Living What They Sell

Most of our customer stories focus on do-it-yourselfers and their personal renewable energy projects. However, some of our customers here at AltE are businesses devoted to bringing RE to others. Recently, I had the opportunity to talk with James Hasselbeck, Solar Product Manager at Waterline Alternative Energies. They keep AltE busy with orders for solar panels, inverters, mid- clamps, and everything in between. They have even attended some of the AltE U courses. He let me in on what the company has been up to recently.

Waterline Alternative Energies, a division of Waterline Industries, is located in a coastal Southern New Hampshire town called Seabrook.  In recent years, Ralph Dumke, founder and president of Waterline Industries, noticed growing demand for renewable energy from his customers. The company specializes in the construction of water and wastewater treatment facilities throughout New England. In 2008, he formed Waterline Alternative Energies.

Waterline Alternative Energies specializes in Wind, Solar, and Hydroelectric technologies for Residential, Commercial and Municipal customers. James says stimulus money from the government has increased awareness and attention among their customers. “We are seeing more and more plants with solar panels designed in right from the beginning,” James says. Waterline has had the opportunity to manage numerous exciting projects. They built New England’s first desalination plant to help alleviate a water shortage in Swansea, MA. They headed a Co-Mag Phosphorus Reduction System in Concord, MA, the first installation of its kind in the world, upgrading and providing rehabilitation to the Concord Wastewater Facility. They are installing an 850kW hydroelectric turbine in Holyoke, MA, and recently completed 1.65 MW Wind Turbine Foundation in Templeton, MA, and a 2.5 kW Wind Turbine Installation for a Volkswagen dealership in Greenland, NH. They just began construction of the largest PV solar array in the state of New Hampshire, 167 KW for the city of North Conway. Waterline is committed to sustainable operations and lowering utility costs now that they have installed a 2.6kW pole mounted solar array at their corporate office in Seabrook, NH.This company is truly living what they sell.

James Hasselbeck works on design, purchasing, installation, and business development of the solar portion of Waterline Alternative Energies. Before coming on board with Waterline, James was a writer for Energy Today Magazine. After writing so much about renewable energy, he found he wanted more. “I got sick of just hearing about these great things. I didn't want to write about it, I wanted to actually be doing it,” He says. Waterline is located in the same town Hasselbeck lives in. He loves the new work he is doing. “There is no typical day in our industry. It’s a ton of fun,” He explains. “Some days you are in the office doing system design and making phone calls. Other days you are in the field doing site surveys and installations.”  He points out that there is a lot of work that goes on “behind the curtain” with any RE system.

James first worked with AltE during his career as a writer, when he wrote a story on the company in its early days. When he became involved with Waterline, he remembered AltE and began working with Wholesale Dealer Sales Rep Peter Merrill. The AltE U classes, accredited by IREC, were also of interest to James. “Waterline definitely wanted to have people that were trained with accredited classes before we made a big push into this industry." James and one of the master electricians with Waterline attended PV 301-303. These three courses cover basics in solar and site assessment all the way up through advanced PV design and installation. “We were there for two weeks straight,” James says, “They kept the classes informative and interesting. We were able to do some installations. We were able to touch and feel the products. It kept us interested and occupied for two weeks and that’s not an easy task.” Since taking the courses at AltE U, Waterline has completed residential, commercial, and municipal installations. James reports that everything is working perfectly and the customers are thrilled.

To do their part in educating others about renewable energy, Waterline does a great deal of outreach. They have given a series of talks and presentations, commonly referred to as Renewable Energy 101 to businesses, residents, and educators alike. The response to these outreach programs has been great.

Since entering into the world of renewable energy, Waterline is working hard to meet the growing demand for wind, solar, and hydroelectric power from its customers.  We look forward to hearing more about the exciting projects they tackle in the future!