About Sungevity: meet the team
Sungevity was founded by a group of former environmental activists and solar industry leaders dedicated to making it easy for homeowners to go solar. Our competitive prices are complemented by our high standards for quality installations and customer service. It takes a lot of work to start an energy revolution and your contribution is important. We at Sungevity appreciate your interest and thank you for taking this first step with us.
Our rays of SFUN (solar for universal need) light:
Danny Kennedy co-founded Sungevity and is the President of the company. A long time social entrepreneur, Danny has achieved global recognition as an environmental activist, spokesperson, and opinion leader. Most recently, Danny was the Campaigns Manager for Greenpeace Australia Pacific. In 2001, he ran Greenpeace’s California Clean Energy Campaign, the success of which helped lead to the current California Solar Initiative. Danny was the founder and first Executive Director of Project Underground and has served on several nonprofit boards. Danny lives in Oakland with his wife Miya Yoshitani and two daughters.
Andrew Birch co-founded Sungevity and is our solar-loving CEO. Andrew has a Master's Degree in Photovoltaics and has been in and around the solar industry for years - most recently as Business Development Manager at BP Solar. Known by the team as 'the numbers guy', Andrew brings expertise on finance, solar technology and business development. He lives in Berkeley with his wife Lulu.
JP Ross is a longtime solar and renewable energy crusader. A career defining moment came in the middle of a two-year sailing adventure when he saw countless local communities locked in the destructive cycle of resource extraction to feed a fossil fuel dependency. From the middle of the Pacific Ocean, JP applied to the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley. He received his Master’s Degree in Renewable Energy in 2000. JP has since spent the last eight years advocating for solar market development at the state and Federal level with Greenpeace and Vote Solar. JP was critical to the development of the California Solar Initiative and the passage and creation of other state solar legislations.
Martha Belcher is Sungevity’s VP of Bay Area Operations and a huge fan of solar since she installed solar on her home. Martha, formerly of the Social Venture Network, David Brower Center, and several social purpose enterprises, spends her days keeping the Sungevity trains running and the Sungevity team humming. Martha lives in Berkeley with her husband Martin and six year old son Jasper, who can spot a rooftop solar panel quicker than his mom.
Adam Pryor is our Chief Information Officer and the creator of our web-based solar solution, the program that measures your roof and calculates your solar potential. Based in Australia with his wife Lavinia, he manages to put in enough hours that despite the amazing solar potential in Sydney, he remains tan-free.
Alec Guettel is the Chair of Sungevity’s Board of Directors. He is also the co-founder and Chief Financial Officer of Axiom Law., one of the nation’s fastest growing private companies. He has worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, McKinsey & Co., and he was a member of the Clinton-Gore transition team in 1993. Alec graduated from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.
Charles Ferer is Sungevity’s Chief Financial Officer. Most recently Ferer served as CFO for SolarCity, the US’s largest solar installer, where he helped raise over $60M in tax equity and launch a successful solar leasing program. He has more than 20 years of experience for companies including Gap and PepsiCo. Ferer has a B.A. in Economics from the University of Puget Sound, and an MBA in Finance from Indiana University.
Daphne Li is our Chief Operations Officer. Li has held key leadership positions in marketing, product management, strategy and M&A at ADP and Apple. As Chief Strategy Officer and VP, Marketing for DoveBid, she helped start up business online auctions and grew revenue from $12M to $150M. She currently sits on KQED’s board. Li has a B.A. in Economics and an MBA, both from Stanford.
Ariel Tseitlin is the VP of Technology and Product Development. Tseitlin was most recently the Founder & CEO of CTOWorks, a software consultancy advising early-stage start-ups on their technology strategy. Prior to CTOWorks, Tseitlin was the VP of Engineering at Playboox, a SaaS CRM start-up. Tseitlin has also held senior management positions at Oracle and Siebel Systems. He holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from UC Berkeley and an MBA with Honors from Wharton.
Sloane Morgan oversees the Company as its General Counsel and was an early solar adopter, her home hosting a 4kw system since 2004 and hot water pre-heater since 1999. She has a B.A. from Wesleyan University and J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. She formerly practiced law at Bay Venture Counsel (now Reed Smith), Boornazian Jensen & Garthe, both in Oakland, CA and Metzger Hollis Gordon & Alprin (now Duane, Morris & Heckscher), an energy practice located in Washington D.C. She is licensed to practice law in Florida, Washington D.C. and California and lives in Berkeley with her husband and three sons.
Our Solar Superstars:
Heath Galloway is our lead NABCEP certified installer, with over 10 years experience installing residential solar systems. Heath received his MA in Appropriate Technology from Appalachian State University and is our C-10 Electrical Contractor. He leads our California-based crews, including:
On-site installers Randy Meza, Ryan Hazlitt, Francois Hunter, Jeremiah Eanes, Larry Galbert, Lionel Gant, Ryan Bourdeau, Al Cummings, Mark Colacito, and Misha Balmer.
Mateo Williford is Sungevity's Technologist. His first solar install was 13 years ago while getting a degree in Appropriate Technology. His portfolio includes solar in the Arctic, a village in Thailand, and working with Y2K crazed Floridians. After a stint as a photographer in Africa, he is now a NABCEP certified installer and is the C-46 solar contractor for Sungevity. One day he will build his much talked about solar-powered motorcycle.
See our recent home solar installations.
Nargis Solis leads Sungevity's Customer Care team. She is a former hardware/software support person turned web developer turned solar support person. Nargis is a Bay Area native and a Cal alum. She is a recovering triathlete who lives in Oakland and can be seen most weeks logging the miles out around the Bay Area on her road bike.
Ross Johnson is our Remote Systems Engineer, IT problem solver and resident EMT. He works to improve the software we use to measure roofs remotely. Ross brings a unique expertise to Sungevity that he gained as a Geographic Information Systems Analyst at a real estate consulting firm and as a jack-of-all-trades at a three-man web startup.
Call us at 877.257.8648 or enter your address at the top of the page for your free solar estimate today!