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. More examples:

• An entrepreneurial solar enthusiast transitions his solar company into a recycling company when solar tax credits are unwisely rescinded, and then after that success becomes a venture capitalist in order to promote his ideals before his wallet. History will look back on Dave Kirkpatrick as a visionary.
• A woman working to bring social justice through economic and non-economic motivations that help all people, creating a ‘contingency of the whole’ instead of combatants of the parts. Majorca Carter is an inspiring leader.
• Nicholas Parker, Cleantech Group – Parker pioneered the first sustainability-driven private equity fund, participated in one for the first solar initial public offerings, and introduced the clean investment concept to the business community.

Why are we all doing this? Aren’t there easier ways to make money? Aren’t there better ways to have a simple life? (We blew that one!) Sure there are. But is there any more important task and mission at hand than the solution of climate change? While I don’t sleep much as it is, I could not sleep at all if I thought we were not bringing our personal best to the fight and solution.

Of course, that’s not the only reason we’re here. 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. Because as Al Gore said so well almost a year ago, “We’re borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that’s got to change.” That’s why we’re doing this, that’s why we’re here.

And this is why the good Lord gave us caffeine.

Each of these tasks is fundamentally impossible given our current economic structures. Fortunately, they are all occurring at once, creating a synergy whereby they collectively present an opportunity for success that does not exist with each item individually. We find ourselves in a situation where we must succeed at them all, or fail completely.

• Without the failure of our economy, we would not have so many workers, at all levels, available to retrain and repurpose.
• Without the climate crisis, we would not have a large enough problem to solve. And that is what our economy is really good at, solving large problems.
• Unless oil and other traditional fossil energy sources were peaking in capacity, soon to decline sharply, and coming from increasingly insecure and unfriendly parts of the world, we would not have the strong cost and continuity incentives to change our energy industry
• Unless all of these were happening simultaneously, we would not have sufficient motivations to solve the climate crisis. As it is, we still need to leverage and reinforce these motivations to create the level of change we need.

As an example of what we need to do, the groSolar story is interesting. What groSolar has done to-date is to create:

• The largest 100% US owned solar distribution company.
• The 4th largest residential solar installation company in the US
• A large commercial systems integrator, pleased to announce today that we are underway with the largest PV project for Progress Energy in North Carolina, a 2.2 MW system.
• The leading downstream brand for solar energy in the United States
• An award winning company for our work environment
• An award winning company for our socially responsible business practices
• A force for policy change at the state and local levels.

We now have about 200 employees, 4 distribution centers with a fifth coming, residential work in 11 states, and a growing commercial channel. We’re the second fastest growing company of any kind in Vermont, and while Vermont is a small state, it’s still a growth rate of 3790+%, over the last 5 years, which is pretty good in any state.

It is our growth rate that has allowed us to more strongly influence policy, and that is a lesson for us all. Legislators truly care about only a few things, and one of the top is job creation. Our growth rate and potential possible future growth rate allowed us to have the force of presence and stature to push through the first legislated feed in tariff bill in the US in Vermont last month, over the Governor’s strident objections. The lesson here is that when we create strong growth, we can use it to create the environment for even stronger growth. And when business and labor work together to create the jobs, our leverage is extended.

We’ve gotten here through a series of three acquisitions and three financings. Our first acquisition was Energy Outfitters, which made us a nationwide distribution company. The subsequent two were regional installation companies, Chesapeake Solar in Maryland, and Borrego Solar residential division in California and Massachusetts. Combined, they have provided us with the foundation to attract investment and grow like crazy.

But the acquisitions did not create the growth, the growth allowed the acquisitions. Through a series of three financings, we have gained the financial foundations to allow us to build the management foundations that can drive, accept, and accommodate the growth. Our management team includes a COO, CFO and CIO, as well as VPs for construction, sales, and marketing. These people bring a diversity and depth of experience and ability to groSolar far beyond what my wife and I could have dreamed when we started 11 years ago.

Our first financing was lead by David Kirkpatrick of SJF Ventures. Working with Dave has been great – not just for our capital raises, but also for our business development, PR, policy, and workforce plans. Dave helped us create a broad-based option plan has been a big assistance in recruitment (there’s that partnering with labor again). SJF has also been active in and supportive of solar industry policy at both the state and federal level. The combination of Venture Capitalist and non-profit organization is perhaps unmatched in the venture community, and is helping to move the capital markets toward where they need to go.

So groSolar has built an incredible management team, backed by very strong financers, supporting a true national brand. It certainly was crazy to think that could happen even five years ago.

Dori and I got into solar because, well, we thought it was cool, and thought we needed some clean energy in our mix. We did not understand the climate crisis. No one understood energy security. And our economy was doing fine, or so we thought. I had not planned on leading formation of national energy policy, or implementation, on working to figure out how to retrain, empower, and strategize with labor, and attempt to finance one of the fastest growing companies in the country. But, that’s about where I’m at.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 at 11:15 am and is filed under Climate Change, Events, General Interest, Social Responsibility. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.