In 2012, Cliff Kaehler left his New York City job in renewable energy finance because of his desire to make energy cheaper, cleaner, and more accessible for rural communities back home. Along with his parents Ralph and Mena, Cliff started Novel Energy Solutions at his family’s 130-year-old farm in Saint Charles, Minnesota.
Growing up as a fifth-generation farmer, Cliff saw friends and family experience rising electricity costs eating away at already slim agricultural margins. Clean energy, like solar, required up-front investment that made for slow adoption, and financing options were sparse. However, with his unique skill set Cliff was able to create a solar company that offered its own unique financing solution – by financing 100 percent of the upfront project cost and immediate customer savings, thereby removing any financial barrier. Since then, Novel has grown to offer not just on-site solar for customers, but a full energy management company. Novel Energy helps customers enjoy the savings and benefits of solar, whether they want it for their home, farm, business, as well as for non-profits, religious organizations, and governments.
If you honor us with the privilege of doing business with you, we will do everything we can to keep your trust. You will meet an incredible team of people that understand our word is our bond. Call it old-school, but it is the principle upon which our organization was founded. We were raised learning the value of taking pride in a job well done. Character and integrity drive our company, and we view each day as an opportunity to deliver on our promises. We work hard to do just that by mastering the fundamentals. Nothing fancy, just honest hard work.
Cliff Kaehler, CEO (left), along with the Kaehler family.
We believe in the power of a hand-shake. Our core beliefs are built on these priorities: communication, accountability, drive, execution, team-first, and self-awareness.
The energy sector is rapidly evolving, driven by customers, technology and environmental factors – and we are evolving with it. By remaining at the forefront of innovation, putting customers at the center of everything we do, we always want to be a partner you can count on, and we always want to be getting better.