We had the good fortune of connecting with Paul Shmotolokha and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Paul, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
Social impact is intertwined with our business by virtue of our working directly with many NGO’s to help them help communities devastated by disasters. Extreme weather events are increasing year by year and communities need help to re-build and we help them recover and build back greener by deploying our mobile solar plus battery solutions. During Hurricane Ida, many communities could not source gasoline so our NGO partners and I personally stepped in and brought in our mobile solar solutions. They were very appreciative of the noise reduction and the elimination of the need to source, store and use dangerous fuels. Our aim is to replace the use of gasoline powered portable generators which per kilowatt hour produced are the worst carbon emitters as well. In the past year we responded to the great Texas Chill, California and Colorado wildfires, Hurricane Ida and the Kentucky tornadoes. . We also supported the Arizona based Veterans Medical Leadership Council’s campaign to help disabled or diabetic Navajo Nation Veterans who don’t have access to the electrical grid by providing the VMLC with turnkey off-grid solar powered refrigerator systems and installation support. I personally volunteered my time in both Louisiana and on the Navajo Nation to help fellow veterans as I am a US Army veteran myself. Our team went out to some pretty remote areas and the best part was meeting these amazingly proud and resilient Vietnam War veterans as they were the ones who trained me when I was in the service. So to sum it up, we help with emergency power, with intermediate power when isolated areas face longer term grid down situations and we enable NGO’s to do their amazing work by supporting their operating bases and personnel after disasters with quick to deploy renewable solutions. Lee Feliciano, our COO, also established the “second life solar initiative” with ASU’s photovoltaic laboratory. They donate their panels to us when they are done testing them and we find users for them and therefore avoid them going to the dump. We do that with other parties as well.

What should our readers know about your business?
New Use Energy designs and manufactures mobile solar solutions. I have a long career in cable television then in technology mainly in back up power for telecommunications and solar. Some of it was corporate and some of it was entrepreneurial. I had some great mentors. NUE is a group of like-minded and equally experienced individuals who are passionate about making great mobile solar solutions which in turn, we found, make solar more affordable and easier to access for many. We recognized that many people and businesses would like to use solar but either they don’t know how or they can’t afford fancy brand name solar plus battery systems starting at $30,000. We also love making America more resilient. We do that by providing our customers with solar first solutions that regenerate effectively and can be used day in, day out for weeks on end. We focus on the safest lithium storage technology (LiFePO4) and premium components from the best cell manufacturers in the world. And then we put them on wheels. Recently we started pushing a shift to high capacity solar trailers using lightweight glassless, frameless monocrystaline panels. Back to making America more resilient. I think most Americans understand that the grid is very vulnerable but so essential to our lives. Everyone needs some sort of back up power and we believe solar plus batteries is the best. One can add portable generators to that to have more back up but we make that secondary. One of the coolest things we did this year was power a music concert, the Louisiana Sunshine Fest, all with solar. Grammy award winners the Lost Bayou Ramblers played the main stage which we powered with our Arizona made solar trailer, then other bands played smaller stages powered by our TEMPE manufactured Sunkit and the DJ used our ultra portable professional grade PowerPacs

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
In the city, I love the area around the ASU campus. The restaurants are so much fun, there is a vibe from all the talented young persons out and about, and you get to see those super cool delivery robots zooming about as well. Tennis courts and golf courses are my favorite activity destinations especially in the cool winter months. But Arizona to me is about these amazing spots around the state. The Rim, Sedona, hiking trails and skiing, What an amazing place for all of us to share and preserve.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
The Footprint Project, Direct Relief, Louisiana Solar Fund and the Veterans Medical Leadership Council

Website: www.newuseenergy.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newuseenergy/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/51586162

Facebook: https://www.faceook.com/search/top?q=new%20use%20energy

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoLDnuEOc3CgRurTjyy0gag

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