Solar United Neighbors (SUN) is an American

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organization that arranges solar co-ops for group purchase of home

solar panel A solar cell panel, solar electric panel, photo-voltaic (PV) module, PV panel or solar panel is an assembly of photovoltaic solar cells mounted in a (usually rectangular) frame, and a neatly organised collection of PV panels is called a photo ...

installations.

History

The organization had its beginnings in 2007 when Walter Schoolman and his friend Diego Arene-Morley, both aged 12, watched the film An Inconvenient Truth. Following this, they asked their respective parents to install solar panels on their homes. Walter's mother, Anya Schoolman helped the two boys to found the Mt. Pleasant Solar Cooperative after their request and after discovering the high cost of retail solar installations. As a group, they convinced some of their neighbors to join together to increase their buying power for solar installations. The initial group had by 2009 installed solar panels for 45 homes in Washington D.C.’s Mt. Pleasant neighborhood. In 2011 Anya Schoolman founded the national organization that would become Solar United Neighbors. In 2018, SUN partnered with the

American Solar Energy Society The American Solar Energy Society (ASES) is an association of solar professionals and advocates in the United States. Founded in 1954, ASES is dedicated to inspiring energy innovation and speeding up the transition toward a sustainable energy ec ...

(ASES) in support of the US National Solar Tour, a tour of operational solar systems. By March 2021, the effort had installed solar panels for 5,200 homes in the United States.

Advocacy

Observers have noted that Solar United Neighbors seeks to influence government policy affecting solar panel installations and to install solar panels in ways that are

socially just Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

. In 2021 SUN joined with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and the Initiative for Energy Justice in the ''30 Million Solar Homes'' campaign.

Locations

SUN is active throughout the United States, including locations in Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and West Virginia. SUN has partnered with RMI in the United States. Projects in some states, such as the Sunnyside Energy Community Solar project in Houston, offer resilience during extreme weather events.

References

{{reflist Renewable energy Renewable energy policy in the United States Renewable energy economics Solar power in the United States American companies established in 2007