Cal Couillard, has always been interested in harnessing the power of the sun. As a student majoring in construction administration at UW-Madison in the 1970’s, he built a model of an earth-sheltered passive solar house for a class, later designing and building a passive solar house for his own residence. He enjoyed attending the annual Alternative Energy Festival in town to learn about new innovative ideas and was always thinking about the upcoming energy movement.

In 2017 Cal decided to make his manufacturing company’s building in Edgerton (Componex,Inc.) more energy efficient by insulating with urethane foam and having photovoltaic solar modules installed on the roof. Componex’s array powered the whole factory, charged electric cars, and still produced enough energy to sell electricity back to the power grid.

After the sale of Componex in 2018, Cal was inspired to create the Couillard Solar Foundation, with the mission to help fund solar projects for nonprofit organizations. In turn, the Couillard Solar Foundation became the financial basis for Renew Wisconsin’s Solar for Good program and Midwest Renewable Energy Association’s Solar on Schools program.

Cal is a driven entrepreneur with constantly flowing ideas, who currently co-owns Speed Solar, a business that exemplifies his sustainable values. His vision is to fight climate change by installing roof-top solar, thus improving our planet’s future health, one solar project at a time.