Solar Monkey and Rainbow Sandals Announce Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony to Celebrate Rainbow Sandals Transition to Solar Energy

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Solar Monkey and Rainbow Sandals are pleased to announce a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the recently completed installation of a 245.7 kW roof mounted solar energy system at Rainbow Sandals Corporate Headquarters. The ceremony will take place onsite at 900 Calle Negocio, San Clemente, California at 10:30 a.m. on August 31, 2010.

“Rainbow provides a great example for businesses that want to make a change in how they impact the environment. Not only was this smart for reducing their carbon footprint it was also smart for their pocket book!”

Jay “Sparky” Longley, President of Rainbow Sandals, understood that to truly make a difference starts with how a business operates. Therefore, he chose to take his business solar last year. Aside from the fact that this was truly an environmental decision, Rainbow Sandals quickly found that the solar energy project was also an economical investment. As a business, Rainbow Sandals qualified for a 30% Federal Tax Grant for the project and also qualified for SDG&E’s production based incentive to help subsidize the $1.2M they had to pay out of pocket in order to construct the solar energy system.

The completed system is poised to offset nearly 90% of the annual electricity usage at the Rainbow Sandals corporate headquarters. All that power is coming from 1,170 solar panels installed by Solar Monkey on the roof of the Rainbow Sandals building. After saving nearly $50k a year in reduced operating expenses, they will receive their initial investment back in roughly 5 years.

According to Jay “Sparky” Longley, “Solar Monkey provided us with outstanding service from our first meeting, throughout the entire construction of the project. They were extremely flexible during installation of the project and understood that we needed to continue operations as normal with minimal interruption to our business. We are thrilled with how the project worked out and are proud to be able to invest in something that is great for our business and the environment.”

Matthew McCullough, CEO of Solar Monkey, said, “Rainbow provides a great example for businesses that want to make a change in how they impact the environment. Not only was this smart for reducing their carbon footprint it was also smart for their pocket book!”

The public is invited on Tuesday August 31^st to help us inaugurate Rainbow Sandals transition to Solar Energy. Jim Dahl, Mayor of San Clemente, is scheduled to be on hand to offer a few remarks regarding Rainbow Sandals and to assist in the ribbon-cutting. Other notable attendees include staff from both Senator Wyland’s and Congressman Ken Calvert’s offices, SDG&E, Kyocera Solar, California Center for Sustainable Energy, and PV Powered. All local residents and businesses are welcome to attend. Ceremonies will commence at 10:30 a.m.

About Solar Monkey

Solar Monkey is a full-service, one-stop provider of solar system integration and solar power generation services. The Company provides the development, design and engineering, procurement, construction and installation, financing, and operation and maintenance of commercial-scale solar power generation facilities to commercial, industrial, educational, and government customers.

In addition to solar system integration and power generation, the Company has expanded into other complementary service lines that include energy management systems, energy efficiency consulting, lighting and LEED certification. The Company believes that these services are a natural extension of its solar and engineering capabilities and they allow the Company to solidify customer relationships and generate additional recurring revenues.

Information on Solar Monkey and the ways in which Solar Monkey helps to add value to its clients is available at www.solarmonkey.net.

About Rainbow Sandals

Rainbow Sandals Inc. was established in 1974 in Laguna Beach, California by Jay "Sparky" Longley and is currently based out of San Clemente, California. The company specializes in men's and women's leather, hemp, and rubber flip-flops.

Rainbow Sandals has grown to become one of the top three best-selling brands of sandals in the United States. Rainbows are generally regarded as high-end flip-flops (as opposed to ordinary foam rubber ones) due to their construction with leather and long lasting life. Rainbow Sandals are available at department and specialty stores nationwide, the original factory store in San Clemente, and two company-owned retail stores in New York City and Los Angeles.

Rainbow Sandals offers many different types of footwear, clothing and accessories. The product offerings have also increased from just sandals to include Shoes and Boots. Leather is not the only material they have available. For the environmentally minded they also provide a line of hemp products. For those that are opposed to natural animal hides they offer synthetic materials as an alternative. Recently Rainbow has begun to offer custom products for multiple universities across the nation.

Information on Rainbow Sandals and their available products are available at www.rainbowsandals.com.