As published in the Dal Engineering Magazine.

Long time friends and ambitious Dal engineering grads Joshua Green (BEng’13), Co-Founder and President, and Riccardo Ciccarelli (BEng’13), Co-Founder, have joined forces to create Empowered Homes, a solar energy company.

“Our idea to create a solar panel business stemmed from my senior design project that I did in my final year of mechanical engineering, says Green. The summer after graduation Riccardo and me set out to develop the project even further. We successfully installed four panels on my Dad’s house in Nfld., and In January 2014, we decided to turn our venture into a full-time business.” Green explains.

Green continues, “At Empowered Homes we provide our clients with a Solar Thermal Heating System. Our panels serve as a supplementary heating system and provide an innovative way to reduce the amount of energy consumed at the residential level, specifically for space and water heating. The system consists of 2-4 solar thermal air collectors, depending on the size of the home, which offer a sustainable way to lower residential utility bills.”

Based out of Green’s hometown St. John’s, the ambitious founders of Empowered Homes have plans to expand throughout Canada as the business grows. Green and Ciccarelli didn’t waste any time getting started. They wanted to jump in and launch their company right away. Fortunately for the pair, they had a great support system to help them along.

“We’re very lucky in that we had a lot of support from both of our families to help us get started. Josh’s Dad especially believed in us and helped us out in a really big way. He funded the $8,000 to let us put up the four test panels on his newly-built home. That helped us out immensely and allowed us to perfect the product we have now,“ explains Ciccarelli.

Green and Ciccarelli credit their engineering education in teaching them how to collaborate with others. They both share a love of coming up with a concept, finding out it doesn’t work and coming up with a solution to fix the problem. Green deals with the thermo dynamics, while Ciccarelli handles the structural side of things.

“Everyday we’re doing something to grow this business. It’s fun and challenging at the same time. In 2014 we submitted our solar panels to the Scotia Bank Eco Living Awards National Contest, we were selected as one of the national top 3 in the entrepreneur category. The judges were really impressed with what we were doing, and even though we didn’t end up winning, the experience itself was extremely rewarding,” shares Green.

“You really get the team aspect in engineering and you learn to utilize your team’s specific skills set. For example, I think Josh and I complement each other well. Josh is a big vision guy, and I’m a little more conservative, and that’s been a good balance for our business. For us, being recognized in the entrepreneur category of the contest really solidified that we’ve started something worthwhile. We’re excited and hopeful for a bright future for Empowered Homes,” says Ciccarelli.

To help homeowners lower their energy bills through energy efficiency and renewable energy production.