“Wilbur Schneider was a carpenter who founded Schneider Builders with his three sons. Together they built beautiful homes in the Tolland County area. This started the core value of hard, reliable work in the Schneider family for years to come. ”

“Wilbur and son, Tim, Schneider installed a hot water solar system on their home at 98 West Rd, Ellington, CT.”

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Tim began his apprenticeship in 1978, received his journeyman license in 1982and his E1 license in 1984. As a fully licensed electrician, Tim founded Tim’s Electric in 1985, wiring residential homes and small commercial buildings. ”

“In 1989, Tim was approached by a cousin who was doing some energy efficient lighting retrofits and after doing a few projects together, they started Silverlight Associates.”

“In 1992, Silverlight added a lighting maintenance division and changed the name to Lighting Management or LMI. Together with his cousin they grew the company up until 1997. In 1997, they sold the company to Equitable Resources, a large gas utility company in Pittsburg, PA. As part of the purchase, Tim had to do a 3-year earn out and after a year was moved to Silverton, OR to help one of the divisions in Portland, OR.

Tim moved his family back to Connecticut in 2006 after an 8-year enjoyable experience.”

“Tim, Dana, and their oldest son, Sam Schneider, opened a small retail store, calling it Earthlight Technologies, and began selling residential energy efficiency products, such as CFL lightbulbs, ballasts, fixtures and many other projects to help make homes more energy efficient.”

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We introduced commercial energy efficiency, completing several small lamp and ballast projects for local businesses in and around Ellington. We bid and won a spot as a preferred contractor with the Connecticut Light and Power Small Business Energy Advantage (SBEA) program! We expanded into the larger commercial landscape and hired our first, full-time employee.”

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We bid and won a spot as a preferred contractor into the Western Massachusetts Small Business Energy Advantage program. We performed a beautiful LED upgrade for the FL Roberts Corporation in Springfield, MA and was rewarded with another 45 locations along the Route 91 corridor. This kick-started the “gas station LED revolution” at Earthlight, allowing us to learn firsthand the value of a job well done.”

“Earthlight introduced solar and launched the residential solar division, installing our first three solar arrays.”

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Earthlight bid and won Solarize Tolland, providing solar to 45 homes in the town. We then ventured into commercial solar, installing systems at Kloter Farms and TSI Harley-Davidson in Ellington, CT. Meanwhile, our energy efficiency division continued to thrive, installing multiple LED lighting, refrigeration, motors and control projects for Dunkin, Burger King and McDonald’s. ”

“ Solar projects are completed for Scranton Motors, Oakridge Dairy, Pride’s Corner Nursery and Ellington public schools. The residential and energy efficiency divisions continued to thrive as we continued to present ourselves with professionalism, courtesy and pride. ”

“Earthlight expanded to the west coast and opened a branch in Silverton, Oregon. The Schneider family spent eight years calling Oregon home and wanted to bring clean energy solutions to their west-coast community.

Earthlight’s team grew to approximately 50 employees.”

“As we celebrated our 10-year anniversary, our dedication and hard work was recognized when SunPower invited Earthlight to become a Master Dealer. Only 34 out of 500 SunPower solar panel dealers ever reached this exclusive status of “Master Dealer”.

Earthlight became the only SunPower Master Dealer in both Connecticut and Oregon!”

“After guiding thousands of homeowners through the solar process, Earthlight began designing and installing energy storage solutions to help homeowners take their energy independence to the next level. Earthlight has rigorously tested numerous energy storage systems to ensure that homeowners are getting a superior storage solution alongside the best panel technology. Earthlight is a proud certified installer for the Tesla Powerwall and FranklinWH battery.”

“Upon acceptance into the Massachusetts National Grid Electric Vehicle Charging Incentive Program, Earthlight has begun developing yet another portion of the company. Our skilled team of designers and electricians are a great match for this type of work and the demand has grown exponentially in the year that we have been working on these projects.”

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Earthlight has completed over 1,500 energy efficiency projects, over 1,500 residential solar projects and nearly 100 commercial solar projects on both the east and west coasts. We have become a company of over 100 employees, priding ourselves on being a company that provides exceptional, turnkey service.”