OAKLAND, Calif., April 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Sungevity, the nation's fastest growing residential solar company, was named "Innovator of the Year" during Planet Forward's PBS television special that looks at energy, climate and sustainability solutions. A studio audience selected Sungevity ahead of six other finalists for its innovative solar lease and easy, online process of going solar.

"We have built a network of thousands of smart homeowners across the country with our online iQuote process to make solar easy, and our finance innovation to make solar affordable," said Alec Guettel, Sungevity Board Chairman. "We are thrilled to be recognized for our innovative solutions and look forward to showing the Planet Forward audience our continuing efforts to improve how our country generates energy."

Hundreds of ideas were submitted to the Planet Forward program. These ideas were then narrowed down to seven finalists. During the program, each finalist was shown in a short video presentation. A three-person panel comprised of former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, New York Times energy reporter Andrew Revkin and Thomas Connelly, Chief Innovation Officer of DuPont discussed each idea. Then, the audience voted on the idea they thought held the most promise for answering the Planet Forward question "How can we improve how we use or generate energy?"

Hosted by award-winning journalist Frank Sesno, the program will air on PBS stations nationwide this week. This award comes as the company will expand its service area to the East Coast in late spring.

"Danny Kennedy submitted a fascinating idea, just as the others did, and he and the team at Sungevity should be congratulated for winning the studio audience vote. Now he has been challenged by the Planet Forward audience: Be an innovator. Make a difference. Change the equation. We'll be watching to see how Danny does," said Sesno.

"We would like to thank Planet Forward's audience for selecting us, and really our customers who are ahead of the curve when it comes to innovating the process of going solar and tackling our energy challenges," said Danny Kennedy, Sungevity Founder. "As we look to spread 'sunshine online' to the East Coast later this spring, we'll continue to work with our customers to expand the ever-growing network of Americans looking for solar savings made easy."

About Sungevity:

Sungevity has designed a unique online sales process to make it easy and affordable for homeowners to go solar. Sungevity's Solar Lease offer gives most customers savings from the start. For many the electricity bill savings start immediately and increase over time. Sungevity has an easy online "iQuote" process, which enables Sungevity to use satellite images and aerial photography to assess customers' roofs remotely and accurately to determine the homes' solar potential. This allows the company to furnish thousands of customers with a firm proposal without a home visit, saving time and money for its customers.

Follow Sungevity Online:

Blog: http://blog.sungevity.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/sungevity

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sungevity

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/sungevity

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Sungevity

SOURCE Sungevity