Jackson is an engineer with Skyline Innovations, a D.C. company established in 2009 that installs solar panels onto its clients’ rooftops or retrofits their lighting. Installation is free, and the company makes money by splitting the energy savings with the building owner. What do you do?
We offer the solar system at zero upfront cost and measure exactly how much energy, and thus money, was saved via sensors. My job is to monitor these systems.
Why should building owners trust your model?
This isn’t just going green for green’s sake; it’s because it makes financial sense.
Your customers are typically …
Owners of buildings that use 3,000-plus gallons per day of hot water, like apartment or condo buildings, breweries, carwashes, laundromats.
Have local businesses signed up?
We are finishing installations at George Washington University and starting construction at American University. We’re talking with other universities in the area and we’re starting to go national, too.
How does this help you guys?
We make money only when we save people money. It’s a shared-savings model where we essentially split the amount of savings with the building owner.
And the community?
We’re the green jobs that people are talking about. Our installer crews put a lot of people to work. It helps everyone cut their carbon footprint in the most cost-effective, easy way.
— Natalie Plumb
