{"id":282033,"date":"2010-02-05T11:55:39","date_gmt":"2010-02-05T16:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.xconomy.com\/?p=61906"},"modified":"2010-02-05T11:55:39","modified_gmt":"2010-02-05T16:55:39","slug":"the-outlook-for-solar-qa-with-borrego-solar-ceo-mike-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/282033","title":{"rendered":"The Outlook for Solar: Q&amp;A With Borrego Solar CEO Mike Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"text-transform:uppercase\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.xconomy.com\/tag\/cleantech\/\">cleantech<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.xconomy.com\/tag\/people\/\">people<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.xconomy.com\/tag\/startups\/\">startups<\/a><\/div>\n<p>\t\t<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-11515\" href=\"http:\/\/www.xconomy.com\/san-diego\/2009\/02\/04\/solar-contractor-plans-mid-atlantic-expansion-with-14m-infusion\/attachment\/borrego-solar-logo\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"float:right;margin: 0px 0 5px 15px;\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11515\" title=\"borrego-solar-logo\" src=\"http:\/\/www.xconomy.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/images\/2009\/02\/borrego-solar-logo.jpg\" alt=\"borrego-solar-logo\" width=\"103\" height=\"73\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n\t\t<strong>Bruce V. Bigelow wrote:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While <a href=\"http:\/\/www.xconomy.com\/national\/2010\/01\/12\/flurry-of-early-stage-internet-deals-highlight-q4-vc-activity-investments-slip-to-5-5b\/?single_page=true\">venture investments in cleantech startups declined<\/a> last year, technology advances in renewable energy remain a hot area of interest for both cleantech innovators and investors. In an effort to gain a better understanding of the solar energy market, especially in the photovoltaic segment of the industry, I sought insights from Mike Hall, the CEO of El Cajon, CA-based Borrego Solar Systems.<\/p>\n<p>Borrego is a fast-growth company that finances, designs, and installs grid-connected photovoltaic solar systems. Much of Borrego Solar&#8217;s business is concentrated in New England and California. Before getting to our Q&amp;A, however, a little background is in order.<\/p>\n<p>Borrego Solar Systems was a dormant, 20-year-old business when Aaron Hall, a senior at Northwestern University, developed a venture business plan for the small solar company as part of an undergraduate entrepreneurship class. A Hall family friend, San Diego State University physics professor James Rickard, had started the company in 1980, in part to install a solar system on his off-the-grid home in Borrego Springs, a small desert town east of San Diego. Rickard liked Hall&#8217;s business plan so much that he sold half the business to Hall, who took over at Borrego shortly after his 2001 graduation. They each put in $20,000 to restart the company.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-61946\" href=\"http:\/\/www.xconomy.com\/san-diego\/2010\/02\/05\/the-outlook-for-solar-qa-with-borrego-solar-ceo-mike-hall\/attachment\/borrego-solar-workers-uc-san-diego_borrego-workers-installing-solar-modules-installing-solar-modules-at-ucsd\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-61946\" title=\"Borrego Solar workers at UCSD\" src=\"http:\/\/www.xconomy.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/images\/2010\/02\/Borrego-Solar-workers-UC-San-Diego_Borrego-workers-installing-solar-modules-installing-solar-modules-at-UCSD.jpg\" alt=\"Borrego Solar workers at UCSD\" width=\"119\" height=\"166\" \/><\/a>Since then, Hall says the company, which is based in the San Diego suburb of El Cajon, CA, has grown into one of the nation&#8217;s top five contractors specializing in designing and installing grid-connected photovoltaic solar systems. With more than 165 employees in seven offices nationwide, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.borregosolar.com\/\">Borrego Solar <\/a>says it has installed more than 1,000 photovoltaic systems.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, Inc. magazine named Borrego Solar to its list of &#8220;Fastest-Growing Private Companies&#8221; for the third year in a row. