Clean Energy Spotlight: Hayes Barnard

This week's #cleanenergyspotlight is a software salesman turned serial climate entrepreneur. Hayes Barnard is the founder, chairman, and CEO of GoodLeap, a technology-based finance company. Specifically, GoodLeap finances a market-leading 28% of all home solar installations nationwide, handing out nearly $1 billion in loans each month, enough to cover 27,000 homeowners. 

From 2013 to 2016, Hayes was the chief revenue officer at SolarCity. In that role, he saw the company grow and become a leader in the U.S. solar industry. In 2016, after the company was acquired by Tesla, Hayes resigned and founded GoodLeap, originally named LoanPal, with the goal of spearheading the development of a broader sustainability marketplace. “I like the idea of allowing as many homeowners as possible to live a sustainable life,” Barnard said.

Now, GoodLeap does just that. The company has provided a platform and digital marketplace that supports “more than 44,000 jobs in clean energy, and enabling more than 200,000 homeowners across the U.S. to reduce their cost of living, move towards energy independence, and reduce their environmental footprint” according to the GoodLeap website.

Hayes is an inspirational success story in the clean energy industry. With Forbes estimating his wealth to be $4 billion, making him one of the 400 richest Americans, it’s difficult to believe that Hayes came from humble beginnings. Raised by a single mother just outside of St. Louis and struggling in school with dyslexia, Hayes Barnard is truly an example of hard work resulting in success.

Thank you, Hayes, for your work to make #cleanenergy more accessible to American families, and congratulations on being this week’s #cleanenergyspotlight.