Get yourself a little bit of RSOL for $10

More on the IPO from Real Goods Solar. The company filed some docs with the Securities and Exchange Commission about its floatation and has revealed (drum roll please!) that it will be putting 5,000,000 shares up for grabs at a price of between $10 and $12 a share.

It’s also sticking with the ticker RSOL. Really. Yes, the company wants to be known as an RSOL for the rest of its days.

And what will it do with all the lovely cash? Greenbang would advocate rolling around naked in $100 bills shouting “I’m rich! Rich beyond my wildest dreams!” and then diving into a bath of champagne poured by tame killer whales into the tub in the back of one of a fleet of bath-equipped Jaguars. But that would be somewhat silly.

Instead, this is what Real Goods will do in its prospectus. By the look of the last point, it’s also planning a turn in the Miss America pageant:

Enhance and leverage the Real Goods brand name to increase our market presence. We intend to enhance and leverage the Real Goods brand name, which we believe is the strongest name in the residential solar energy market, and our reputation for outstanding customer service to continue to win business in existing markets and to expand into new markets in which our competitors have little or no brand recognition.

Expand into markets in which legislation and government incentives are favorable for solar energy. We plan to expand the geographic scope of our business as jurisdictions adopt new or improve existing incentive programs that enhance the economics of solar energy systems for a broader customer base. In addition to the $3.4 billion CSI, 29 states, including Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey and New York, have adopted legislation and incentives favorable to solar energy, and other states are considering adopting such legislation and incentives.

Consolidate the fragmented U.S. solar energy system installer market. The U.S. solar energy system installer market remains highly fragmented, with over 300 independent installers or integrators in California alone. We intend to continue our consolidation activities in order to penetrate new markets, expand our business and further enhance our national brand and leverage our national marketing programs. We plan to create economies of scale through our consolidation activities in order to increase our operating efficiencies, with a goal of improving our margins and profitability.

Expand our “community of customers” to enhance revenue and lower our customer acquisition costs. We intend to leverage the reputation for authenticity associated with our Real Goods brand to expand our “community of customers.” We believe these customers care deeply about solar energy and a renewable energy lifestyle and view us as the premier provider of products, services and support to enable this lifestyle. In addition to our solar energy systems, we plan to cross-market our wide array of energy-saving and carbon footprint-reducing products and services, which we believe will enhance our revenue and create additional customer loyalty. We also intend to leverage our customer base to continue to provide us with new leads and referrals, which, in conjunction with our cross-marketing efforts, should allow us to continue to lower our customer acquisition costs.

Make a difference in the world. We intend to promote our solar energy systems and sustainable living resources as a way for individuals and communities to reduce their carbon footprint, eliminate U.S. dependence on foreign and fossil fuel-based energy sources and foster a culture of respect for the Earth and its natural resources for the benefit of future generations. We estimate the energy savings resulting from our products that were purchased in the 1990s will prevent the production of over one billion pounds of carbon dioxide over the life of those products, which is the equivalent of removing approximately 83,000 passenger vehicles from use for one year. We anticipate that products that we expect to sell through 2010 will prevent an additional one billion pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere. We calculated this energy savings by estimating how many kilowatt-hours were saved over the life of these products by their use, and estimating that U.S. power plants generate an average of 1.5 pounds of carbon dioxide in producing 1 kilowatt of electricity. For example, a 15 watt compact fluorescent light bulb saves 45 watts per hour and lasts 10,000 hours and therefore saves 450 kilowatts and prevents the generation of 675 pounds of carbon dioxide over its product life.