Dive Brief:

In October, the Department of Energy announced a program with 3M, Cisco, Kimberly-Clark and the National Geographic Society says the "Solar Community" program has led to the addition of 1.4 MW of power.

says the "Solar Community" program has led to the addition of 1.4 MW of power. The department said employees who participate in the initiative through their companies can acquire solar panels that will reduce electric bills by an average of 30%. The program was developed originally by the World Wildlife Fund.

The program was backed by federal government's SunShot Incubator program, which provides early-stage assistance to help startup companies cross technological barriers.

Dive Insight:

A program allowing employees at certain companies to go solar for no money down is beginning to pick up steam, the DOE's Solar Energy Technologies Office reported. Since the program launched in October of last year the “Solar Community” initiative has engaged 1,415 employees, with 174 installations completed or currently in progress.

The program has expanded in scope since its inception. Today, employees at 3M, Cisco Systems, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Johnson and Johnson, National Geographic Society, and Principal Financial Group can go solar at a significant discount as part of their employee benefits package. The initiative is facilitated by the World Wildlife Fund and managed by Geostellar.

DOE called it a "first-of-its-kind nationwide bulk solar purchase program that expands access to solar energy for participating employees, their families, and communities."

Geostellar, an online solar marketplace, uses software to streamline the solar purchasing process and determine the most cost-effective approach for the system, including design, equipment orders, permitting, and installation. The company's technology was developed with support from a 2013 SunShot Incubator competitive award and reduces the non-hardware soft costs associated with going solar, saving consumers money, DOE said.