Namaste Solar’s 2023 Public Benefit Report

Our Public Benefit

In April 2018, Namaste Solar became a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC), prioritizing social and environmental impacts alongside profit. As a PBC, we must consider both financial and nonfinancial interests when making decisions, aligning with our mission and core values. This report informs the public about our social and environmental performance, reflecting our commitment to transparency.

Our mission is our statement of public benefit: We work to propagate the responsible use of solar energy, pioneer conscientious business practices, and create holistic wealth for ourselves and our community. The following sections share some of the ways we have fulfilled our public benefit in 2023.

Propagate the responsible use of solar energy

20,000 Panels Installed

In 2023, we installed 1,186 systems, equivalent to taking 2,173 cars off the road, avoiding 10,937,734 pounds of coal being burned, or powering 1,900 homes for a year. We designed 5,851 systems for our residential and commercial customers in Colorado, as well as new communities being built across the nation. Every day we service solar panel systems for our customers (including residential, commercial, and utility-scale) and systems that were installed by companies that are no longer in business. We serviced over 740 systems in 2023, ensuring more operational solar is online and producing efficiently as part of our mission to use solar energy responsibly.

National and Local Recognition

Namaste Solar was again recognized as a “Top Solar Contractor” by Solar Power World, for the 11^th year in a row, and ranked number one in Colorado by kilowatts installed for the residential and commercial market. Additionally, we received the Energy Efficiency and Green Construction award by Independent Electrical Contractors Rocky Mountain for our design and installation of the Colorado State University’s 4.2 MW of solar power across 20 sites. These projects are part of CSU’s goal of 100% renewable energy by 2030 and will create enough electricity to power the equivalent of 827 homes.

State Policy

Governor Jared Polis signed Colorado House Bill 1234 into law at our headquarters, establishing the Streamlined Solar Permitting and Inspection Grant Program. The platform can immediately and accurately approve residential permits, removing one of the most significant barriers to installing on-site residential solar. Namaste Solar was selected to represent the solar industry, which is a testament to our well-established reputation and long history of involvement in state policy development.

PIONEER CONSCIENTIOUS BUSINESS PRACTICES

As a Certified B Corporation, we meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance purpose and profit.

We added several new or enhanced JEDI opportunities for our employees. We launched our JEDI Resource Library, which is full of curated text, video and audio content, – and made it available both internally and to the public. Each month we continue to offer JEDI learning sessions on wide-ranging topics of current and historical interest. Both the library and learning sessions support our new JEDI Continuing Education offering in which employees get “credit” for their educational efforts. To encourage participation, we offer every employee 10 hours of paid time annually for Equity Time On (ETO) to engage in JEDI learning.

To further awareness, we added a question to our performance review process: “How do you support JEDI efforts and our core value of Equity at Namaste Solar and on your team? (Our core value of Equity states, “We work to build justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion by uncovering and dismantling oppressive systems in ourselves, in our company, and in our community.”).

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)

As Namaste Solar continues to grow our equity efforts, we want to build a culture where people can bring their full and unique selves to work. Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are formed by employees based on shared demographics and life experiences. The goal is to help foster diversity and inclusion in the workplace, provide supportive environments for marginalized groups to connect, along with allies, and improve work conditions by building trusting relationships within the company. We currently have two ERGs: Queer Workplace Empowerment and Expression at Namaste Solar (QWEENS) and Women of Namaste Solar Electric (WoNSE).

Queer Workplace Empowerment and Expression at Namaste Solar

For the past three years, QWEENS has participated in Boulder County’s Pride events. These are hosted by Out Boulder County, an organization that ensures the LGBTQ+ community thrives through programming, advocacy, education, connection, and research. Namaste Solar felt it was important to be a sponsor at these events, primarily to support QWEENS and their goals, but also to show up as a business and member of the community.

Women of Namaste Solar Electric

Namaste Solar designed and installed Trimble’s 1.7 MW solar array in Westminster. During construction, 30 WoNSE participants and Trimble Women’s Network had an opportunity for our women-identifying employees to see one of our job sites in action. The solar panels are projected to offset more than 100 percent of the energy consumed by Trimble’s two-building campus.

Women majority on Board of Directors

For the last two years, women have been the majority on our seven-person Board. In 2023, three out of four internal Board members are women, plus one external member. Internal Board members are nominated and elected by fellow co-owners. Serving on the Board is an influential leadership role within the company and an in-depth learning experience that may enhance career advancement.

Create holistic wealth for ourselves and our community

Employee-ownership is central to how we operate at Namaste Solar. We believe in sharing the benefits of business ownership and empowering employees to participate in running this company. In 2023, we welcomed six new co-owners and 15 new candidates on the track to co-ownership.

Co-ownership track

When an employee decides they are interested in becoming a co-owner of our business, they embark on a year-long journey of education and mentoring. Overall, the one-year journey of a candidate considering co-ownership is a chance to understand how the business operates, how decisions are made, and to consider if co-ownership is right for them.

Access to Information

All candidates are full participants in our co-ownership meetings. These meetings are meant to inform co-owners of current issues affecting the business, gather input from the cooperative, and provide time for deep dives into important decision-making for the company.

Candidate Curriculum

Each month we offer a candidate curriculum session that prepares them for the expectations of co-ownership, with topics ranging from financial literacy to company governance.

Mentorship

Each candidate is paired with a mentor, someone who is already a co-owner, and together they discuss topics of governance and responsibilities of our co-owners.

Our Community

Part of our mission is to take care of the communities we live and work in. Business can be a powerful engine for change, and we want to use ours as a force for good. A few ways we do this include:

employees standing in front of white truck

Volunteer Time On (VTO)

VTO offers paid time for any employee to volunteer for a charitable purpose that benefits the community. Each employee can use up to 20 hours of VTO (to be used during regular work hours) per year, which is 1% of work time. VTO has allowed us to volunteer at places like Community Food Share, Habitat for Humanity, and the Veterans Community Project. In 2023, our employees spent 365 hours volunteering.

Keep the Lights on Colorado giving campaign

Our annual giving campaign, raises money for Energy Outreach Colorado, a not-for-profit, that utilizes community solar subscriptions and emergency bill assistance to support Colorado families struggling to afford their home energy bills. In 2023, the campaign brought together 14 corporate sponsors and 66 individuals to raise over $50,000 providing 116 families with community solar subscriptions. Over the past four years, this campaign has raised over $284,000 to help over 1,000 families.

Education and Awareness

Eight Namaste Solar employees volunteered 200 hours throughout the year teaching students about solar installation and careers in renewable energy. A highlight included a large presentation to over 500 students at Cherry Creek School as part of their Stem-A-Palooza. Additionally, Namaste Solar and Denver Public Schools continued our longstanding mentorship program.

Assessment of Public Benefit

Colorado’s public benefit statute requires PBCs to assess and report on their overall social and environmental performance, benchmarked against a third-party standard that meets statutory criteria of transparency and credibility. Because Namaste Solar was a Certified B Corporation when we became a PBC in 2018, we were already meeting this legal requirement.

5 smiling Namaste Solar employees in front of yellow van

Namaste Solar chose to operate under these standards and practices not just because we are a PBC and a B Corp, but also because we are a group of humans working for the betterment of humans and the environment. Our employees are passionate, excited, and knowledgeable about what they do and many of them have come to Namaste Solar searching for the opportunity to create a difference through their job. We are here to create a lasting positive impact on the world.

More About Namaste Solar

Learn more about how we are transforming energy and transforming business, including our community, sustainability and equity initiatives.

Discover how and why Namaste Solar was founded in our story series, starting with our origin story.

Learn more