Our Research Associate Jarrid Green authored this report, highlighting the successes of Namasté Solar in democratizing energy in Colorado:
Founded in 2005, Namasté Solar is an employee-owned cooperative based in Boulder, Colorado, that has installed over 3,100 solar electric systems in the United States (as of May 2015). Namasté Solar's success has caught the attention of clean energy advocates and policy makers as public interest in a green economy that reduces the nation's reliance on environmentally harmful fossil fuels has become widespread.1 Our interest in profiling Namasté Solar is twofold. We want to share with our partners the story of the company's unique evolution into a democratically-run employee-owned cooperative. We also want to lift up an effort toward Energy Democracy that successfully leverages private investment without undermining the values of community control.