Transcript:
One of the goals of Real Estate Radio Los Angeles is to offer you trusted advice by introducing you to exceptional companies that can help you make smart choices. So I'm excited to bring someone that definitely fits that bill. In studio today is Matt Moses, the CEO and Founder of Mimeos Sustainability Consultants. They want to share with you their passion for sustainable living by bringing a clean, renewable source of energy to you. You can drastically reduce your carbon footprint, along with your energy costs by tapping into this bountiful energy provided by the sun. Mimeos specializes in building residential and commercial solar systems, also known as photo-voltaic systems. They are much more than a solar panel company. They are sustainability consultants. Matt Moses, welcome to the show.
Thanks so much for having me.
I just mentioned that you call yourself a sustainability consultant. What does that mean?
First and foremost we consider ourselves educators and advisers. We have a customer-focused mission, and that is to make the solar process exceptional. And that's educational and informative, empowering and affordable. And also we embrace what we call an energy efficiency first approach. And what that means is we'll look for low cost ways to lower your energy consumption first, and only then do we build a solar power system that will generate all of your needs. Doing this saves customers thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars in unneeded solar panel costs. And then finally we are LEED accredited professionals, and LEED is a notable accreditation from the United States Green Building Council which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. So we're a whole lot more than just a solar energy company.
That's excellent. So you help the home owner - or you do businesses as well, right?
Absolutely.
To figure out if they can go off the grid, or not be as much on the grid as we like to say. So when you come out to someone's home, what does that look like? What do you do?
The first thing we're looking for is, there's just three factors that make a property a good candidate for solar. They include the orientation of the roof, the availability of unobstructed roof space, and then finally, the shading factor. Hopefully as little shade as possible. And those are critical factors that impact the production of the system, and the payback of the system, and how good of an investment it is. We're looking to analyze those things, as well as the property's past energy usage, which tells us how many solar panels they would need, and at what cost, to generate that usage.
So we're really lucky that we live in sunny Southern California, I guess, right?
Absolutely, that's for sure.
Other parts of the country that get a lot of snow or rain or whatever may not get as much of a benefit as we do here in Southern California.
Yes, solar is our resource in California, absolutely.
Now you actually have solar on your own property, right?
I do. I was a relatively early adopter. My system was installed in 2006.
Has that saved you money in the long run? What do your utility bills look like?
It has. I actually have not had an electricity bill in recent memory. I've been generating all of my energy needs for greater than seven years, and I've realized the truly maintenance-free aspect of solar. I've never had really any down time other than an occasional rinsing of the panels.
A little wiping. You probably don't want to use Windex, right?
I could but [chuckles] it's pretty grimy so you need a good garden hose and some Simple Green, probably.
That's funny, wow. I'm sure if you're listening you're thinking, I would love to not be paying an electric bill. That's a fantastic-- I hear a lot of stories from a lot of different people about scams and things that have happened. So let's just talk about the elephant in the room. What is that all about?
To be honest the inspiration for starting my company in 2007 came from my own experience going solar on my home. I was just really shocked at the fact that I couldn't really get a solar professional to show up at my house at all for an appointment, let alone be late. Sometimes I'd hear from them a week later, and also they just couldn't provide me with any information. They couldn't tell me what the process was. They couldn't tell me how a tax credit or a utility rebate worked. So I was like, "I'm going to create a company that makes this process wildly more informative." But I'll be honest, seven years later, solar has exploded, and it's exploded basically because a myriad of reasons, but affordability has increased. The prices have gone way down. Incentives have remained satisfactory. But, in that time, the service level has not improved. In fact, it's gotten worse. And we have a lot about this industry that's mirroring the subprime mortgage industry.
Oh we know what that was like.
Because solar is a complex process, it's very easy to obfuscate and confuse people, and if those companies aren't getting up on your roof and finding out what your sun exposure is and the orientation of your roof but giving you these quick quotes and they may look too good to be true. And we know what happens when that happens.
It is.
So it's just really important to make sure you're getting a reputable, experienced company. We're lucky that we have review sites now.
Yes, absolutely. In fact, just a side note, I looked before I had you on the show. I got you from another referral, but I also looked online at your referrals and they are fantastic reviews. And those are the types of people that I like bring, you, my listener to talk to. Sorry to interrupt, but keep going.
No, and what's really important again, is get references. Putting a solar power system on your property is not like building a deck. I mean this is a system that's going to be generating power for the rest of our lives. I mean the panels are warranted for 25 years. We expect they'll be making power for 40. I for one, I have never heard from my installer again. It's a little baffling to me because support, and making sure that our customers get the most out of their investment is incredibly important to us. And it should be from any installer that you select. Oftentimes, customers call us - or prospects - and they're at their wits end. They've had all kinds of people knocking at their door, and calling them at night. They want to do solar but they're confused and they just don't feel right about these service providers. That's because most of them don't have any intention of being around for the 10 or the 20 year warranty. They're trying to do it now and get out. So, just make sure you check references, make sure you're working with a reputable company. Information is out there.
And if you want a reputable company, I've got one that you're listening to right now. If you're listening to this right now and wondering if solar might be right for you, then I want to facilitate an introduction to Matt. I know life can get busy. You may be driving right now. You might think, "I'll look at it online when I get home." Then you get home, I know what that's like, there are dishes to do, the kids, whatever. Life gets busy. Don't let this moment get away from you. Don't let being busy keep you from being green and possibly saving you money. So that I can make this introduction, this is what I need for you to do. Just send me a text to my off air number at 310-882-5565. And please be safe about it, don't actually send the text while you're driving, okay? In the text, just enter the word solar - S-O-L-A-R - solar, and when I'm done with the show, I'll make sure that Matt from Mimeos gets your information and contacts you to find out exactly how he may be able to help. And the best part, Matt will schedule a free solar evaluation of your property, and its free, right?
Absolutely.
Here is something you may not know. The industry standard is to just look at your home from a satellite image, and then generate an inaccurate proposal. And then, what happens is that leads to costs that you weren't expecting. But not with Mimeos. What they do is, they actually make a site visit to every home or business, and then they take correct measurements and sun readings, and they also want to be certain that the electrical system you currently have can accommodate the solar panel system without needing to be upgraded, that could be a big surprise right there. So these are all surprises that come up with other solar companies, but not with Mimeos. They figure out all the stuff out upfront and the best part, it's free. You'll get a free evaluation to find out if solar is right for you, and I also want to assure you that Matt is not a high pressure sales guy. I actually know of Matt from a very close friend and she had Matt install a system a few years ago, and let me tell you, she does not deal well with high pressure sales techniques or inferior products. So when I asked if she would recommend Matt, she couldn't give me his number fast enough. If you want to find out if solar is right for you, then please text me the word solar to 310-882-5565 and I'll make sure that Matt contacts you for free evaluation. Matt, thank you so much for your insights and expertise about solar and thank you for taking good care of my listeners.
It's been a pleasure. Thanks so much Todd.
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