Bellmore solar pioneer is Chamber's businessman of the year

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Dan Sabia, a former major with the U.S. Army National Guard, combed the wreckage of the World Trade Center for traces of chemical weaponry. The devastation, he said, made him think about his country’s place in the world and— as an environmental scientist — his own.

“Here we are, fighting for oil and burning fossil fuels,” he recalled thinking, “[when] the sun is naturally turning the meter back.”

Sabia said he has been fascinated by solar energy since he began studying environmental science at C.W. Post, now known as LIU Post, in the 1970s. In 2001, he installed 10-kilowatt solar panels on his house — making his among the early homes on Long Island to take advantage of solar energy.

The 66-year-old lifelong Bellmore resident now runs Built Well Solar, a solar energy company, for which he was recognized as Bellmore’s Businessperson of the Year at the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce on Oct. 20.

“It’s an honor to have the title,” Sabia said, adding that his family has been steeped in Bellmore’s history, beginning with his father, a former commissioner of the North Bellmore Fire Department who lived in the community from 1914 until his death in 2000.

In the years after the attacks, Sabia began to explore his passion. In 2002, he took courses in photovoltaics at the Florida State Solar Institute and the Solar Energy Center of Farmingdale State University. There he learned more about the economic and environmental conditions that make Long Island the perfect geographic candidate for solar energy.

As the Island grows, he explained, the demand for energy rises. With no local nuclear power plant, however, electric rates have soared. In 2001, to drive down costs, the Long Island Power Authority offered its customers a $60,000 rebate if they installed solar panels on their homes.

After Sabia took advantage of the reimbursement, he helped friends and neighbors put solar panels on their homes as well and founded Built Well Solar later that year. Then, in 2003, he installed a large-scale solar energy system on the buildings of the Carle Place School District, where he worked as facilities director for 25 years.

Since then, his company has helped five other school districts convert to solar energy, including the North Bellmore School District and hundreds of households in Bellmore.

While Sabia’s business was in its infancy, he said, he noticed more solar energy companies emerging around Long Island. He said that they came to Long Island because of its economic and environmental conditions. However, he said, some business owners set up shop without any in-depth knowledge of clean energy. “I’ve seen a lot of companies come into the industry,” he said. “But they try to grow too fast and then go out of business.”

Sabia’s business was recognized as the Bethpage Best of Long Island Best Solar Energy Company for four consecutive years, beginning in 2009. When Built Well Solar reached its 10th anniversary, the Chamber of Commerce of the Bellmores held a ribbon cutting in its honor. This year, the company was named the 333rd best solar energy company among the Top 500 Solar Contractors by Solar Power World magazine.

“Every state has set goals for where they want to be down the line,” Sabia said, referring to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s announcement in August that New York’s goal is to require 50 percent of the state’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030.

Built Well Solar’s goal, Sabia said, “is to help our community.”