Innovation

The main innovation supports the mission as it seeks to offer companies that don’t have the resources to expand their solar capacity the ability to do so.

The Amicus Purchasing Group allows other smaller businesses to join this membership to purchase larger quantities of products and equipment while receiving lower, competitive pricing. Amicus enables smaller companies that couldn’t afford to expand the ability to grow their solar companies. Companies under this membership have access to fair, competitive prices of equipment that will enable them to grow. The purchasing group enables the member companies to compete against larger solar panel companies, for example, the SolarCity department in Tesla and SunRun, as those companies have already reached economies of scale.

Namaste Solar’s mission is to propagate the responsible use of solar energy which this innovation excels at doing. With better opportunities, provided by Amicus, solar can expand as an industry. As a B Corporation Namaste Solar fulfills many UN SDGs. For example, it offers affordable and clean energy, and it improves decent work and economic growth. In short, this collaboration allows solar energy companies to not only grow as businesses but also to expand awareness of renewable energy all around America.

Inspiration

The Amicus Purchasing Group was founded in 2011 for the purpose of building a community of learning and sharing wherein smaller solar energy corporations are given a chance to grow, with the goal of supporting regional smaller solar companies by leveraging national scale and collective brainpower. As a B corporation itself, Paul Creme and the Namaste Solar team realized that the substantial benefits it offers to the environment and to social well being could present a great opportunity to create such mutually beneficial relationships to expand not only as a company but the industry as a whole.

Overall impact

While this innovation satisfies many goals from the United Nations 17 sustainable development goals, it primarily focuses on advocating for affordable and clean energy. It focuses on climate action because solar energy itself is clean energy. Most importantly, it improves the economic growth and the decency of work in the form of collaborative partnerships to achieve the ultimate goals. With more solar companies being able to expand and stay profitable, the whole renewable energy industry will continue to grow financially and ultimately will provide more clean energy to more customers and provide mutual benefit for the businesses and the environment.

Once those initiatives launch, the innovation provides an immediate short-term impact, while also paving the way for a long-lasting impact on the entire industry. As more companies are introduced to the idea of a purchasing group that consists of smaller solar companies, we can achieve economies of scale for the benefit of all concerned. As the purchasing price for equipment is further reduced and becomes more affordable, in the long term, we spread awareness to different communities and states in a substantial way.

Business benefit

The focus of the innovation is to make accessible to all companies in the cooperative the convenience and opportunity to receive lower prices and higher quantities of equipment through membership in the Amicus Solar Cooperative. The innovation contributes enormous benefit to the business; it maintains the stable, profitable growth for the solar industry. For example, Amicus was awarded U.S Department of Energy funding, and Namaste Solar is working with Amicus and Radiance Solar on the U.S Department of Energy Sunshot Initiative.

With the help and benefit from Amicus, Namaste Solar is able to drive the solar business to become more competitive in the market and expand their companies to a more significant national scale; the customers can purchase solar panels at a substantially lower price, which mutually benefits the customers and the industries as a whole.

Social and environmental benefit

The innovation allows for more companies to get into the renewable energy business and expand so that more people in the U.S. can use solar energy. Solar energy is relatively new so this innovation allows as many people as possible to start expanding the use of renewable energy which is extremely beneficial to the environment.

Interview

Paul Creme, Co-Owner, Commercial Technical Designer