Archive for the ‘Social Responsibility’ Category

One Block Off the Grid, the nation’s largest community solar purchasing program, selected groSolar for its newest solar San Francisco campaign, as well as for its inaugural solar San Diego effort. 1BOG aggregates communities to bargain collectively for discounts from solar installers in the area, reducing the upfront cost of installation and providing solar education for everyone involved. groSolar was chosen from among the largest installers in the nation to run these campaigns after a rigorous bidding process, further demonstrating gro’s commitment to spreading as much solar to as many roofs as possible. In partnership with 1BOG, groSolar hopes to be able to dramatically increase the adoption of residential solar in these markets, and continue to lead the way to energy independence.

This is a crazy idea. And I wish I was not here. But sometimes the only sane alternative is to be crazy, and sometimes we have things we NEED to get done.

The steps outlined here are all necessary, fundamental, and critical to business growth. groSolar is a fantastic example of what our economic system can do and repeat. Unfortunately, creating 20, even 100 companies like groSolar does not solve our problem. What we need is the integration of all the ideas presented here and more, across the economy. We need a realization that together, as community in the broadest sense of the word, not only do we all thrive, it’s actually the only way we can survive. As I said above, the confluence of events that brings us here today is no less than the need to reorder our economy, restructure the biggest industry in the world (energy), retrain a huge percentage of our workforce, and save our planet.

I’ve said before that I’m an evolutionary technology person (there is no silver bullet), and a revolutionary business person. Of course, I’m evolutionary in a rapidly changing technology driven world, and I’m revolutionary in a market-driven economy. But listen to where we need to go. I warn you that I am not an economist, or even a learned student of business. I am a person operating in this environment, I sometimes feel thrust in from the outside. This perspective has often been useful, as well as frustrating, (some would say dangerous), but it is my perspective on where we need to go. Read the rest of this entry »

Below are some comments from a session I moderated at PV America in Philadelphia on June 9:

The confluence of events that has brought us here today is staggering.

Once upon a time, a husband and wife decided to leave Chicago and return to Vermont to “simplify” their lives, and follow their passion to create a small solar energy company. Then they come to understand the magnitude of climate change, and this couple decides they should work on solving it. (Naiveté has always been a strong suit). And so groSolar began.

Business school case studies will be written about this time in the solar industry, and the business transformations that occurred. Read the rest of this entry »

This past winter as the snow was flying in Vermont and the wind was howling, we installed a 58 kW solar array at Farm-Way in Bradford, VT. By December Farm-Way was making approximately 43% of their electrical needs with their new solar system. Farm-Way hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate their solar installation and Vermont Governor Jim Douglas was on hand to speak and cut the ribbon. This system saves approximately 76,000 pounds of carbon dioxide annually, equivalent to 11 passenger cars off the road or planting 1500 tree seedlings and growing them for 10 years. Not only is Farm-Way making clean solar electricity but they are becoming more energy efficient overall thus utilizing the solar power they are creating to supply the majority of their electrical needs. You can see a live stream of their solar system here.

I spent Monday afternoon, for the first time in a long time, on one of our solar installation crews working on a solar energy project in Vermont. And it was an honor to be there for several reasons. First, it’s an honor that the crew still let’s me work with them. They are a great group of people, working through adversity (also called rain), continually smiling. Of course, they let the new guy (me) do the caulking, so my hands will bear the marks of my work for a while (SikaFlex is good stuff. Does NOT come off). This crew was Amos and Hal on the roof with me, Andy at the inverter, and Dan Kinney, (the original Dan of our 4) running the show. Doc managed the logistics, and of course the rest of the groSolar team supported in their standard, but excellent, ways.

Second reason that this was an honor, is the project is for an Extreme Makeover: Home Edition house. The Vitale family has a great and touching story, which you can read more about here, and at the McKernon Group web site, where you can also donate to the family. The entire house is being built in less than a week, 106 hours to be precise, around the clock, through all kinds of weather. I was on site Friday and it was still being cleared of the former house. Today, the house was, well, a house. Not done, but more complete than many I’ve seen that are being lived in! So being involved in providing clean, renewable solar power to this deserving family is a great feeling, and great that groSolar can do it. It’s a theme that runs through a lot that we do. Our page on Social Responsibility tells a lot of what we do, including our work with Habitat for Humanity.

groSolar donated all the equipment and installation labor for the entire solar power system, except for the inverter, which was donated by our new partner, PV Powered.

And third, well, I cannot tell you the third reason it was an honor to be on site, as I’m not allowed to give away story line. (No, I don’t think I’m on camera.) So you will just have to see the show in January (Sundays at 8/7c) to find out what makes us proud to be part of this particular Extreme Makeover.

So Tuesday I will ache. It takes different muscles to stand at an angle on a roof for a few hours. But I’ll feel good and groSolar will feel good, about making a difference in a small way, as we continue making a difference in the larger world.