[June 15, 2009]

Humble origins for solar success story: From backyard startup in 1998, firm saw revenues of nearly $23 million in 2008 [Albuquerque Journal, N.M.]

(Albuquerque Journal (NM) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jun. 15--It was a humble beginning for the Affordable Solar Group in 1998. "I started in my backyard," said founder David Hughes, a Montreal native who describes himself as a "permanent resident alien." "I had a 1964 Airstream 28-foot 'Sovereign of the Road.' It was in the back of the Airstream trailer, down in the South Valley near the Five Points area. That was my office." Capital? "It was called credit cards," he said, with a laugh. "It took me several years to pay them off." In short time, Affordable moved to a location on Central Avenue. Five years later, it was on to an office building near the Sunport where today the company employs 20 people and has become the second leading retailer in the U.S. solar business. Last year, Affordable set the company's high mark for revenues so far: nearly $23 million -- or growth in a four-year period of 407 percent.

That achievement earned Affordable the 2009 Flying 40 award in the category of top growth for revenues over $10 million, and moved it into the top 10 list of biggest revenue generating high-tech companies in New Mexico.

When it comes to describing what the Affordable Solar Group is, marketing specialist Ryan Wallace suggests thinking "Home Depot Meets the Apple Genius Bar." The company sources products -- solar panels, inverters and other components that make up solar energy systems -- "from all over, with an emphasis on pricing," he said.

Much as someone might go to buy an air conditioner at Home Depot, a customer interested in supplying solar power to his home or cabin might approach Affordable for a system tailored to his or her needs and price range.

"If we're not the lowest price out there, we're pretty darn close," Wallace said. "What we try to mate that with is, to steal from Apple, kind of a genius bar.

"Someone can call and just want to get educated about solar and sometimes our guy will spend a half hour with someone trying to figure out what solar's all about," he said. "...The other extreme is that we'll have an installer calling up who is in Lebanon who's bought one of our products and is trying to make it work with the local grid there." Hughes attributes two events to accelerating the company's success, both occurring around 2002.

"One was the start of the grid tie and solar rebates out in California," he said. "The second was we went from being a phone or mail directory, Yellow Pages-based advertiser to marketing online." To be sure, Affordable is the top online solar retailer in the nation, with 1.5 million visitors to its Web site a year.

An underpinning of the company's success is the attention it pays to the products it sells.

"Part of the commitment to what we do here is that we are only interested in what works," Hughes said. "If a new product comes out, we'll often wait six months to seek how it works in the marketplace... If we sell it, we'll stand behind it." Hughes, who worked for solar energy products pioneer Zomeworks for three years and then as a consultant before forming his own company, admits some missteps along the way. In 2006, fresh after doubling its business, Affordable Solar began adding jobs expecting to do so again the next year.

"And we didn't ... We were up to about 30 people at the time. We had to cut down by almost half because we just didn't see it," he said. "But that's experience." Even though two of Affordable's three business components are performing better than last year, Hughes is projecting a 25 percent decline in revenues this year because of the recession.

The retail business, selling systems directly to end users, is up 20 percent, and its wholesale business, supplying dealers with systems and components, is up 40 percent. Commercial business, though, is down 80 percent.

"Even though they may want to do a project, financing is not available," Wallace said.

Hughes said that while the company's focus remains on the photovoltaic industry, which has been growing by 50 percent a year for the past decade, it is exploring other possibilities.

"We're looking to take on the thermal portion of the business," he said, "but we will look at that carefully." While business has been brisk, the company doesn't neglect its employees: In 2008, it was ranked among the top ten of an annual "Best Places to Work" competition for small businesses in Albuquerque.

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