Responding to consumer demand and a booming residential solar market in New England, Akeena Solar has announced it will expand its operations into Connecticut. The new location at 435 Boston Post Road, Milford, Conn., is the tenth office opened by Akeena Solar and will also serve as the new base of operations for solar installations in New York and New Jersey.

The company has already completed more than 40 installations in Connecticut, and due to the recent passage of new rebates in the state and rising electricity costs, the demand for Akeena Solar's award-winning beautifully designed, high performance Andalay panels is rapidly growing.

"The thriving New England solar market is proving that California isn't the only state where it makes sense to go solar. Connecticut and the tri-state area are poised to become one of the major adopters of solar power in the nation," said Barry Cinnamon, CEO of Akeena Solar.

"Connecticut, like many areas around the country, has been hit with skyrocketing energy costs at home and at the pump. We look forward to helping homeowners go solar and bring down those costs with clean, renewable solar power."

Beyond the obvious financial and environmental advantages of switching to solar, Akeena's Andalay solar power systems offers homeowners a sleek, attractive panel that has resonated with thousands of California homeowners concerned with putting bulky, ordinary solar panels on their roofs.

Based on Akeena's years of installation experience, the Andalay solar power systems streamline the installation processes by incorporating the external racking and electrical wiring into the panels themselves.

This breakthrough design eliminates 70 percent of the parts and reduces 25 percent of rooftop penetrations necessary in the installation of ordinary rack-mounted system.

In addition, Andalay averts installation complexities and protects electrical wires from weather exposure - both deficiencies of ordinary systems that affect the overall performance over its 25-year life. Andalay was recently honored with an Innovative Home Technology Award from TecHome Builder Magazine.

"Concerns over skyrocketing electricity bills and the environment have driven more homeowners to seek solar power solutions," said Darren Bronen, Akeena Solar's regional manager for the Connecticut office. "We are excited to bring homeowners reliable, clean and aesthetically pleasing solar power."