Sunrun Solar Systems Have Prevented Nearly 4 Million Metric Tons Of Carbon Emissions

Sunrun, the largest residential solar, storage, and energy services provider in the United States, published its second annual Impact Report on Tuesday, revealing that the cumulative impact of its solar systems has prevented almost four million metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions, the equivalent of eliminating over 9 billion passenger-vehicle miles.

This is the second year in a row that Sunrun has published its Impact Report, which is intended to “evaluate and understand the impacts of our business on the world around us” and used “as a holistic resource for ourselves, our shareholders, our partners, and our customers to measure our success as a sustainability-focused business.”

Since its days as a startup in 2007, Sunrun has now become an industry leader, and currently installs a new system on average every 2.3 minutes. As of the end of 2018, the company had deployed 1,575 megawatts (MW) for 233,000 customers, generating over 5 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean energy. The company has installed nearly 5,000 Brightbox energy storage systems and expects solar with Brightbox installations to grow quicker than solar-only installations.

Sunrun’s headline impact, however, is all about what its solar systems have prevented. Specifically, according to the Impact Report, Sunrun’s systems have prevented greenhouse gas emissions totaling 3.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. This is the equivalent of eliminating more than 9 billion passenger-vehicle miles or recycling nearly 1.3 million tons of waste. The greenhouse gas emissions prevented by Sunrun’s systems are also comparable to the emissions prevented by not burning 421 million gallons of gasoline or 1.86 million metric tons of coal.

Sunrun CEO Lynn Jurich

“Sunrun is helping our country decarbonize and transforming the way that we power our lives,” said Lynn Jurich, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Sunrun. “Our work is creating quality local jobs and reducing pollution in our air and water. Sunrun’s business model benefits everyone: our customers and employees, the communities in which we operate, and is a model for a more effective energy system for the world.”

Sunrun has also created more than 4,000 local jobs and thousands more through its partners, and helped customers save over $300 million on their electricity bills. Sunrun has committed and achieved 100% gender pay parity for its employees in 2018, becoming the first national solar company to do so, and has also committed to developing 100 MW of solar on affordable housing in California by 2028.