Good Sun is a federally-registered 501(C)(3) non-profit corporation founded in 2013. We are registered in California as a Public Charity and we operate as a natural resources management firm.
Our founders and team members are trained in various technical and environmental fields, and we apply our experience and education to help others less fortunate. The impetus for Good Sun’s formation is simple: During our travels and over the course of our professional careers, we have witnessed and experienced many inequities of modern “civilization”; and we are compelled to help “level the playing field” so that all people (and animals too) may have an equal chance at a healthy and prosperous life.
OUR VISION: Illuminate pathways to sustainability using solar power.
OUR MISSION: Deploy solar power to communities in need while helping to hasten the transition to a global clean-power economy.
In pursuit of this mission, we seek to solve three primary problems:
1. SOLAR WASTE: Millions of solar panels are now reaching end of life (EOL) in the primary market. Good Sun works to keep still-viable panels out of landfill and divert them back into useful service in a secondary market.
2. POVERTY: There are still millions of people in the world living without electricity, which can often translate to clean water and reliable food. Good Sun seeks to bridge the gap between surplus solar panels and underserved communities.
3. ECOLOGICAL CRISIS: All of life on Earth is currently experiencing an existential need to transition to a sustainable way of life. This means utilizing clean, renewable energy. Good Sun works to increase solar access to low-income communities, thereby raising the standard of living and promoting the widespread adoption of solar technology.
Our founders and team members are trained in various technical and environmental fields, and we apply our experience and education to help others less fortunate. The impetus for Good Sun’s formation is simple: During our travels and over the course of our professional careers, we have witnessed and experienced many inequities of modern “civilization”; and we are compelled to help “level the playing field” so that all people (and animals too) may have an equal chance at a healthy and prosperous life.
OUR VISION: Illuminate pathways to sustainability using solar power.
OUR MISSION: Deploy solar power to communities in need while helping to hasten the transition to a global clean-power economy.
In pursuit of this mission, we seek to solve three primary problems:
1. SOLAR WASTE: Millions of solar panels are now reaching end of life (EOL) in the primary market. Good Sun works to keep still-viable panels out of landfill and divert them back into useful service in a secondary market.
2. POVERTY: There are still millions of people in the world living without electricity, which can often translate to clean water and reliable food. Good Sun seeks to bridge the gap between surplus solar panels and underserved communities.
3. ECOLOGICAL CRISIS: All of life on Earth is currently experiencing an existential need to transition to a sustainable way of life. This means utilizing clean, renewable energy. Good Sun works to increase solar access to low-income communities, thereby raising the standard of living and promoting the widespread adoption of solar technology.
Good Sun as a tree
Repurposed solar panels for projects and disposal
A Brief History of Good Sun volunteers
Collectively, the Good Sun team has traveled to over 80 different countries across 6 continents. We have developed drinking water wells and provided solarization services in Africa, taught environmental education and science classes in Africa and Central America, built a school in Nicaragua, Provided ESL services in Europe, and have provided environmental services in South America, Asia and Australia.
Good Sun team members operate their own solar contracting companies, work as technicians for Tesla and Sunpower, are raising families, are teachers and educators… Our “day jobs” keep us busy solarizing homes and businesses and teaching the next generations about the importance of stewardship for the earth, the animals, and for other people. Then we translate our professional expertise from our day jobs over to this passion project that is Good Sun.
Recognition: There are millions upon millions of amazing, beautiful, talented, brilliant, kind, and wonderfully unique people in the world who will never get the opportunity to realize their “life potential” due to some unpropitious deformation of fate: poverty, drought, war, family obligations, social momentum, etc. We recognize this imbalance and work in support of our less fortunate brothers and sisters.
Gratitude: Trained on appropriate applications of low-tech solutions, Good Sun operatives utilize their experience with solar, water, agriculture, and construction technologies to provide clean, sustainable resources for people who struggle for them. Being blessed with opportunities in education and experience, we can help others who have not been so lucky…but are no less deserving. So let’s get to it!
Good Sun team members operate their own solar contracting companies, work as technicians for Tesla and Sunpower, are raising families, are teachers and educators… Our “day jobs” keep us busy solarizing homes and businesses and teaching the next generations about the importance of stewardship for the earth, the animals, and for other people. Then we translate our professional expertise from our day jobs over to this passion project that is Good Sun.
Recognition: There are millions upon millions of amazing, beautiful, talented, brilliant, kind, and wonderfully unique people in the world who will never get the opportunity to realize their “life potential” due to some unpropitious deformation of fate: poverty, drought, war, family obligations, social momentum, etc. We recognize this imbalance and work in support of our less fortunate brothers and sisters.
