that may be a little absurd, but an idea I gave some attention to regardless: It is summertime in NYC. The sun is at its hottest and the UV rays are coming at us harder than ever (let's blame that on the hole in the ozone layer). While being tan is still the hottest thing since Coco Chanel, people are still lathering on the SPF 15 in attempts to thwart the most prevalent cancer in the United States. It struck me then that these people are all heading to spots where the solar potential is highest: the shore, the baseball fields, stadiums, and most importantly the urban community pools. All spots prolific in the smelly tannins of sunscreen and all spots that would be equally prolific as viable locations for solar installations.

And then I remembered the aesthetic pleasure that drives our society and how solar panels in any of those places could be shunned and exiled as an ugly invention of future that should be kept in the closet until we can come to our own moral terms with it because having solar panels produce renewable clean energy is so wrong, right?

Slightly disillusioned, I put away my beach PV blueprints and set to work on a more feasible urban green/social good project. And then, two weeks ago, an amazing tool was introduced- the NYC Solar Map, eliminating the need to follow beach-goers to sun heavy spots.

The NYC Solar Map is an online mechanism that calculates the solar potential for any building in the five boroughs for one of the best spots to capture the sun's energy- on your roof. Using the dimensions of the roof and some other factors, the solar map will give you an estimate on how large of a system you can install (in kilowatts), the cost of the system, rebates you can get for the installation, how much carbon dioxide you would be reducing, and the equivalent amount of trees planted. Now that's really putting solar on the map! In addition to presenting the solar potential, current installations and statistics can also be found on the map. The power of the sun is now in any NYC building owner's hands. With the ability to see your immediate ROI, there's really no argument against the solar synergy. Just make sure to wear sunscreen when hanging out with the panels on the roof!

Check out the NYC Solar Map at www.nycsolarmap.org. Type in FCI's NYC HQ address at 37-18 Northern Blvd to see how much solar energy we'd be generating if we didn't have an organic farm on our rooftop which is just as awesome.

Why Should You Do Business With FCI?

There are several energy consulting companies in the energy sector that are excellent at what they do. Yet, there are few that have as broad of a range of specialties as FCI. Most energy consulting companies have only one niche (which isn't necessarily a bad thing) therefore only assisting their clients in one area. FCI'S holistic approach allows us to serve the diversified needs of our clients, which also allows them drastically cut project costs when working with us (as oppose to several different contractors looking for their piece of the pie). So what does this mean to you?


Utilities/ Government Entities-FCI has a long history of working with uutility companies and providing them with solutions that allow them to achieve maximum results without micro management. Take a look at our affiliations/clients on our website. Over the course of the last 6-8 years, we have serviced over 70,000 small businesses through our utility relationships. We not only help out our utility clients with their small business customers, we also serve 200kW+ customers as well as power line infrastructure project management and agricultural retro-commissioning.

Commercial Clients- We are able to service your facilities in a more comprehensive manner. We not only can replace your old energy consuming lighting hardware with the newest state of the art equipment, we can also revamp you restrooms with advanced water conservation technology that will lead to better use of water resources for your company. FCI has experienced HVAC technicians that can give an overhaul to your current heating ventilation and air conditioning systems that will allow your building occupants to be more comfortable and make sure that the system is operating at maximum efficiency. We can help your business participate in load shifting during critical energy peak demand hours, which will help alleviate rolling blackouts as well as put extra revenue in your pocket.

Residential Clients-FCI is able to retrofit an entire home to make it more comfortable, economical, and safer. Many homes were built before there were enforced energy standards and they are wasting tons of energy and hard earned dollars. We can whip your home into shape and provide you with a nice utility rebate to offset the cost greatly. We also offer programs that do not cost our customer's anything.

FCI is a company that is committed to excellence, innovation, and most importantly customer solutions that will fill the particular need that you may have. We believe that we are a family and any client of ours (no matter how small ) is a part of our ever growing family. So give FCI a try!