A conversation with Douglas Berry, president and chief executive officer, Solar Renewable Energy LLC, Achieve Energy Solutions LLC

What have you brought from your career in finance to the solar energy field? 

I was in public accounting where we developed retirement communities and did other consulting services. I think I signed off on $3-4 billion worth of financing and would work with developers and with the various architects and contractors to try to develop these various entities and building projects. When I left the CPA firm, I took on the same sort of thing, as we were doing a little bit of solar in the CPA firms, and was able to work with the various entities that wanted to have solar or we could actually build solar projects for them. We work typically with nonprofits, municipalities, boroughs, sewer companies, water companies, anybody more municipally oriented (and) figure out how we can work with the tax credit, work with depreciation. We bring all the capital, the financing, we bring the general contractor on the projects, but make it work that the entity gets the benefit of the solar renewable energy credit (SREC). What that energy credit allows them to do is, we can sell that for them, and then they have energy and electricity savings, so between the SREC value, cash flow and the savings of the electricity, that allows them to have a cost benefit. It’s very positive for them to have this on their facility, whether it’s on the roof or on the ground, usually the very first year is positive cash flow for them.  

What do you feel is the biggest benefit to businesses using solar energy? 

There is a good cash flow or good return on investment for them. They’re investing ‘x’ amount of cash but they’re getting a very good return on it, that’s No. 1, that’s what we look at. We’re looking for it to be really cash positive for our entities, but also over and above that, that they’re being green or socially correct with it all, that they’re actually benefitting the environment by saving on carbon emissions. 

Where do you see alternative energy going in the next few years, particularly related to commercial usage? 

People are becoming much, much more aware of the environment and we’re seeing more and more entities really wanting to be socially responsible. There’s something called an ESG score, and when you look at what the ESG score is you can tell how environmentally responsible they really are being. Amazon is one of the ones that are like 100 percent carbon neutral today, they actually have renewables generating all their electricity, either on their rooftops or otherwise, and it’s allowing everybody where they invest their capital to really be able to tell how responsible these entities are being, and if you’re not really that environmentally responsible then you’ll find people don’t invest cash into those sort of entities. We’ve had banks approach us and want to have solar in their investments and on their balance sheet, because they want to be able to state that they are trying to be environmentally correct, but they’re also wanting to have a little better ESG score because various investors will not invest in entities that do not want to have renewables.  

What are you most looking forward about spring? 

It’s funny, if I’m in the office I have to shut my blinds if it’s really a sunny day, and if it’s a cloudy day you don’t, but I’ve always come back to if it’s a solar day, it’s a wonderful day, because everybody loves the sun. I love being outside, playing the various sports, I’m an active person and I love that very much. But also, if the sun’s out, all our clients are making money and generating significant amounts of electricity that day. So that makes me feel very, very good, that they’re being successful in what we tried to build on their campus.   

About Douglas Berry 

Douglas Berry, 61, is president and chief executive officer of Solar Renewable Energy, LLC, and Achieve Energy Solutions, LLC, which develop, finance and operate commercial and municipal solar energy systems. Before that, he was a partner at ParenteBeard in charge of senior living and health systems services, and prior to that, a partner at KPMG for more than 20 years. 

Berry has a bachelors degree in business administration and accounting from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated magna cum laude. 

He is married, with four children and three grandchildren, and lives in Lewisberry. 

Jennifer Botchie Deinlein is a freelance writer