Bill O'Reilly Locates a Solar Installer

Bill O’Reilly Locates a Solar Installer

O’Reilly makes a heroic effort to locate a solar installer on Long Island. A price quote is forthcoming.

Eric Wesoff November 22, 2011

Eric Wesoff

Editor-at-Large
Greentech Media

Eric Wesoff is Editor-at-Large at Greentech Media. Prior to joining GTM, Eric Wesoff founded Sage Marketing Partners in 2000 to provide sales and marketing-consulting services to venture-capital firms and their portfolio companies in the alternative energy and telecommunications sectors. Mr. Wesoff has become a well-known, respected authority and speaker in these fields.

His expertise covers solar power, fuel cells, biofuels and advanced batteries. His strengths are in market research and analysis, business development and due diligence for investors. He frequently consults for energy startups and Silicon Valley's premier venture capitalists.

I am thankful this Thanksgiving that Bill O'Reilly of the Fox News show The Factor has located a reputable solar installer on Long Island. It couldn't have been that hard, as there are scores of reputable solar installers near O'Reilly's Manhasset home.

As we reported yesterday, the television personality showed some eagerness to install solar or wind on the roof of his home this winter during the November 15th edition of The Factor. O'Reilly claimed that he'd go solar if only he could find somewhere it was available. He said, "I want to buy solar or wind for my house this winter. Can you tell me where to do that? There's nowhere, no one."

That's just wrong.

Vote Solar took the opportunity on Friday to put out a quick call for New York solar companies interested in helping Mr. O'Reilly go solar, and by the end of this weekend, 16 companies and two trade associations representing dozens more solar installers had signed on to the cause.

Right before O'Reilly was about to take down Tesla's electric car on the most recent episode of his show, O'Reilly talked about "all these [solar] crazy people" that had contacted him. He was in touch with "a legitimate guy" on Long Island who will provide a quote to Papa Bear.

O'Reilly said he doesn't "want to be dependent on OPEC," which doesn't exactly vouch for mastery of the energy topic -- unless he owns a battery electric vehicle or lives on an island in Hawaii. We will report on Mr. O'Reily's further adventures in solar as the misinformation continues to flow.

In the event that O'Reilly becomes a solar convert, perhaps SolarCity, SunRun, Sungevity, Clean Power Finance, or GroSolar might sign him up as a celebrity spokesman.

Video from Media Matters