Gratitude: Trained on appropriate applications of low-tech solutions, Good Sun operatives utilize their experience with solar, water, agriculture, and construction technologies to provide clean, sustainable resources for people who struggle for them. Being blessed with opportunities in education and experience, we can help others who have not been so lucky…but are no less deserving. So let’s get to it!
Atomic Structure
Good Sun as an element – Our atomic model is structured on 3 main principles that make up our nucleus:
- Renewable Energy & Sustainability.
- Education & Outreach.
- Community & Cooperation.
Within the first principle of Sustainability, Good Sun adopts a core focus on environmental protection and preservation as a necessary foundation of life. This idea is simple: we believe everyone has a right to breathe clean air instead of smog, drink clean water instead of contaminated or bottled liquid, and eat real food instead of mystery meat grown unnaturally. We believe biodiversity is important, that anthropogenic climate destabilization is real, and that renewable energy is part of the solution. Good Sun accepts donations of used solar equipment or purchases new equipment, and installs renewable energy power systems for low-income families, communities, schools, and other non-profit organizations. These activities result in the recipient saving thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars off of their utility bill. Through the reuse of solar equipment, significant waste tonnage is diverted from landfill and the release of considerable amounts of pollution and greenhouse gases is avoided entirely.
Within the second principle of Education, Good Sun seeks projects that involve schools so that our impact is multiplied orders of magnitude across the hundreds and thousands of kids that receive the many benefits of a clean environment and monetary payback that can go toward other scholastic activities and expenditures. We actively support the inclusion of sustainability principles into classroom curricula and encourage hands-on learning labs and internships through programs such as Big Picture Learning, where students can learn useful trade skills in the field of renewable energy. We vehemently adhere to the concept of teaching others to fish rather than handing out fish; that showing someone how to be sustainable goes a lot further than giving someone a few solar panels.
Within the third principle of Community, we seek to cooperate with as many like-minded individuals and organizations as possible. We are not interested in competition but instead believe that it is through cooperation, by leveraging each other’s unique talents, that real progress is made. On this platform we have launched our Pay-It-Forward campaign where those who realize savings as a result of our work can donate a small portion of those savings toward other Good Sun projects. Finally, it is in this arena where we place a spotlight on culture and the importance of cultural diversity and preservation.
Within the second principle of Education, Good Sun seeks projects that involve schools so that our impact is multiplied orders of magnitude across the hundreds and thousands of kids that receive the many benefits of a clean environment and monetary payback that can go toward other scholastic activities and expenditures. We actively support the inclusion of sustainability principles into classroom curricula and encourage hands-on learning labs and internships through programs such as Big Picture Learning, where students can learn useful trade skills in the field of renewable energy. We vehemently adhere to the concept of teaching others to fish rather than handing out fish; that showing someone how to be sustainable goes a lot further than giving someone a few solar panels.
Within the third principle of Community, we seek to cooperate with as many like-minded individuals and organizations as possible. We are not interested in competition but instead believe that it is through cooperation, by leveraging each other’s unique talents, that real progress is made. On this platform we have launched our Pay-It-Forward campaign where those who realize savings as a result of our work can donate a small portion of those savings toward other Good Sun projects. Finally, it is in this arena where we place a spotlight on culture and the importance of cultural diversity and preservation.
Good Sun’s atomic electrons, where we put our principles into practice, are identified in nine categories:
Solar & Sustainability
- Clean energy – Solar installations to address pollution & climate change.
- Alternative utility power – PV installs generate utility bill savings and puts money back into the hands of our clients. This activity also supports our Pay-It-Forward (PIF) campaign.
- Landfill diversion – Putting used but still good, renewable power equipment back into play.
Education & Outreach
- Entrepreneurship – Hands-on training for youth that teaches vocational skills with a focus on the industries of renewable energy and sustainability. This electron charges our Virtue-of-Wisdom (VOW) campaign.
- Curriculum – In-class subject matter that teaches students the concepts, principles, and theoretical applications of renewable energy and sustainability. This is the basis for our Knowledge-Is-Power (KIP) campaign.
- Awareness – Through information outlets such as right here on our website, we are raising awareness about the benefits of renewable energy and the importance of sustainability. This activity promotes our campaign to Crowd-Source-Innovation (CSI).
Community & Cooperation
- Teamwork – Solar installation work relies heavily on donated labor from the local community, augmenting our internship program and VOW campaign.
- Pay-it-forward – This campaign not only generates operational revenue for Good Sun, it also strengthens bonds in the community by giving sponsors partial ownership in local projects.
- Culture – This electron has two potential bands: 1. Reinvigorating a sense of community in the 21st century, and; 2. Preserving endangered human culture through projects that positively impact impoverished indigenous populations.