Keeling Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

RE-volv‚ mission is to tackle climate change at the local level by empowering people to accelerate the adoption of clean energy in their communities, especially those that are often excluded from the benefits of the clean energy economy. At RE-volv, we believe that everyone can participate in building a clean energy future and in spreading the word about the benefits of solar energy. Our goal is to provide access to solar energy to nonprofits across the country that serve marginalized communities who otherwise could not go solar, while training the next generation of solar energy leaders.

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To create a just transition to a carbon-free economy in the time we have left, we need to deploy massive amounts of capital into equitable clean energy and climate solutions. This will most effectively be accomplished by dramatic policy changes at the local, state, and national levels. And to achieve such sweeping policy change, we need wholehearted public support. That means we need to engage the public in the fight for clean energy in new ways - in ways that make clean energy personally meaningful and relevant in peoples‚ lives. While studies show that Americans generally like renewable energy, for most, it remains abstract. To change that, we need clean energy to reach people where they are - in their communities. Whether it is at their children‚ school, where they worship, the food kitchen where they volunteer, or the health clinics or community centers they pass by every day. 

Simultaneously, it is critical to ensure just and fair access to the myriad of benefits from the burgeoning renewable energy economy. According to a 2019 report published by Tufts University and the University of California‚ÄìBerkeley, African American communities are less likely to have solar than white communities by a factor of two thirds. But there is at least one crucial way to address this disparity. According to the report, PV installations often result in a feedback loop: When a few residents in a community get solar, known as ‚ seed‚ customers, it compels others to join. Communities without those first-mover customers show delayed solar adoption. And, when seeding does occur in communities of color, deployment ‚ significantly increases‚ compared to other racial or ethnic groups. 

RE-volv prioritizes bringing these types of projects to BIPOC, low-income, and vulnerable communities, and we also demonstrate the benefits and accessibility of solar to fight racism, structural inequality, and to win the fight on climate. We need to build and amplify these projects where the solar industry might not, and we need to amplify those stories of solar benefiting people at the local level. 
Since 2011, RE-volv has been doing just this by training and mobilizing volunteer college students and community volunteers to help nonprofits in their communities go solar through our Solar Ambassador program. Due to the circumstances surrounding the pandemics of COVID-19 and racial injustice, nonprofits can benefit significantly from more guaranteed revenue via reduced electric bills now more than ever. Through our innovative solar financing model and volunteers‚ efforts, RE-volv helps community-serving organizations to lower their overhead costs so they can focus their attention on providing critical services such as feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, and administering emergency health care during this challenging time. RE-volv also works to train volunteers and nonprofit leaders alike, finance trusted nonprofit solar projects, and educate community members about the benefits of solar and how to support solar initiatives so that all our partners achieve their goals while also becoming renewable energy advocates and climate leaders themselves.

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