My little house, Chevy Volt in the driveway, with 10.2 kW of solar on the roof…

This has been a big month. On Monday, April 2nd I sat down with Randy Crain and signed the paperwork to finalize the sale of Balloon Distractions.

BD had been in my life for 14 years and 7 months, and with one stroke of a pen (and a check from Randy) I was no longer a shareholder.

I had been neglecting the balloon business since early 2017 when I started working with Tampa Bay Solar. If Randy had not bought me out the entire business might have just faded away to nothing.

The day after I sold BD I had one of my biggest days in solar, with 2 deals closed. I took that as a sign from the universe… a few weeks later I finally got solar on my roof, I had been waiting to replace the roof before my system was installed, here is a close up:

The multiple photovoltaic panels produce $200 per month in electricity, while the longer panel in the middle heats the water for my home and stores it in an 80 gallon Rheem storage tank in my garage.

Elsewhere in the solar biz TBS landed the Citrus County Co-op contract, this gives Tampa Bay Solar the chance to get in front of about 100 homeowners who are highly interested in getting a system… and I get to be the point man on the project. This means I’m in Citrus County a few times a week to close deals at a reduced rate. Not bad work, if you can get it.

This month was really the conclusion of a specific chapter in my life. When I started BD I was 29 years old, with 2 daughters in elementary school. As I start this new chapter my daughters are now in college, and I’m doing something that has purpose AND profit. Balloon Distractions was just about profit, I was never a fan of balloon twisting or anything that went with that!

I’ve been a green tech enthusiast going back to 2001 when I sold the first generation Prius at Antwerpen Toyota up in Clarksville Maryland. Now that I’m fully immersed in the solar business (representing the right company) I feel like I’m where I need to be, at the right place and the right time.

Unless they stop manufacturing solar panels I have a limitless opportunity to earn a living, I’ve learned so much about the solar business in the past year, closing deals for everything from photovoltaic arrays and battery back-ups to pool heaters and solar pool pumps.

-Ben Alexander

April, 2018