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One Block Off the Grid, or 1BOG, is a US solar company that works with the largest solar providers in the nation to create a single online destination for solar energy options. Originally, it was formed as an example of a social entrepreneurship model that promotes community development, social activism and personal responsibility. 1BOG currently operates in approximately fifteen US cities.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=One Block off the Grid )〕 One Block Off the Grid's name is a metaphor for freeing the world from its dependency on non-renewable power sources, one block at a time. ==Business model== 1BOG has a solution for the pain point the solar industry has experienced up to now in the residential market—large upfront costs make many homeowners reluctant or unable to manage the purchase. One executive told Venturebeat that outside of a few very tony neighborhoods in San Francisco, the company finds that about 80% of its customers need financing: “It’s that difference between paying about $10,000 and just a thousand up front,” he said. Originally, 1BOG used community organizing techniques such as house parties, canvassing, and volunteer recruitment in addition to social networking and traditional marketing techniques to obtain a critical mass of consumers in a given city who are interested in learning more about solar technology.〔(Rob Walker, “Panel Discussion,” The New York Times Magazine, April 3, 2009. )〕 When a homeowner first expressed an interest in solar, 1BOG would evaluate the roof to determine whether the option made sense for the homeowner. If solar was a good option for the particular house and the homeowner's electric bill was more than a certain amount, 1BOG would identified similar solar prospects in the area and group them together, leveraging that bargaining power with solar installers to establish a lower cost. As one customer said: :We wouldn't have done it otherwise...just that much additional money that I didn't quite have. Recently 1BOG has been a leading force in the move to solar leasing, a newer model which applies to solar technology a financing structure similar to an automobile lease. As many as 40% of solar customers now lease rather than purchase their solar equipment outright. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「One Block Off the Grid」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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