Sunrun, a residential solar company, opened a new solar design engineering center in Irvine, California, where customized system designs are created for customers across the country.

According to company officials, over the course of 2015, the design center will generate at least 50 permanent jobs in the Irvine community, ranging from system designers to technical support.

"There is increasing consumer demand for home solar as more Americans look for cleaner and more affordable energy solutions," said Ethan Miller, Senior Vice President of Operations at Sunrun. "I'm excited to celebrate the opening of our new facility. It demonstrates Sunrun's focus on simplifying the process of going solar, which ultimately leads to a better customer experience."

The Irvine facility will be an important resource for meeting consumer demand for solar, company officials said. “Once a homeowner decides to use solar power for their home, Sunrun collects their data and sends it to the design center. Sunrun design consultants help the homeowner get the most value from solar power with Sunrun BrightPath, the industry's first end-to-end automated software platform for managing home solar projects…”

Mayor Steven Choi said, "I am glad Sunrun has chosen Irvine for its Design Center. We strive to attract companies that are leading the way into the future."