Pepsi Cola of the Hudson Valley
64Solar traces its roots back to the early days of the New York State program. The partners started in the solar industry in 2005. Back in those days solar companies needed to go out to each site because there was no Google Maps.
If we went out more than 75 miles to visit a site, we typically canvassed the area to see if anyone would be interested in solar.
In 2009 we visited a customer who recommended that we speak to his neighbor. We agreed and knocked on that door as well. As it turns out, that referral was very interested and we installed solar on his house.
Over the weeks and months that followed we became very friendly with that customer and he asked if we could also look at his business. Because of restrictions in New York it was determined that it was not the appropriate time. You could only install a 50 Kilowatt system then, so we paused that project but kept in touch.
In 2014, New York opened its solar program up and we were ready. We installed a 400 Kilowatt system for this customer, Pepsi Bottling of Newburgh, NY. This project launched our new company, 64Solar. This was extremely important to us and we will always appreciate the faith that Pepsi had in our expertise.
Our focus on doing the right thing for the customer rewarded us with a second Pepsi project in Southington, CT. Pepsi Bottling’s commitment to sustainability and energy independence are what drove this project, and the electric savings were quite handsome too. We have maintained and monitored these systems over the last 6 years and both are still performing well ahead of expectations.
It’s unclear if we would have been awarded this project if we did not drive those 70 miles to see that original customer, but we always remember this and it still shapes our company.