About

History

Solar States was founded in 2008 by Micah Gold-Markel. After running a successful software business for 13 year Micah was looking for a new challenge. After attending a speech by Green For All advocate Van Jones a light went on in Micah’s head. Connect sustainable energy, education, and economic development using solar energy as the basis to tie it all together. Soon after its founding Solar States became the largest solar power purchase agreement provider in the city of Philadelphia.

Mission

Solar States is a leading solar power purchase agreement provider (PPA) currently serving the northeast United States. We offer a zero cost PPA with low, stable energy prices over a 15 – 25 year term. Solar States has expertise working with commercial, government, and educational solar PPAs. We not only handle the all aspects of the financing and installation of solar energy, we maintain the system over the course of the PPA. Easy, no-cost, solar energy, brought to you by Solar States.

In addition to PPAs Solar States is connecting Philadelphia public school students with the green-collar economy through training and jobs. Solar States is partnering with Philadelphia High Schools to create a solar energy course-curriculum. Students will learn about every aspect of solar energy, from the science of how it works, its impact on the environment, to the economics of solar energy’s return on investment. This means we are uniquely qualified to implement school based solar solar systems.

Social Entrepreneurship & the Triple Bottom Line

Solar States is taking the opportunity to affect positive environmental & economic change by making a commitment to solar energy project implementation and education.

Solar States is built upon two key business principles:

I. Social Entrepreneurship
A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. Whereas a business entrepreneur typically measures performance by return on investment, a social entrepreneur assesses success in terms of the beneficial impact s/he has on society. While social entrepreneurs often work through non profits and citizen groups, many work in the private and governmental sectors.**

II. Triple Bottom Line
The triple bottom line (or “TBL”, “3BL”, or “People, Planet, Profit”) expresses the goal of expanding the spectrum of values and criteria for measuring organizational (and societal) success: economic, environmental and social.** This is sometimes referred to as people, planet, profit.

Never allow a crisis to go to waste. It’s an opportunity to do big things

-Rahm Emanuel