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Mosaic and Mark Ruffalo Make New Year's Resolution to 'Put Solar on It'

Mosaic, the first U.S. company to crowdsource investments for solar projects, is kicking off 2014 with a New Year’s Resolution campaign to “Put Solar on It.” The campaign invites anyone to pledge to put solar on a local home, school, place of worship, business or other property on PutSolarOnIt.com. Throughout 2014, Mosaic says it will provide people with the tools and network they need to make their pledge a reality.Oscar-nominated actor Mark Ruffalo is leading the campaign with his pledge to put solar on his children’s school, Stephen Gaynor Elementary, in Manhattan.

By Jennifer Elks | Published 10 years ago | About a 3 minute read

Oscar-nominated actor Mark Ruffalo is leading the campaign with his pledge to put solar on his children’s school, Stephen Gaynor Elementary, in Manhattan.

“I’m helping put solar on my kids’ school to save the school money and free up resources that will be aimed at their education instead of fossil fuels,” Ruffalo explains. “We can also demonstrate the shining future that is now within our grasp. I love that Mosaic is making it possible for all people to participate in an economy meant for all — the solar economy. We are powerful.”

Brad Pitt’s green-building non-profit Make It Right has pledged to put solar on a home for a family living in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward. Other pledges have come in from individuals across the nation, including from Atlanta; Boston; Charlotte, NC; Maui; Pittsburgh; Santa Fe; and Woodbury, MN.

The “Put Solar on It” resolution is part of significant national momentum for solar energy. In 2013, a solar installation was installed every four minutes throughout the U.S. and the price of solar dropped to 40% from 2011 prices, according to the US Solar Energy Industries Association and Greentech Media Research. The nation installed more clean energy than coal, oil, and nuclear combined, according to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the solar industry is creating jobs at four times the rate of the economy at large, according to the Solar Foundation and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This year, President Obama put solar panels on the White House, Mayor Bloomberg committed to putting solar on New York City’s largest landfill, and Walmart reached a solar-generating capacity greater than that of 38 states. On the investment side, Warren Buffet invested over $7B in solar.

Billy Parish, Mosaic's President and 'Movement' team leader, explains the company's vision to build a powerful and purpose driven membership community dedicated to accelerating humanity to the inevitable transition to 100% clean energy. “In the past year, thousands of people have invested in solar through Mosaic. We’re now crowdsourcing other aspects of the solar development process. We’re building a movement to power the world with 100% clean energy and this movement is people powered.”

The campaign will be followed by a series of company announcements, throughout 2014, giving people the tools to help create solar across the globe. The first involves international expansion and will be made on January 8, 2014 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where Mosaic will receive one of Verizon’s Powerful Answers Awards.

Mosaic, a finalist in the 2012 SB Innovation Open, announced earlier this year it had crowdfunded over $100 million for solar projects nationwide, including installations for military housing on military bases, starting with 547 homes on the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst base in New Jersey.