Charlestown, R.I. – Sol Power Solar has installed renewable energy for more than 1,100 customers since becoming an early pioneer in Rhode Island’s solar industry in 2013.
The staff credit this success to the company’s business model, in which each employee is an equal owner of the company. Now, Sol Power and a group of fellow cooperative businesses are trying to pave the way for workers to democratically run their own workplaces across the state.
When Eric Beecher founded Sol Power, he always knew he wanted it to be democratically run.
“It just seemed to me like the best way to run a company, kind of the fairest and most sustainable way to do it,” said Beecher, who notes the company is technically an LLC because it was established before the state allowed businesses to register as workers’ cooperatives. “It’s really a long-term sustainable career path that can give people a living wage and really values its workers.”
At Sol Power, each employee owner gets to vote on company policies. They divide annual profits based on how much each of them worked in a given year. With 12 owners on staff, Sol Power installs about 150 residential systems a year. Whether they’re on a steep roof in the hot summer or freezing winter, the workers know they will all share in the rewards.
“Once you’ve been with us for a year, you can become an equal owner in the business. And that just really gets people working hard,” said Beecher, who said there is one company employee currently working through that first-year trial period. “We install like twice as fast as other companies because it’s people’s own business and they care about it.”
The biggest obstacles for Sol Power right now are the cuts to federal incentives for residential solar by Trump and the Republican party that go into effect at the end of 2025. Beecher warned that the eliminated 30% residential solar tax credit is “an industry killer.”
Sol Power’s success as a cooperative is being held up as an example by the movement to build more democratic businesses in Rhode Island.
A new piece of legislation during the last General Assembly session was championed by co-op advocates hopes to bring these types of opportunities into local businesses in Rhode Island.
The Opportunity for Employee Ownership Act was introduced in the House by Rep. Jennifer Stewart, D-Pawtucket. A similar piece of legislation was introduced to the Senate by Sen. Frank Ciccone, D-Providence, Johnston. The bills would give employees of existing small businesses the opportunity to purchase their workplace when that business goes up for sale.
According to a report by the Exit Planning Institute, between 70% and 80% percent of small businesses never sell. And in Rhode Island, Project Equity data shows more than half of the companies in the state are owned by people over 55 years old. The legislation, which was held for further study, would help local business owners sell their property for a fair price to the very employees already playing important roles in company operations.
“There are a lot of small businesses that we all love… but the problem is that a lot of them are owned by people who are on the brink of retirement,” said Chloe Chassaing of the Rhode Island Worker Cooperative Alliance. “This could help to have a built-in group of people who are just naturally very invested in preserving not only their own jobs, but the businesses for the community, the tax base and everything else.”
Chassaing, who is a worker-owner with White Electric Coffee, said Sol Power has been a great example and resource for other co-ops just starting out.
As communities search for ecologically responsible sources of energy and economic security, Chassaing said cooperatives are a powerful way to empower workers in environmental fields.
“A big part of that is making sure that those jobs are good jobs, whether it’s through having them be unionized or through work cooperatives or both,” said Chassaing. “So it’s really great to see that Sol Power is providing these good jobs through a worker cooperative, and they’re also doing really well.”
Whether a company wants to be more environmentally friendly or more democratic, Beecher said both are worthy goals.
“I think every company can be concentrating on being more sustainable and being more environmentally friendly and being more democratic, and also, being more fair in terms of balancing out earnings for their employees,” said Beecher, who calls residential solar “the cleanest energy we have for the grid.”
