Winter 2022 Connections
Where we are and where we are going.....Stay connected
A MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR
Doing Well and Doing Good

As we begin the second month of a new year, we are all looking forwarding to starting new projects and seeing old friends , once the snow and ice and cold are gone, of course! Hopefully, we have weathered the worst of the pandemic, and members of the GEO family are staying safe and well.

The isolation of the pandemic has cast a light on both the need and the generosity all around us. As we unwound our busy schedules, we had more time to observe and appreciate the organizations that were filling gaps in the services that we all take for granted. Coming out on the other side, resuming normal activities, we should all seek ways to put our skills to use for the greater good.

That's exactly what the companies and individuals featured in this newsletter have done. They have taken their professional expertise and paired it with their commitment to the community. Their projects are a natural extension of their social and environmental ethic.

This issue of the GEO Connections newsletter is dedicated to the good that the clean energy community is doing. Below you will find three examples that represent many more, including GEO Board member Gary Easton's work in Liberia, featured in the Summer Connections newsletter. We hope you take the time to read about them and to applaud the innovation and compassion that they embody.
Jane Harf, Executive Director
THE ECOHOUSE FUND
Kevin Eigel and partner Marlin Languis at the Clintonville Community Resources Center
Giving Back to the Central Ohio Community

In the realm of clean energy, the need for increased access to solar among low-income homeowners is often discussed. Kevin Eigel is a long-standing environmentalist who addresses this need with moral and financial pragmatism.

Kevin’s story started with his own home. In 2009 he put solar on his house, then kept the ball rolling by starting his company, Ecohouse Solar. The company has installed over 500 residential solar systems in the Columbus area. Seeing the impact Ecohouse has made for local residents, Kevin decided that it was only fair to direct that some of their profit to be used for people who want -- but can’t afford -- solar.

“Generally, the people that are considering solar tend to have disposable income,” Kevin explained. “They are often more highly educated with a college degree and have a higher-than-average income. People on the lower end of income try and get by month to month. In my experience, they aren’t thinking about these types of options.”

Innovative financing is an important part of ensuring that the residential solar experience is accessible. Anyone can go solar -- and while the possibilities of solar may depend on the characteristics of a site -- financial assistance is a great incentive. Examples such as the fund Kevin started at the Columbus Foundation can go a long way.

Ecohouse donates tax-free to the Ecohouse Solar Fund, which in turn is used by nonprofits to do the work of increasing greater access to solar. Through the Fund, lower income homeowners can receive a $5,000 grant through Habitat for Humanity to put solar on their homes. For Kevin, this method of giving back reflects his core values, and he is excited about the influence these values have.  
27 KW solar panels on the Clintonville Resources Center
Kevin is especially proud of his partnership with the Clintonville Resource Center. “One of Ecohouse’s first customers put forward $100,000 of his own money to the Center. Ecohouse is paying the rest,” Kevin proudly told us. The previous client, Marlin Languis, is a professor at the Ohio State University who is passionate about having an impact on slowing climate change. Now, after bringing solar to the professor’s home, Kevin is working with him to install solar at the Resource Center that provides services to hundreds of Clintonville community members, including many elderly residents.  

“I’m involved in this work every day. I see how profits improve, prices go down, awareness levels go up, and how people are more educated in the trade than ever,” Kevin says when describing the future of the solar industry. “Any single person will now say ‘I know this person who has solar.’ It’s no longer just about the environmental benefits of solar, but also the financial benefits of it becoming cheaper.”

“Solar is really starting to snowball, and I feel good about what I am doing – even if it is a small difference, we are making a difference.”
SHARED POWER NETWORK
Jared Laughbaum, Indianola Informal K-8 science teacher, and Jake Kuss, Executive Director, with the Green Energy Machine
Experiential Learning with the Green Energy Machine

There is no better way to leave an impression on young students than with experiential learning. One of GEO’s newest Board members, Jake Kuss, capitalizes on experiential learning by developing solar energy projects to bring to the classroom.

Jake was growing up in the Columbus area when his father, Greg Kuss, produced a similar innovative energy system. Jake remembers the machine was created with a solar panel and included a mini wind turbine. Jake’s father went on to be a founding member of GEO, and just over two years ago, Jake started his own nonprofit organization: Shared Power Network (SPN)

After stepping into the world of solar and being constantly met with the question of “Does solar even work in Ohio?” Jake wanted to address the gap in knowledge with solar education. SPN started with the idea of incorporating experiential learning through small rooftop solar installations in schools. This way, children could see and learn about solar in their own hometown. 

