At Solaris Energy, we are proud to have been turning solar projects into solar investments for non-residential clients across the United States for more than 15 years. This year has been monumental in many ways, including an official leadership transition from our Founder and co-owner, Alex Blackmer, to co-owner Nick Perugini, who was previously our Vice President and was appointed Chief Executive Officer earlier this year.
“I am honored to take on the role of CEO and lead Solaris Energy during this pivotal time. I’m proud of our incredible team, and together, we will continue to expand our impact, delivering trustworthy service and high-quality solar and storage solutions to our clients,” shared Nick in the announcement of this transition.
We will continue to expand our impact, delivering trustworthy service and high-quality solar and storage solutions to our clients.
This leadership change underscores Solaris Energy's commitment to growth, innovation, and maintaining its position as a leader in the renewable energy industry. We’ve accomplished a lot since our business was founded, and 2024 was no exception!
“Two of our achievements in 2024 rise to the top for me: Moving the Ace Portfolio and generating a list of interested investors has current and future value for us and the spread of solar investing as a whole,” says CFO and co-owner Jessica Rawley. “We also achieved almost a tripling in our pipeline value, which represents a massive increase.”
Our new project leads in 2024:
Estimated Value: $1,014,000,000
Size: 351 MW
Sites: 313
To date this year, we’ve generated the following impact from projects completed and currently under construction:
Estimated Value: $75,000,000
Size: 18 MW
Sites: 52
States with sites: 6 (CA, CO, AZ, VT, ME, MD)
Project types include: commercial, community solar, nonprofit, investment-grade, school, and tribal
One exciting project highlight:
After several years of pre-development work with some amazing partners, we were thrilled to get a 1.8-MW solar and storage project underway for the Rincon Tribe on the Rincon Reservation in San Diego County, California.It will provide the tribe energy independence and add to their portfolio of sustainable, renewable energy sources.
“We’re proud to bring our passion for creative, impactful, tribal projects and decades of renewable energy financing and development expertise to the table to help bring this project to fruition,” Nick says.
With every project Solaris develops, our clients save money on energy and can reinvest it back into their communities while also helping to reduce our environmental impact. Our 2024 project leads could prevent about 258 metric tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere in their first year of operation. If built, that’s equivalent to preventing 284,093 pounds of coal from being burned or preventing 29,006 gallons of gas from being used.
We at Solaris remain committed to our work and the urgency with which we need to address the climate crisis. There are many reasons to go solar, especially now:
“The financial argument is an easy one – making the switch is often less than current utility rates, and definitely less than future ones. It also increases our grid’s resilience to have distributed solar systems across it,” COO Janna Shaw says. “Last, but most important to me, is that transitioning to solar energy reduces greenhouse gas emissions and improves our air quality by using the sun instead of fossil fuels for energy. If we want a healthy planet for our children to grow up in – clean air to breathe, a stable ecosystem that provides them food, shelter, water, and the basics of life — then we need to make an urgent and mass transition to renewable energy and away from fossil fuels. The outcome of not doing anything or even doing it too slowly is truly concerning for the future of all humans. At Solaris, we provide ways for you to invest for your well-being and the well-being of your children.”
At Solaris, we provide ways for you to invest for your well-being and the well-being of your children.
Our Continued Evolution to Provide Sustainable, Affordable Solar to All
How we do our work is also shifting to meet the industry's current and future needs and Solaris’ plans for growth and commitment to affordable solar. In November, we officially closed our Ace Portfolio. The raise exceeded our fundraising goal, with a total of $601,000 invested from 49 individuals and companies, with investments ranging from $500 to $126,000. The portfolio will provide short-term returns and long-term revenue from 21 commercial-scale solar installations located across the United States.
This close marks an important milestone for our team as co-investors in the Ace Portfolio. We are excited to be not just the developer but now an owner and direct investor in these important, return-generating legacy Solaris projects.
“By owning a stake in the projects we've built and managed for so long, we have a new opportunity to bring new friends and family into owning solar. The funds raised will be deployed on building further solar projects from our large and growing pipeline,” Jessica says. “Having a longer list of investors means we have a larger pool of folks to keep engaging in solar investing, for the next equity funds we plan to build, for project construction, and for project ownership.”
“For a long time, we’ve had the blessing of close, friendly investors through the Solaris Investment Group. This has allowed us to get where we are today,” Janna adds. “Now, largely because of them, we are at a pivotal point of being able to own the projects we’ve developed. That will allow us to take on more value-based projects to ensure affordable solar for all.”
Solaris also proudly recertified as a B Corp this year. Our B Corp Certification and our status as a Colorado Public Benefit Corporation means we have been audited by a third party for high standards of social and environmental practices and have made the legal decision to always make business decisions that benefit the public as well as our profits. We first certified as a B Corp in 2021 and have recertified for the first time this year. The certification process occurs every three years with continually stricter standards. We will work on continuing to meet these standards to keep our B Corp status and remain mission-first long into the future.
Being a B Corp and Public Benefit Corporation is part of our mission-based commitment to build a more sustainable world. Solaris aligns our belief that all people deserve access to affordable, clean energy with our work, preventing thousands of tons of carbon from being released into our atmosphere while making solar and battery storage available to communities nationwide.
“As we look to 2025 and beyond, we are focused on solidifying our current capital relationships and growing new investor relationships to bring to life all of the potential investment opportunities in solar we have available,” Jessica says. “It is important for everyone to benefit from investing in the transition to clean energy. There are real returns to putting capital into building solar assets, and they have stable investment returns. Investment in solar generates energy independence, allows more localized community energy resilience, and puts more power in the hands of consumers and small businesses to control energy use and costs.”
It is important for everyone to benefit from investing in the transition to clean energy.
Get in touch: Stay in the loop about future solar investment opportunities and the work we are doing with our partners.
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