Installer spotlight: Treepublic

To Omar Nasser, the sun is sacred.

“I find spiritual significance in the sun,” he stated in a recent conversation with Enphase. “And I genuinely love seeing how meaningful the impact of our work with solar energy can be on people’s lives. It’s a great industry for the soul.”

Omar founded California solar installer Treepublic in 2008 to expand access to reliable renewable energy in local communities. Over the last 14 years, Treepublic has evolved into a well-respected installer known for its superior customer care, top quality equipment, and lasting solutions.

A jack of all trades

Treepublic specializes in highly customized solar and battery projects, and it has built a reputation on its ability to execute residential or commercial projects seamlessly and professionally, no matter the complexity or scale.

“While we’ve completed roughly 3,000 projects in total, so many of them are so complex and involve specialized expertise that the equivalent may be something like 7,000 cookie cutter projects,” Omar explained.

Treepublic’s clients span a diverse range, from coastal ranch and remote cabin homeowners to public agencies, school districts, and large businesses. The company tackles solar-only, solar and battery, and battery-only projects, with more than 500 batteries installed to date. In addition to standard retrofits, Treepublic has also perfected the coordination and expert execution needed for new construction integration.

Treepublic’s expertise hasn’t gone unnoticed: In November, The Los Angeles Times awarded the installer a Best of Southland Award.

Form and function

Core to Treepublic’s ethos is the deep appreciation for high quality products that are beautifully designed and that excel at lasting functionality and effectiveness.

“We take great pride in the work we produce, so we seek out the best of the best equipment,” Omar stated.

He has a special interest in finding “apex” products, which combine “simplicity, functionality, affordability, and beautiful design equipment effectiveness.”

It’s no surprise, then, that Omar was immediately drawn to Enphase microinverters when he first learned of them a decade ago. “First of all, I thought it looked awesome. Great design is often a telltale sign that the product is also well engineered,” he commented. His excitement grew as he learned that Enphase microinverters also enhance a system’s reliability, solar production, and long-term cost-effectiveness. “Microinverters can serve each panel independently, which alleviates shading issues and eliminates a single point of failure: If a panel goes down, the rest of the system is not affected,” He asserted. “Plus, microinverters enable a modular system that means smaller incremental costs for expansions.” He added that the 25-year warranty also reassured him that Enphase stood by the quality and longevity of its products.

Leading the pack with IQ8

Today, Omar is excited about Enphase’s recent release of its groundbreaking IQ8 Microinverter, which enables a grid-connected solar array to produce energy during a grid outage. “I love to see innovations like this!” he explained. “It’s so cool to think about how lifechanging the IQ8 could be for families all around the world who don’t have reliable electricity.” Treepublic is leading the way as one of the first installers to use the IQ8 Microinverters in commissioned systems.

The value of reliable energy

While Omar has spent most of his life in Southern California, he and his family lived in a small village in Lebanon during his teenage years. There, he experienced energy insecurity firsthand, with electricity for as little as six hours a day.

“We would celebrate when we had water, electricity, and telephone service all working together at once,” he recalled.

When he returned to California for college, Omar had a newfound appreciation for the value of reliable electricity. Through Treepublic, Omar aimed to provide a service that would give people the peace of mind and freedom of reliable energy.

He fondly remembers one of his favorite Enphase home solar and battery projects because of the customer’s genuine happiness with the completed system. The customer’s house was located in an area prone to grid outages, and having continuous power was very important to the family. Treepublic replaced the home’s malfunctioning backup system with an Enphase Energy System, powered by IQ Batteries and IQ Microinverters, large enough to back up all of the home’s critical devices. Omar’s lasting memory is of the homeowner’s relief and gratitude for the critical power that will support his family for the long-term.

Even after completing thousands of installations, Omar continues to be inspired by the positive impacts that Treepublic’s systems have on its customers’ lives. “So many projects were special because of the people we met and how happy they were with our service,” he said, smiling. “Every time we turn on a system, we get the same gratification. Every time we fire up a battery and see no flickering in the lights – it doesn’t get old.”