Solar Living Institute
The Solar Living Institute is an educational organization housed at the Solar Living Center – a 12-acre solar-powered training, demonstration, and event center for sustainable living in Mendocino County, California. We provide powerful educational opportunities through our inspirational, experiential programs and our onsite network of demonstrations.
Company details
Find locations served, office locations
- Business Type:
- Nonprofit organization (NPO)
- Industry Type:
- Solar Energy
- Market Focus:
- Nationally (across the country)
- Year Founded:
- 1998
About Us
Established in 1998 by the founder of the Real Goods Trading Company, John Schaeffer, the Solar Living Institute in Hopland, CA, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission of 'Promoting sustainable living through inspirational environmental education'.
The Institute manages the Solar Living Center, a 12-acre renewable energy and sustainable living demonstration site that is visited by 200,000 people annually. The timeline below explains how everything got started.
1971-1978: John Schaeffer, 21 years old, graduates from UC Berkeley and moves to a back-to-the-land commune on 290 acres in Mendocino County. Real Goods (RG) is founded in Willits, CA by John to serve the needs of the local back-to-the-land community and to promote a more sensible, sustainable, and self-sufficient lifestyle. The very first solar panel in the United States is sold by Real Goods.
1980-82: An instant success, RG expands and opens stores in Ukiah and Santa Rosa.
1986: The new mail order business expands quickly and reaches $1 million in sales its first year.
1990: The 20th anniversary of Earth Day jumpstarts the environmental movement; solar, conservation, recycling suddenly become a national phenomenon.
1991: RG launches the first ever “Off-the-Grid Day” and coins the phrase “off-the-grid.” Over 10,000 people shut down their power for two hours all around the U.S. to understand their dependence upon the utility grid. RG pioneers the first “Direct Public Offering” and raises $3.6 million from its customers with the purpose of constructing the Solar Living Center (SLC) to create a demonstration site for practices of renewable energy, sustainable living, and the products sold by Real Goods.
1992: RG launches the “National Tour of Solar Homes” nationwide. Tens of thousands tour hundreds of solar homes. RG runs the tour for three straight years and then gives the program to the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) who runs it to this day.
1993: John Schaeffer and Jeff Oldham (project manager of the building of the SLC) are invited to meetings at the White House by President Bill Clinton to help in the “Greening of the Whitehouse.”
1994: The 12-acre property for the SLC is purchased. The barren site has only one tree, no water, and was previously utilized by the California Department of Transportation as a dumping ground for highway rubble. The first of over 40 consecutive Solstice Celebrations takes place on the site (see picture inside the store).
1996: Over twelve thousand people attend the three day grand opening of the SLC. RG is mailing seven million catalogs annually to educate people about the wisdom of solar living.
1998: With the SLC now completed, RG founds the Solar Living Institute (SLI) as a nonprofit organization. More than 5,000 students have completed SLI’s educational workshops and trainings, with over 30% securing jobs in the solar industry. Over 200 young idealists from all over the world have graduated the inspirational SLI internship program with many going on to secure important livelihoods in the sustainability and solar industries.
2000: Solar 2000, the 132 kilowatt solar array located along the south end of the site, is completed in just 8 weeks and becomes one of the largest arrays in Northern California.
2001-2003: John sells RG to Gaiam, a yoga and media company in Colorado, but stays on as President of RG for 15 years. RG launches its solar residential installation division, acquires smaller companies, and becomes a full service solar installer with 15 offices around the U.S. (2003 – 2011)
2005: The SLC endures the worst flood the site had seen in 150 years with over $150,000 worth of damage. RG customers and SLI members and supporters step up to help fund the complete site rebuild and a brand new intern village.
2014: John and his wife Nantzy Hensley buy the SLC back from RGS Energy in Colorado, making the business locally owned once again. Twenty years after being purchased, the site has gone through a complete transformation and rejuvenation.
2015: The new locally owned site and the new vision are launched in early 2015. An Observation Bee Hive is installed in the Real Goods store as the newest educational aspect of the site. A pollinator garden is built to help save and promote the bees up against colony collapse disorder. The Pedal Power Bicycle Generator station is finished and quickly becomes the SLC’s most popular attraction for visitors. Plans are underway for the new Cannabis/Solar Museum scheduled for 2016 to educate visitors on the healing properties of CBD Cannabis and how its history is synergistic with solar in Mendocino County. Construction of Emerald Pharms CBD Dispensary begins and has scheduled an opening in August 2016. The landscape is fully rejuvenated. The sculpture garden begins. And the employees are happy and fulfilled!
Our Mission
We believe humans are resilient. Our ability to be resilient to changes in our environment can best be nurtured by having deep connection to nature itself. SLI was created to support community leaders in developing the skills to build their capacity to be agents of change within their own communities. To realize our mission we host trainings and events, maintain cutting-edge demonstrations in sustainable living, and partner with organizations and companies that share our values to further the impact of our work.
Workshops and Courses
This program became part of the Solar Living Institute in 1998 when our organization was founded. Our workshop program was an outgrowth of solar training workshops first offered by Real Goods in 1991 under the name of the Institute for Independent Living. Energy efficiency, solar photovoltaics, wind and hydro systems, passive solar design, water development, gardening and composting were introduced in these early intensive lecture and hands-on workshops. Classes took place on a nearby homestead where students lived, ate and learned together, creating close and lasting bonds among participants. Tours of local energy-independent homes added interest and first-hand knowledge to the class experience.
Organic Garden
The organic garden was started in May 2003 to create a model for public education by showing a synergistic and pragmatic integration of food, water, landscape, and shelter in ways that are energy efficient and enhance the surrounding environment to create a regenerative and sustainable system.
The farm is irrigated by a solar pump that moves water from a pond to the farm on the facility. Produce is sold seasonally at a farm stand on site. Produce and sales from the produce help feed interns.
In 2011, we added a 26’ diameter geodesic dome, donated by Growing Spaces, to facilitate a micro-greens business supplying local organic grocery stores.