Solar Solution LLC last month won the contract to install solar systems for 50 to 60 houses in Chevy Chase, Cleveland Park, and Glover Park. DC SUN, a local advocacy group, awarded the contract. Installation is scheduled to begin this spring.
In addition, installation will be finished this month on another DC SUN contract, for 80 homes in Petworth.
Solar Solution was founded in 2009 with the goal of installing solar systems in the district. The current focus is Wards 2, 3 and 4. Sales manager Atta Kiarash says the company has installed 650 of the 900 solar systems in the District. The company works primarily in the residential arena but also does some commercial.
“We go after entire groups [of homes] at once. There is an economy of scale,” says Kiarash.
Solar Solution can do rooftop or ground solar systems but the vast majority of its work is rooftop solar panels, given the District’s flat-roofed rowhouses. The system is connected directly to the electric grid, which in the District is primarily Pepco.
Thanks to its growth, Kiarash says the privately-owned company is in the process of hiring. Last month, it hired eight employees, in sales and installation, bringing the company to a total of 18 employees. He expects to hire at least a half-dozen more staffers in sales within a month.
“We’re a locally-owned firm, and 98 percent of our staff lives and works in the District,” says Kiarash.