Meet Bobby Harris of American Solar Advantage in Chino

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bobby Harris.

Bobby, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
At 28, I started my own business as a consultant engineer providing electrical engineering consulting services for Power Distribution and Renewable Energy Projects.

At 35, I obtained my contractor’s license and expanded my company to include electrical construction in addition to engineering consulting.

At 36, seeing a major void in the solar industry with regards to integrity, quality customer service, detailed engineering, and quality construction, I started my own Solar Photovoltaic company in 2016, American Solar Advantage.

With the goal of ensuring customers are well taken care of with a solar system designed to actually meet their needs, the backbone of our company was founded on engineering and quality installations to help families save money on their electrical bill. The vision was to develop a network marketing division of American Solar Advantage giving everyday people an opportunity to join the fastest growing industry in America and learn how to help families and business save money through solar.

To my knowledge, we are the only black owned solar company, and the only solar company with 100% of our work being done by in-house staff from Sales to engineering, to installation, and the only Solar Company with a network marketing/ Multi-level marketing component offering opportunities for everyday Americans to join our industry and make great passive income while impacting the lives of our customers.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road to where we are today has been anything but smooth. However, it has been very rewarding. Starting a solar company from the ground up with no financial backing and being the sole owner has been challenging. I started this company initially working out of my home as the only employee. Many thought I was crazy for walking away from a high paying respectable career as an Electrical Engineer with the utility to start this business. Starting a small business in general is extremely challenging, however entering into an industry that was already highly saturated and filled with numerous high-profile companies quickly cornering the market was extremely difficult. I knew our “Advantage” at American Solar Advantage had to come from being innovative, relying heavily on technology and internal automation to streamline processes and be very efficient. Although we are considered a construction company, our goal was to run our business like a tech company with emphasis on Project Management and system automation. This allows us to stay lean financially and keep our overhead low.

Also, focusing heavily on our network marketing division has allowed us to grow our sales department more rapidly leading to more customers and impact in our community. The challenge of infusing network marketing into the solar industry was difficult because it had never been done before. Network marketing company has mainly been reserved for product and service-based companies and not for construction companies and in particular solar companies. This trailblazing was difficult because we had no blueprint and no companies to learn from, we had to be innovative and work through all the challenges in real time.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
American Solar Advantage (ASA), is a solar photovoltaic company specializing in the engineering and installation of solar for residential, commercial, and non-profit clients. Founded by a licensed electrical engineering and licensed electrical contractor (only person to my knowledge to hold a state license in both Engineering and construction simultaneously), ASA’s approach to solar is unique in the industry. With a background in Energy and power distribution, our approach is to focus on solar energy and not solar. One of the things that sets us apart is that we dive into the science of solar and how solar panels perform in different environments. With this knowledge, we custom design each of our client’s systems to generate enough electricity to truly aid them in gaining their energy independence resulting in major cost savings for them. Our motto is “they sale solar, while we focus on saving you money”.

With this type of mindset and engineering efficiency, we are known for providing our clients with a quality product, offering the best warranties in the industry, at an affordable cost. What I am most proud of is that we have found a way to be successful while also not taking advantage of people and truly helping them save money right away. In addition, I am very proud of our network marketing division that provides opportunities for everyday Americans to join our company, receive training and knowledge about solar, and empower them to go into their communities and help more families. This is a win-win as we are creating more jobs in our community while helping more families put more money back into their pockets. We don’t view solar as a “cool shiny new object”, we view solar as a means to help people save money and have a better quality of life.

What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was raised in a single parent household in a low-income impoverished housing complex. There weren’t many positive male role-models in my environment. Mainly hardworking single moms. The men around were mostly in and out of prison, involved in gangs, or on drugs. At an early age, my mother, my sister, and I spent a lot of time in church which provided me with an alternative world/view to the negativity in my community. It was there where I interacted with positive black men. Men who were fathers and husbands. I gravitated to this. As a child I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to be or do when “I grew up”, but I always knew that I didn’t want to end up like the men in my environment. I knew education had to be my “way out”. So even though I couldn’t control where I lived, those surrounding me, I knew I could control the choices I made and the effort I put into my education. This fueled me to excel in school which led to a full academic scholarship to UCR. When I started college, I didn’t even know what an Engineer was. LOL. I always knew I excelled in math and science in grade school, but didn’t know I could make this a career. I started school as a business major, and after an encounter with an engineering student in the dorm cafeteria, I quickly changed my major to engineering.

Growing up, I was very outgoing. Voted “most talkative” in Jr. High. I loved sports! The kids in my community and I played sports religiously. Not able to afford being in organized sports, we played, basketball, football, baseball, etc. in our housing complex everyday, which in a way kept our tight knit group close and off the streets. I also loved music and art. I recall in the 3rd grade entering a book of poetry into the school’s science fair and winning second place while most of the other students entered homemade volcanos and other elaborate science projects.

In high school, I excelled in music and theater. I was a pretty well rounded kid. Good at math and science with a love for music and theater. I hung with the “cool guys” and athletes at school, but had all Advanced Placement classes with “the nerds” as my classmates. Looking back, this is where I developed my ability to talk to anyone. I feel comfortable interacting with Top Execs discussing economics and politics as much as I do interacting with high school drop outs or ex-cons that have more of a “street life”. I think if I had to narrow down my best quality, I would say that it is my comfortably in any environment, being able to interact with anyone, and not considering myself better that anyone or less important.

Contact Info:

• Address: 14125 Telephone Ave #2
  Chino, CA 91710
• Website: www.americansolaradvantage.com
• Phone: 877-765-2388
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/americansolaradvantage/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/americansolaradvantage/?ref=bookmarks

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.