John Schaeffer

John Schaeffer has been exploring renewable energy and sustainable living since his 1971 graduation from the University of California at Berkeley, where he majored in anthropology. During the last 26 years, he founded and grew Real Goods, where he is still president, from a garage start-up to the foremost global source for tools and information on renewable energy and sustainable living. Along the way, he has brought new ecological products to a wider market and pioneered ways of raising money directly from his customers without the need for investment bankers and stock brokers while doing business ethically, responsibly and humanely. In 1995 he created the Solar Living Center in Hopland, California, a 12-acre educational demonstration site powered by solar and wind which hosts nearly 200,000 visitors annually, and is home of the nation's premier annual energy festival, SolFest. He founded and remains Board Chair of the educational non-profit Solar Living Institute dedicated to promoting renewable energy through inspirational environmental education. John lives with his wife Nancy remotely in Mendocino County, California in a natural home built mostly from recycled materials in the middle of a permaculture oasis powered by solar and hydro-electric.