How Thomas Neyhart, CEO of PosiGen, is Helping to Drive Sustainability

Momentum has been slowly building around the subject of sustainability for several years now, and PosiGen CEO Thomas Neyhart is no stranger to it.

Consumers today are more conscious about the impact they are having on the environment and are actively looking for ways that they can do more to protect it. This so-called “eco-wakening” is a worldwide trend and has grown by as much as 120% in some developing economies.

The Power of Solar Energy Generation

In the developed world, the race to a more sustainable future is largely being powered by renewable energy. In 2020, renewable energy sources accounted for roughly 12.6 of total U.S. energy consumption and around 19.8 of electricity generation, a year-on-year growth trend that’s seen renewables generation increase from 13.8 percent just five years earlier.

This growth is being driven by wider and cheaper access to renewable energy generation equipment like solar panels. While solar panels were once only available to the wealthy, companies like PosiGen have made them accessible to all homeowners.

By mid-century, solar generation could cover a quarter of global electricity needs and become the second-largest generation source after wind energy. To achieve this, global capacity must reach 18 times current levels – or more than 8,000 gigawatts – by 2050, and efforts by companies such as PosiGen to democratize access to solar energy generation will play a huge role in realizing this target.

PosiGen’s CEO Thomas Neyhart is on a mission to widen access to clean, green solar energy for everyone regardless of their social status. By making it easier for less fortunate communities to invest and participate in green energy, Thomas Neyhart is helping to transform communities and contributing massively to the global push for sustainability and a greener future.

What is PosiGen?

PosiGen was founded by Thomas Neyhart in 2011, five after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and surrounding areas, claiming the lives of over 1,800 people, and causing an estimated $125 billion in damage.

In the aftermath of the disaster, Thomas Neyhart realized that many families wanted to rebuild their homes with efficiency and eco-friendliness in mind. In most cases, however, only higher-income families were able to access the expensive solar options that were available at the time. Solar was still a relatively new and emerging technology, and this meant that very few cost-effective solutions were available to low- and middle-income families, many of whom were disproportionately affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Thomas Neyhart knew that with the right setup, he would be able to deliver safe, clean, and affordable renewable energy to those who needed it most — and he did this by setting up PosiGen.

PosiGen is a GAF-certified provider of solar energy solutions and aims to make solar more accessible through its solar leasing program. This makes it possible for families in low-to-middle income communities to invest in their homes, save money on their utility bills, and take steps towards a brighter and more sustainable future.

Thomas Neyhart’s solar leasing system works just like it sounds — the hard product is leased to homeowners in return for a monthly payment. Over 18,000 homeowners currently lease solar panels from PosiGen to benefit from free installation and ongoing maintenance, system monitoring, energy efficiency upgrades, and the regular benefits of solar installations such as cheaper energy bills and selling energy back to the power grid.

In contrast, homeowners who purchased their own solar panels outright would be responsible for financing all these things on their own, which can get expensive and massively offset the savings made by having the systems in the first place.

PosiGen’s work is made possible in part by solar tax credits offered by the U.S. government. These credits make it possible for PosiGen to get loans for solar hardware which is then leased back to homeowners for no money down, no minimum credit score requirement, and affordable monthly repayments. For the system to work, the solar installations need to save homeowners a large amount on utility bills, so PosiGen carries out energy-efficiency retrofits on buildings that don’t meet requirements.

While the idea of PosiGen was initially brushed off by investors as unrealistic, Thomas Neyhart’s determination to make it succeed saw him acquire some early backers. Last year, the company raised $27 million in a round of venture capital funding and closed $100 million in equity financing last month.

How Thomas Neyhart Got a Headstart with PosiGen

PosiGen’s CEO Thomas Neyhart realized very early on, before most of his company’s current competitors, that the future of the energy sector and our planet lay in solar. While solar had been around for a long time, the technology was a long way away from what we have today – Neyhart saw the potential in it and took a gamble.

He also realized the benefits of growth and economic development with consumer-focused solar products and saw a gap in the market for those aimed at less-better-off families.

PosiGen’s results speak for themselves. The company has installed solar hardware for over 18,000 customers across the United States who benefit from real monthly savings. These savings have been used by customers for everything from paying other bills and schooling their children to vacation and having more money to spend on treating themselves.

Thomas Neyhart's ability to spot the solar energy boom before it took off and incorporate a focus on the wellbeing of his customers has enabled PosiGen to make a real impact on the lives of thousands of customers.

Speaking in a recent interview, he said, “We’re finally getting really traditional, mainstream finance organizations to realize that poor people pay their utility bills and that you can finance solar for low-income families.”

As PosiGen pushes ahead and continues to grow alongside the solar and sustainability trend, Thomas Neyhart’s approach will continue to deliver cost savings to customers all across the country via democratized solar energy who otherwise would have had no access to it at all.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes