# Palmetto

> Palmetto is a Charlotte-based clean-energy technology company that helps homeowners put solar panels and batteries on their roofs with no money down. Founded in 2010 by Christopher Kemper, it runs a software platform, an installer marketplace, and a financing arm called LightReach that owns the hardware and sells homeowners the power - a model that has attracted more than $1.2 billion in financing from Morgan Stanley and Truist and reached hundreds of thousands of customers.

- **Founded:** 2010
- **Headquarters:** Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
- **Founders:** Christopher Kemper (Chairman, CEO & Founder)
- **Team size:** Approximately 673-730 employees (2026)
- **Products:** Palmetto LightReach, Solar & Home Electrification Marketplace, Energy Intelligence API, Mapdwell, Palmetto App & Energy Management
- **Notable:** Mapped the solar potential of more than 107 million US buildings, Raised over $1.2 billion in financing (2024-2025) to fund LightReach residential clean-energy plans, Reached 500,000+ customers across the United States

## Products & services

- **Palmetto LightReach** — A no-upfront-cost solar lease and power purchase agreement (PPA) program. Palmetto owns and maintains the rooftop solar and battery system; the homeowner pays a stable monthly rate for the power it produces, with no installation cost, dealer fees, or maintenance charges.
- **Solar & Home Electrification Marketplace** — A platform connecting homeowners with vetted installers and custom-tailored solar panels, battery storage, EV chargers, protection plans, and smart energy devices, plus financing.
- **Energy Intelligence API** — A developer API built on geospatial AI and building 'digital twins' that returns rooftop solar potential, energy simulation, and electrification data - used by utilities and third-party clean-energy brands.
- **Mapdwell** — MIT-incubated geospatial solar-mapping technology (acquired 2021) that gives an instant rooftop solar assessment for any building; now powers Palmetto's mapping of 107M+ US buildings and its utility partnerships.
- **Palmetto App & Energy Management** — A consumer app and software layer providing AI-driven, personalized energy recommendations, monitoring, and spending insights.

## Achievements

- Mapped the solar potential of more than 107 million US buildings
- Raised over $1.2 billion in financing (2024-2025) to fund LightReach residential clean-energy plans
- Reached 500,000+ customers across the United States
- Scaled LightReach to 30+ states at roughly 300 new solar households per day
- Acquired MIT-incubated Mapdwell (2021) and built it into an Energy Intelligence API
- Won at MIT's 10th annual Climate & Energy Hackathon with its Energy Intelligence API

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — Closed a reported $250 million debt financing to continue funding residential clean-energy plans.
- **2025-10** — Closed a $420 million asset-backed securitization backed by residential solar assets.
- **2025-01** — Announced $1.2 billion+ in financing from Morgan Stanley, Truist and others to scale LightReach across the US.
- **2024-01** — Reported plans to raise as much as $2 billion to finance residential solar and home electrification for its 500,000+ customer base.

## Links

- Website: https://palmetto.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/palmetto

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/palmetto
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-21