Jeff Clearwater – Founder of Village Power Design

I’m glad to support off-grid projects for do-it-yourselfers or where a local electrician is willing to install – backed up by my technical support while taking advantage of my low wholesale pricing.   For some off-grid projects I’m willing to travel to your remote site and assist or oversee installation.  For grid-tie projects I can empower you or your local electrician – providing a complete equipment, documentation and tech support package with ongoing tech support.

And if you or your electrician want to establish your own local solar business based on the initial job(s) we do together, I can set you up with full technical support, design and quoting methods and distributor relationships you will need to get started.

I also offer bidding services including feasibility studies, bid specification and authoring as well as commissioning and third party performance verification.

About Jeff Clearwater

Jeff Clearwater has been a pioneering leader, advocate and successful entrepreneur in the solar and renewable energy industry for 44 years – helping to shape the industry into what it is today. Jeff has founded seven successful solar and energy design and installation businesses – his first in 1979 –  and served on the Boards of seven renewables related not-for-profits.  Jeff has provided solar, renewable energy and appropriate technology consulting, design, installation and whole systems integration for homeowners, businesses, governments, ecovillages and sustainability projects all over the world including Nepal, Sri Lanka, Columbia, Brazil, Guatemala, Mexico, Sweden, Turkey and Spain and extensively throughout North America.   Jeff  has consulted on, designed and/or personally installed over 200 off-grid and grid-tie solar, wind and/or microhydro electric systems ranging from numerous small residential systems to whole village and whole island systems to large commercial systems with a combined total of over 5 Megawatts of installed capacity including over 260 KWs of off-grid systems.

Jeff was also instrumental in the early electric vehicle industry founding NorthWest Electric Car in 1991 while prototyping high-mileage hybrids and building the first “Safa Tempo” electric taxi in Khatmandu where over 800 vehicles based on his early designs now roam the streets .  Jeff also has received research and development and prototype grants in concentrating solar  (as far back as President Carter’s point focusing competition), electric vehicles, grid-tie residential microhydro and innovative integrated system designs.  Jeff has also provided technical due diligence to investors, entrepreneurs and inventors in the areas of concentrating solar, super efficient appliances and electric vehicle technology.

Jeff has also been very active and instrumental in the not-for-profit sustainability world.  He is co-founder of the Ecovillage Network of the Americas and helped launch Living Routes – Study Abroad in Ecovillages.  Jeff was Director of the Ecovillage Office at Sirius Community for 6 years and has taught  sustainable development and design through the United Nations’ CIFAL program.   Jeff has also taught numerous courses in appropriate technology, permaculture and new paradigm economics over the last 16 years.  Jeff now strives in his learning and teaching to go beyond sustainability into regenerative and new paradigm knowledge, wisdom and practices.  New paradigm economics now informs his way of viewing the creation of a sustainable and regenerative future.  See more at his blog at The Visionary Commons.

Jeff is now focusing his inspiration on VillageLab – an innovative incubator  that will utilize the ecovillage and sustainable communities movement as a centrally coordinated yet distributed laboratory for the research and development of sustainable and regenerative practices in all aspects of sustainable living.

Jeff now resides in Ashland, OR where his real love is living and playing and working toward intentional community with family and friends.