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.inc.com\/inc5000\/2009\/company-profile.html?id=200903210\">Inc. ranked Borrego Solar at No. 321<\/a> in the magazine&#8217;s 2009 list of 500 fastest-growing companies, based <span class=\"read_more\"> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.xconomy.com\/san-diego\/2010\/02\/05\/the-outlook-for-solar-qa-with-borrego-solar-ceo-mike-hall\/2\/\"> &#8230;Next Page &raquo;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"postFooter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.xconomy.com\/san-diego\/2010\/02\/05\/the-outlook-for-solar-qa-with-borrego-solar-ceo-mike-hall\/#comments\">Comments<\/a> | <a href=http:\/\/www.xconomy.com\/reprints\/>Reprints<\/a> | Share: &nbsp;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/home?status=RT%20@Xconomy%20The%20Outlook%20for%20Solar:%20Q&#038;A%20With%20Borrego%20Solar%20CEO%20Mike%20Hall%20http:\/\/xconomy.com\/?p=61906\"  rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.xconomy.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/themes\/xconomy\/images\/twitter.gif\" alt=\"Retweet\"\/><\/a><br \/>\n&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=http:\/\/www.xconomy.com\/san-diego\/2010\/02\/05\/the-outlook-for-solar-qa-with-borrego-solar-ceo-mike-hall\/&#038;t=The%20Outlook%20for%20Solar:%20Q&#038;A%20With%20Borrego%20Solar%20CEO%20Mike%20Hall\"  rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.xconomy.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/themes\/xconomy\/images\/facebook.gif\" alt=\"Facebook\"\/><\/a><br \/>\n&nbsp;<a href=http:\/\/www.xconomy.com\/san-diego\/2010\/02\/05\/the-outlook-for-solar-qa-with-borrego-solar-ceo-mike-hall\/email\/  rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.xconomy.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/themes\/xconomy\/images\/email.gif\" alt=\"Email\"\/><\/a><br \/>\n&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/sharethis.com\/item?publisher=bfda184d-6684-4f7a-a23f-ca4ed4db9287&amp;title=The+Outlook+for+Solar%3A+Q%26%23038%3BA+With+Borrego+Solar+CEO+Mike+Hall&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.xconomy.com%2Fsan-diego%2F2010%2F02%2F05%2Fthe-outlook-for-solar-qa-with-borrego-solar-ceo-mike-hall%2F\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.xconomy.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/themes\/xconomy\/images\/share.gif\" alt=\"Share\"\/><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t     \t\t<br clear=\"both\" style=\"clear: both;\"\/><br \/>\n<br clear=\"both\" style=\"clear: both;\"\/><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/ads.pheedo.com\/click.phdo?s=071c3aa40b5591b749e0718e30263f1b&#038;p=1\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" style=\"border: 0;\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/ads.pheedo.com\/img.phdo?s=071c3aa40b5591b749e0718e30263f1b&#038;p=1\"\/><\/a><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" height=\"0\" width=\"0\" border=\"0\" style=\"display:none\" src=\"http:\/\/a.rfihub.com\/eus.gif?eui=2218\"\/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/feedads.g.doubleclick.net\/~a\/44iXO_WoVrnzv35xseECqMO6Yew\/0\/da\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feedads.g.doubleclick.net\/~a\/44iXO_WoVrnzv35xseECqMO6Yew\/0\/di\" border=\"0\" ismap=\"true\"><\/img><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/feedads.g.doubleclick.net\/~a\/44iXO_WoVrnzv35xseECqMO6Yew\/1\/da\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feedads.g.doubleclick.net\/~a\/44iXO_WoVrnzv35xseECqMO6Yew\/1\/di\" border=\"0\" ismap=\"true\"><\/img><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.feedburner.com\/~r\/Xconomy_Full\/~4\/kFY9KbXqjLk\" height=\"1\" width=\"1\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>cleantech, people, startups Bruce V. Bigelow wrote: While venture investments in cleantech startups declined last year, technology advances in renewable energy remain a hot area of interest for both cleantech innovators and investors. In an effort to gain a better understanding of the solar energy market, especially in the photovoltaic segment of the industry, I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-282033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-energy","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282033\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}