Third Sun Solar

Michelle and Geoff Greenfield founded Third Sun Solar in 2000 out of their attic, after building their own sustainable home a few years prior on a piece of rural land that did not have access to utility power. They decided to invest in their own locally generated solar power instead of paying the utility for it, but found that there were no solar experts available to do so. Geoff made the decision to move forward and become the solar expert himself, and invested the time and effort to design and install his first high performance solar array on his home. After that, people who had heard about the Greenfields’ energy independence started coming to them for advice and Geoff even installed multiple systems on the weekends. It wasn’t long before the passion for solar and the need in the marketplace for an expert solar provider birthed Third Sun Solar.  With over 600 clean energy projects generating more than 11MW of electricity throughout the country, Third Sun Solar  is now the leading solar installer in Ohio and a top 100 installer in the US.  Based on a commitment to business integrity, design optimization and delighting customers, Third Sun rapidly became successful. In order to support the growth and hire new team members, we relocated first to the Ohio University Innovation Center in 2003 then to our current headquarters in 2012.  We are often asked about the significance and origin of our name. Although multiple factors played key roles in selecting the name, the main inspiration for Third Sun Solar came from the book Entropy by Jeremy Rifkin. In it, Rifkin holds that all earthly energy derives originally from the sun. The first solar age ended as the last forests were cut; industrializing societies evolved from biomass fuel to fossil fuel—coal, and then oil—in the second solar age. Now, we are seeing the dawn of a transition to direct solar power—our third solar age.  Third Sun has grown beyond its humble beginning as a “mom & pop” business that simply wanted to make the world a better place and is now the leading solar installer in Ohio and a top 100 installer in the US. With over 600 clean energy projects generating more than 11MW of electricity throughout the country, Third Sun Solar is proud to make progress every day on our mission to accelerate the shift to clean energy.  In Third Sun Solar’s continuing efforts to use business as a force for good, it became a Certified Benefit Corporation in 2012. At the time, it was the 3rd business to secure the B-Corp certification in Ohio, leading the way for other businesses to do the same.