Namaste Solar Electric

Boulder firm thrust into national spotlight with Obama bill signing in Denver

Boulder’s Namaste Solar is one of the many Colorado solar-energy companies changing the waycommunities generate and use energy.

Steady winds and above-average sunshine along the Rocky Mountain Front Range have positioned Colorado as a frontrunner in building the nation’s new-energy economy. Leading the way in harvesting the state’s sunshine is Boulder-based Namaste Solar Electric.

Namaste’s Sanskrit name is a greeting of respect, celebrating the interdependence of all living things, which fits with the United Nations’ definition of sustainability in its 1987 Brundtland Report: “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

“We measure profit and success in a holistic way,” says Blake Jones, president and Namaste co-founder. “This includes not just traditional economic metrics but also the effects on our natural environment, work environment, local and global communities.”

The Colorado Convention Center solar power project is comprised of 1,310 panels that generate 400,000 kWh of power and cut emissions by 435 metric tons per year. (Photo by Namaste Solar)

Jones started the company in 2005 with friends Wes Kennedy and Ray Tuomey. In just four years, Namaste has grown from three owners to 45 employee-owners and now represents approximately 25% of the solar market in the state, Jones says.

“Our growth is representative of what’s happening in the solar industry in the U.S. and around the world,” he says. “In Colorado, the industry basically started right when our company did.”

In May, Namaste Solar installed a 6.3-kW solar awning at the Humane Society of Boulder Valley. The retrofit is expected to save the organization $800 in energy costs annually and remove 18,000 lb of CO2 from the atmosphere. (Photo by Namaste Solar)	Boulder Community Foothills Hospital became the first hospital in Colorado to use solar energy with Namaste’s installation of a 37-kW solar awning. A 28-kW system was installed at the Tebo Family Medical Center. (Photo by Namaste Solar)

Namaste’s growth has provided its employee-owners an opportunity to give back to the industry through company donations and two grant programs that benefit local nonprofits.

Solar energy has been a growing trend in the United States for the past 20 years but received a boost from the Obama administration in February with the signing of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009. Jones was asked to introduce President Obama when he signed the ARRA bill at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, lifting Namaste’s profile into the national spotlight.

The Alliance for Sustainable Colorado in Denver recently added a 2.04-kW photovoltaic array through grants awarded by Boulder-based Namaste Solar. (Photo courtesy of the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado)

The ARRA has earmarked grants and incentives for companies investing in alternative energy—grants for up to 30% of the cost of solar property will be available from the Department of Treasury through 2009 and into 2010.

“The solar industry is poised to lead the new clean-energy economy, and the strong solar provisions in this legislation will help give hundreds of thousands of out-of-work Americans a job,” says Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, which says that the solar energy provisions of the ARRA will help create 60,000 jobs in the solar industry in 2009 alone.

Though Namaste won’t get any direct funding from federal stimulus money, the company sees the opportunity to increase its base of solar customers from the new legislation.

“This provision alone allows Namaste Solar and other installation companies around the country to feel new hope and optimism about their local markets,” says Jones. “Namaste Solar now plans to hire additional co-owners this year, with an expectation of 20% growth in 2009 and 40% growth by the end of 2010.”