About Us
FOUNDERS
Kyle drees
Executive Director
University of Oregon '20
B.S. in Planning & Public Policy.
Bio
As a student of the School of Planning, Public Policy, & Management at the University of Oregon, Mr. Drees gained experience in nonprofit management, policy analysis, and GIS. He now analyzes school usage data and builds long term savings reports and cost estimates, procures requests for proposals, and creates education materials for schools to use.
david garfunkel
Director of Operations
Princeton University '20
B.S. in Economic History.
Bio
Mr. Garfunkel attended Princeton University, where he studied the intersection of Economics and History during the 20th century. Simultaneously, he gained experience in the financial world as an investment intern with financial institutions across the world. As Director of Operations, he builds long term savings reports and cost estimates, designs PV systems, and builds financing packages for schools.
chris gwatney
Development Director
San Diego State University '21
B.A. in Sustainability.
Bio
Mr. Gwatney graduated from San Diego State University, majoring in Sustainability and minoring in GIS. He gained more GIS experience working at SDGE, and as Development Director, he maintains our data and filing systems. He also assists in procuring requests for proposals as well as the permitting process.
why we do it
As our world prepares for the impending climate crisis, we believe it is our duty to rebuild America’s wasteful and costly energy system. Without a significant and rapid switch to clean energy our children will grow up in a world plagued by extreme temperatures and frequent natural disasters. Schoolar Energy was founded to combat this bleak future. We believe schools are the perfect place for solar; bettering the Earth’s future and the future of our children. Below are global temperature trends for the last 2,000 years.
this is no coincidence
As greenhouse gas emissions rise, so do temperatures. When these increase, so does the size and quantity of hurricanes, tornadoes, and thunderstorms. It's critical for kids to learn the importance of their emissions and how it effects the world around them. We provide educational diagrams on our carport installations and curriculum for kids and teenagers to understand how PV works and potentially prepare them for careers in renewable energy. Our goal is that one day every school in California and beyond will be carbon neutral.