Ken Olson has worked in solar since the 1970s. He taught solar at CMC, co-founded Solar Energy International, and founded SōL Energy in 2003.
Ken Olson has been working in solar since the 1970s. He holds a BS in Building Science and an MS in Solar Energy Technology, and taught the solar program at Colorado Mountain College for ten years (1981–1991).
In 1991 he co-founded Solar Energy International (SEI) in Carbondale and served as its executive director for a decade, helping it become one of the best-known solar training organizations in the world.
In 2003, Ken founded SōL Energy in Carbondale to design and install solar for the valley he lives in. Since then the team has built systems for hundreds of homeowners, businesses, towns and public institutions, including the Basalt Library, Pitkin County Public Works and the Garfield County 911 facility in Rifle. SōL Energy projects in Rifle contributed to the city's net-zero energy work.
Ken's work has also reached beyond the valley: he trained technicians in Latin America to install and maintain solar-powered vaccine refrigeration for the World Health Organization's polio eradication effort.
He still visits job sites and answers technical questions himself. Local solar, clear answers, since 2003.
