100,000 Solar Ambassadors are helping us change the way we power our country.

We began the SolarCity power revolution nine years ago today.

An idea imagined during a cross-desert drive started to become a reality, as SolarCity was founded on July 4, 2006.

Those nine years have brought some accomplishments that we're very proud of.

From just two employees in California, we've grown exponentially. We recently hired our 12,000th employee, and entered our 18th state. Our grassroots independent Solar Ambassador program, which empowers people to help us promote our mission, recently topped 100,000 members. This has helped us maintain our position as the number one provider of rooftop solar in the United States.

Putting our growth in context

All this has happened in the context of something much bigger… a solar revolution. Americans now recognize there's a better way to power our country than expensive, dirty, fossil fuels.

According to our 2015 homeowners survey, 87 percent of respondents said renewable energy is an important part of the country's future. Solar was the most favored source.

Americans aren't just talking about it. GTM Research announced that in the first quarter of 2015, 51 percent of new, electric-generating capacity in the United States came from solar. There's now enough installed solar capacity-21.3 gigawatts-to power 4.3 million American homes.

Fostering the solar revolution

Our mission is to "accelerate the mass adoption of clean energy." That means more than just installing solar panels on rooftops, it's why you see us continuing to foster the solar revolution.

In recent months:

We've announced acommunity solar program . It gives renters, schools, and municipalities a chance to buy renewable energy without installing solar panels on their property.

We announced a turnkeybattery backup service-featuring our sister company Tesla's revolutionary Powerwall storage device. The service is designed to provide more reliable power to solar customers during grid outages.

We introduced MyPower, a first-of-its-kind financing option. It helps solar customers who want to own their system enjoy both a low upfront cost and prompt utility savings.

We've continued construction of a one-million-square-footsolar panel factory in Buffalo, NY. When it opens next year, it'll be the largest solar factory in North America.

Become a Solar Ambassador

As we celebrate SolarCity's ninth birthday-and our country's 239th-we offer a sincere thank you to our customers, Solar Ambassadors, employees and supporters. None of this-neither our growth as a company, nor the growth of the solar revolution-would be happening without you.

We invite you to join us. You can become a Solar Ambassadorwhether or not you're a SolarCity customer. You'll enjoy some great advantages -including a $250 reward for referring friends to SolarCity.

In fact, this is the perfect time to join us. Now through Labor Day (September 7), every one of your referrals that goes through site survey get you an entry into our "Win Solar for Life" sweepstakes. So sign up today.

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