Fun Fact:  A traditional New Year’s Eve religious service, “Watch Night” is observed to give thanks for life’s blessings and pray for divine favor in the coming year.  “Watch Night” was especially significant among African Americans in 1862, as President Lincoln vowed to end slavery with the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.

Wherever you happen to be, New Year’s marks a time for change, a time for making resolutions and a revival of hope.  Make a life changing resolution; Visit a Capitol Lighting showroom and work to improve your future illumination.  Rejoice in unbeatable promotional pricing on the year’s finest home lighting and accessories, including shining innovations from Forecast, Hanover Lantern and Thomas Lighting.

That new electric car will surely save you money on gas and make you feel good about doing something good for the environment, but there are some things you must consider. Before you start planning that trip to Paris with all the money you save on gas, you need to figure out how you will keep the car charged. Without a charge, you will need to rely on gas, thus defeating the purpose of your electric car. This is why you need an electrician. Burbank electric car owners can call The Electric Connection for help.

When you purchased your car of if you are in the research phase and trying to figure out what car to buy, you probably heard about the charging stations. There are two main types. The slower charging stations are much less expensive while the others are faster and more expensive. Obviously, the less expensive station has a major benefit and it can be plugged in virtually anywhere. This makes it convenient to charge the car. However, the downside is the time it takes to give the car a full charge.

On the other hand, you have the initial investment of the faster charging system. But, in this case, the car will charge in about 8 hours versus the 16 to 24 hours it takes for the slower system. Because it is a much more powerful electric car charging station, you will need an electrician. Burbank residents will need a dedicated 240-volt outlet to plug the station into. An electrician will need to check the electric panel to make sure there is enough space to support the additional electrical needs. If you would like to learn more about the different electric car charging stations, give The Electric Connection a call. If you have already made the decision to purchase a fast charging station, we can install it for you.

Lighting designers look to nature for organic, eco-friendly and sustainable artistic inspiration. Whether they are planning for interior and exterior lighting installation, a healthy blend of natural elements is always in style.

Bring nature indoors and out and get inspired by shopping nautical inspired lighting designs at Capitol Lighting.   The sea is a wonderful, natural inspiration and Capitol Lighting has a huge selection of nautical lighting from which to choose –over 300 designs and unique accent pieces!

When it comes to nautical lighting, Capitol Lighting offers everything from outdoor wall lighting to kitchen island lights. You don’t have to live by the sea to appreciate the essence of nautical lighting design.  Trend-setting finish options and appealing blue hues incorporated into the latest nautical lighting designs.  These lamps and light fixtures are timeless and classic, and they add a casual charm to both the traditional and modern home.

Whether you are shopping for kitchen island lights, outdoor wall lighting or outdoor pier lights, find hundreds of nautical inspired lighting designs at Capitol Lighting online or in one of our retail showrooms nationwide.

One of the limitations of some grid-tied photovoltaic systems is that the owner will only benefit as long as there is sunlight while the grid is functioning. Otherwise, if there is an outage, they may not even use the energy they are generating from the rooftop. During such times when the grid is disconnected, the owner can neither use the rooftop solar nor export the energy to the grid.

Owners of PV systems without backup functionalities can upgrade by adding AC coupling. This enables them to store energy and use it anytime, including during emergencies and grid outages. The AC coupling converts a simple grid-tied system into a Grid/hybrid or grid interactive system. This provides grid-ties savings whenever the grid is up and running, and off-grid independence, as well as security when there is a utility outage.

The main components of AC coupling include an energy storage system, a grid-interactive inverter/charger, a coupling device and the second panel with additional wiring for the critical loads to supply during outages.

Battery storage enables better power management by providing a number of benefits which include: