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 The short version: - We started our company with a few solar lights, water fountains and lots of hope that solar would be the next great energy source... around 2001. We wanted to both promote solar and support consumers who wanted to get more solar in their lives (before or after investing in the whole-house, grid-tied route). Our first customers were neighbors, friends and others through word-of-mouth. As is in 2001, we still use part of our profits to support non-profit groups (like you will see throughout our web pages) and to maintain the website. To go directly to our wide variety of green, earth-friendly products, click on all products. The Long version: Isn't it ironic, we often tell each other, that we began Segue to Solar at about the same time as the infamous California power outages and U.S. presidential political campaigns began gathering; like mysterious and erratic storm clouds, over our community in the summer of 2000... and since we are native Californians, the fact that a corporation was exploiting our energy resulting in blackouts for the consumers... well, you can imagine our own internal thunder clouds. Electrical outages hit our southern California area, and we, like many, were left with a sense of helplessness energy-wise. As each successive brown-out left us in the dark, so did the many discussions spark about the reasons our local electrical energy resources were unavailable. With candlelight and flashlights providing the ambience we wondered what was going on with all the manipulation of state/local electrical utilities -- and how there was the threat of a movie star governor making some kind of strong Republican sweep to the right. (And much later, after we learned all the "why" of California's outages, we joked that Segue to Solar is probably the only solar product business that started up in part due to the last desperate act of an infamous energy corporation's greed; but that's another story, for another power outage, really...) We talked of many things that night, looking out on the roofs of our neighbors, out to the community and beyond: new nanno-technology solar, windmills being built in the desert of Mojave, solar bicycles, and other revolutionary ideas. And then what about the attempts by the federal government to change the language of scientists to dumb down their comments on climate change and global warming? Why would our own government try to hide facts about the status of our environment. (Some of the most interesting conversations we've had, it seems, have usually been during typhoons, in the stark wilderness, or during power outages!) But we kept coming back to one central theme: why were our state/local electrical utility energy resources running out, when renewable energy (in the form of wind, sun, water and geothermal) could be a resource? We kept coming back to this question: why weren't local utility companies in California more prepared with alternative energy backup... why couldn't the utilities have more backup electricity available? The lives of people in hospitals and those who depended on life support systems would not have been disrupted (not to mention discomfort for the rest of us). Getting oil from the other countries, some enemies, has a steep price. Was there some kind of conspiracy by oil companies to keep solar and wind suppressed? Renewable energy like solar and wind has less destructive effect on our fragile environment. (As compared to electricity produced via gas/petroleum-driven turbines, or messy coal.) And why isn't the federal government being more proactive to legislating/enforcing laws that will take more care of our fragile environment? This is when we first realized that we wanted to be part of the solution to the profound environment problems facing our community the earth. Segue to Solar believes that consumers have the power to be part of the solution to the energy problem ( click here for What can Solar do for me?). Back in 2001 we felt there was a need to increase in renewable energy research and have it be a priority for federal, state and local government... Last, we get a lot of questions about "why did we pick 'segue to solar' for our business name?" "Segue" means to transition, or change smoothly. We feel that if consumers can get behind the concept of transitioning to using more solar and renewable energy products -- not only will the earth be healthier for it, but hopefully industrialized nations will have more peaceful options for accessing fuels and other precious resources. As Howard Dean, current chairman of the Democratic National Committee, used to say, "Be part of the solution." * See our latest news and press release for more information about Segue to Solar (click here for our News ) Community-Mission: Our goal is to foster sustainability in our home, company and community by offering consumers products, services and information that will help the environment and at the same time lower electrical usage for individuals and communities. We always say: Make the change to solar and renewable energy, for the environment... About our products: We decided from the beginning to only offer products from U.S. companies (and Canada). This not only helps to keep our products near-local, but it allows us to include American based warranties and technical support. We feel it is important to use all products you see on the website at our office first, to better tell customers how they work, and check the quality. We can also learn more about solar. Fundraising: What better way for your organization or association to show others that you care about the environment? Let us know if your organization would like to fundraise with our solar and renewable energy products by e-mailing us and we'll send you the non-profit bulk pricing. Customer comments: just click here:  Public speaking: We do speak on topics related to solar and renewable energy (within the greater Los Angeles, Orange County areas only); just send us an email.. | |||||
Getting involved: support non-profit environmental organizations With a combined collective background in energy conservation, organizational skills, marketing, solar electricity, customer support, training from southern California Edison, education, and a desire to help keep our planet a healthy place to live, Segue To Solar supports non-profit environmental organizations like the ones listed below. (We are not associated with these associations, we only send in donations after receiving their solicitations in the mail - we do not necessarily advocate these groups over any other.)Click on support good causes, if you want to see other non-profit organizations we've collected. Click on our free solar information page to see our collection of information and links in the green community. For reciprocal links of other organizations who have included us on their websites, click here: links. | |||||
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- - - - Copyright - - -2006-2010, Segue to Solar. 
