Our Energy Business in Transition

We are proud to support the energy transition and sponsor the Clean Energy for America Inaugural Ball. Please join us and celebrate President-elect Biden’s goal of 100% clean energy by 2035.

The Energy Transition is accelerating with newfound energy and buzz as the Biden administration and Democrat-control of both houses of Congress are set to focus US energy policies in 2021 and for decades to come. The energy transitions unfolding today were almost unimaginable ten years ago – with 90% of new generation built globally last year coming from wind and solar. Electric vehicles among new car sales are surpassing 50% of all automobiles sold in some countries. The arrival and passing of peak oil is now admitted by the oil companies themselves; and, centralized and peak powerplants are making way for distributed generation and battery storage. One-hundred years-old incumbent players, technologies and models are finally, today, surrendering to this inevitable change.

Whether you see “transition” as brown to clean, consumption to conservation, waste to efficiency, finite to infinite or “fill in the blank,” it is happening everywhere and driving big changes even among renewable energy businesses – even before President-elect Biden steps on the gas electric pedal and speeds things up.

Distributed Sun’s growth in recent years reflects the intensity of corporate and consumer demand for cleaner alternatives. While our 2020 was unlike Tesla in scale, it was very Tesla-like for us with record-breaking performances in profitability, growth and other KPIs. New hires (↑six), cost reductions (↓15%) and development pace (↓22% fewer days in development – to 14 months from start to NTP for community solar) all leapt past our benchmark and stretch goals. DSUN achieved runaway results in 2020 with tangible project and revenue backlogs that position the company to accelerate and extend these gains in 2021 and the years to come.
When we founded the business in 2009, we knew clean energy and technologies were no fad, no passing trend or even a mere or momentous generational shift, but something epochal, irreversible. And, we wanted to help make it happen. Back then, C&I rooftop solar in Mid-Atlantic states was the present-day gold rush. It was our backyard and an obvious place to start. But we suspected then, as we know so well now, the path forward would push and pull us into different segments, new geographies and even technologies not considered at our founding.

As we pass 200 MW of community solar projects delivered and focus development on the next 100 MW, we are making significant investments in other key segments, including: 1) large corporate renewables (DSUN expands deployed C&I solar from 11 to 15 states in 2021); and, 2) utility/transmission-scale (500 MW in development) practices. DSUN transitions to Gigawatt-scale solar deployed while its scope grows to include a wider complement of new energy and carbon footprint reduction technologies.

​We count our blessings to have thrived during 2020 while so many struggled to survive. Those tragedies are not lost on us. Three beloved and amazing people – family of our close team members – lost their battles with COVID last year. We remember them as they humble our spirits and deepen our appreciation for the successes we have enjoyed. 
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Chase Weir
Executive Vice Chairman and Co-Founder

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