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic hit a few months after SPN was formed, leading to a decrease in opportunities for his initial vision. Jake remembered the machine his father built back in his childhood and pivoted the SPN vision. He created a smaller and budget-friendly version of his father’s solar energy system, what he calls “the Green Energy Machine.”

There are 10 Green Energy Machines currently out in the field. SPN works with schools, teachers, and education-based nonprofits to bring the Green Energy Machines into classrooms. Jake gives presentations, runs Q&A sessions with the students, and -- most importantly -- takes them outside to interact with the Green Energy Machine themselves.  
Kickoff event for a partnership with the City of Kettering Parks & Recreation Department at the Wild Jobs Summer Camp
“This is the moment where students start to understand -- the machine right there is producing electricity right now to power a fan or a light,” Jake tells GEO with a smile on his face. “The students get to touch the panel. They get to see the battery and electrical components with their own eyes. They see that solar works, that solar works here [in Ohio], and that this solar system is something we can scale up.”

Jake also works directly with the educators. He gives them a package of resources and materials on solar education, activities for the Green Energy Machine, and a personal lesson on how the Green Machine works. “My hope is the machine gets used by multiple classes and teachers rather than just sitting in storage,” Jake explains. “I push for long-term relationships for this reason.”

SPN’s work naturally gears toward the grades 5th through 9th, but Jake has worked with kindergarten through the 12th grade. The work with the Green Machine has opened the doors for many new partners for SPN. Recently, SPN received funding for 40 more Green Energy Machines – a fact that Jake couldn’t be more excited about. 

As SPN branches out of Central Ohio and Dayton into Toledo, Cincinnati, and Salem, Jake has his eyes set on expanding throughout the entire state. “There are thousands of schools in Ohio,” Jake says. “And I would love to see a solar project at each one.”
SOLAR POWER IN SOUTHEAST OHIO
Third Sun Solar Array at the Serenity Grove Women's Recovery House
Broadening the Horizons of Local Organizations

In 2020, Third Sun Solar partnered with Women for Recovery of Athens to provide clean energy to the Serenity Grove Women’s Recovery House. Third Sun co-founder and former GEO Board President Michelle Greenfield stated: “As a company committed to the flourishing of our community, we are proud to support this organization’s critical mission”.

The addition of a solar array to the Serenity Grove facility will greatly reduce the nonprofit’s utility costs for the next two decades or more. The twenty-two panel, 7.4 kW ground-mounted array will provide an estimated 40% of electricity to the Women’s Recovery House.

As a non-profit struggling to overcome the economic effects of the pandemic, Women for Recovery will be able to use the monetary savings from their electric bills to help with ongoing operating costs. In addition, the longer-term savings will enable many other options for expanded programming.

Women for Recovery offers residential transitional living in a safe, secure, and sober environment to women dedicated to recovery. Founded in 2016 and located just outside the city of Athens, Serenity House provides an environment where women can establish healthy community connections, develop new careers, seek reunification with their children, and learn personal finance and self-care skills with the eventual goal of transitioning back into independent living.

Serenity House Executive Director Betsy Anderson noted that as part of their commitment to recovery and helping women rebuild their lives, the facility has "an ongoing commitment to our community, to our environment and to our planet. To reduce the amount of fossil fuels we use, and demonstrate that to our residents, staff, board, and community – that is invaluable.”
Photo by Joel Prince of the Athens County Convention & Visitors Bureau 
This year, Third Sun is also donating a solar roof-mounted solar array to the Baileys Trail System project, partnering with the Village of Chauncey to provide clean energy at the Chauncey-Dover Community Park trailhead. The Baileys Trail System is managed by the Outdoor Recreation Council of Appalachia in partnership with the Wayne National Forest. Third Sun Solar will install the solar system on the rooftop of the restroom facility. The addition of the solar array will reduce the Village’s utility costs for several decades to come.   

“We are incredibly grateful for the donation of the solar array by Third Sun Solar to the Chauncey-Dover Community Park that was once the site of the Chauncey mines. It’s important to us while repurposing the land for recreational use that it be done in a sustainable and responsible manner including adopting a zero-waste event policy, so the implementation of solar energy is a great addition to our vision,”  said Mayor Amy Renner, the Village of Chauncey  
  
Third Sun Solar is a certified B Corp, a unique designation earned by companies that subscribe to a high set of standards related to verified social and environmental performance, interaction with workers and customers, and public transparency. B Corps personify the shift toward the concept of business as a force for good; redefining success by using profits and growth as a means to a greater end; and committing to help build a more inclusive, sustainable economy. 

“Part of our responsibility as a certified B Corp is to actively seek ways to promote social and environmental support of our community,” Greenfield said. “Helping provide affordable and sustainable housing while educating people on how easy it is to attain energy independence is a great fit for our mission-driven company.”