Residential solar power sounds great, especially with the rising costs of “dirty electrical” power. But solar is still prohibitively expensive for most people. Enter 1 Block Off The Grid, a community-based purchasing program aimed at promoting widespread adoption of residential “clean tech” energy by addressing the principal barriers, cost and complexity. To address issues of cost, 1BOG aggregates large numbers of buyers, leveraging a group’s bargaining power to negotiate large discounts for members, and streamlining the sales process for vendors. To address issues of complexity, 1BOG helps buyers wade through the many considerations, such as how to apply for local energy rebates, how many panels are necessary and what technologies are available in their area.

1BOG started as a consumer-based initiative in San Francisco and rapidly became the largest group purchasing program for green products in the country. After a successful pilot program in San Francisco, 1BOG was purchased by Virgance, a company that scales new activism ideas. Virgance has now launched 1BOG programs in 20 cities, including Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Seattle and Miami.

1BOG is quick to point out they don’t mean literally off-the-grid, nor do they mean literally a city block. According to the site, “even homes with solar power remain connected to the grid. We want to help enough of our neighbors move to solar to add up to the electricity demands of a typical city block. We estimate an average block to require a total of 200 KW of solar energy production - so that’s our goal! If that group of houses happen to be on the same block, even better!” For the list of cities and more info, check out 1BOG.