I’m happy to announce that Roy Van Cleef has been promoted to Residential Sales Manager at New England Clean Energy.

Many of our customers know Roy personally as he joined us in 2011. I first brought Roy on board to conduct property assessments for the Solarize Harvard program. We liked him so much (and vice versa) that he stayed on after that program ended, as a Solar Consultant. Roy is certified as a PV Technical Sales Professional by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP). In his new role, he’s overseeing our residential sales team and activities. And we’ll make sure he still has time to work directly with people interested in knowing their solar options.

Roy’s background is pretty interesting. He grew up in South Africa and first came to the U.S. as an exchange student at the University of Oregon from Aberdeen University in Scotland. A zoology degree led to his passion for renewable energy and conservation, as his focus on wildlife and biology led to concern about the damage being inflicted on the planet by fossil fuels.

After university, he was a competitive cyclist for several years. He moved to Massachusetts in 2004, where he has lived ever since.