Cotter is taking a big step to make a smaller carbon footprint.

With the help of Novel Energy Solutions (NES), a company proudly founded and run by Cotter grad Cliff Kaehler, Cotter is going green.

Two 40 KW Solar PV Systems are being installed on the Roger Bacon building and Loretto hall.  These solar panels will produce enough energy to power 12 average homes, which accounts for 5-10% of the school’s total  energy use.  These panels will also reduce carbon emissions by more than 2,500 tons over 30 years.

This project would have set Cotter back about $250,000, but NES is covering that cost.  The school will only pay for 75% of the cost of the produced energy.  This should save Cotter approximately $480,000 over a 20 year period.

After that period, the school can buy the system, which should last for more than 50 years, for one dollar.

None of this would be possible without the efforts of Cliff Kaehler,  a 2007 Cotter grade, who then had very different plans for his future.  He attended Georgetown that fall with the intention of working in international business.

His  education at Cotter prepared him for his classes at Georgetown, which Cliff referred to as the “college version of Cotter.”  The schools are very similar in their “drive to succeed and better the world, and a huge community influence.”  After college, he put his knowledge to test, working 100-120 hours a week on Wall Street as an investment analyst.

That was a great experience for Cliff, but it was not how he wanted to spend his life.  He became convinced for the both the need for and business niche for renewable energy products and Novel Energy Solutions was founded in 2012.

Growing up in  St.Charles, Minnesota, Cliff Kaehler never thought that he would be the CEO of a company that produces solar panels.  He grew up on a working farm and his parents were active in several agricultural business ventures.

One of these led to an opportunity to sell agricultural products to the Cuban government and Cliff and his family ended up as the guests of honor of none other than Fidel Castro.  Not many people have such a unique opportunity, nor do they have a Christmas card from Castro hanging on their refrigerator.

Cliff’s family exported the first agricultural products from America to Cuba after the onset of the trade embargo.  His father has had dinner with Castro and the Winona Daily News once ran a story with a photo of Castro playing with Cliff and his younger brother Seth.

Cliff  respects Castro, saying, “He is the most charismatic person I have ever met. Cuba is not perfect, but unlike many Latin American countries, you don’t see children dying in the streets of hunger. Cuba needs to change, but it is a very different country from the one it is made out to be by America.”

Cliff Kaehler is grateful for the education that he received at Cotter.  When asked if he had any advice for students, he said, “Always focus on improving yourself. If you do that, you’ll be a better person in every way next year, and the year after that.  If you truly try to improve yourself, and make a plan, you will be amazed at what you can do. But it’s hard, very few people actually do it.  Also, make sure to enjoy life. Don’t stress about grades, and college. Work hard and have ambition, and as long as you do that, it’ll work out. Not necessarily in the way that you think it will, but it will work out.  Anyone considering going to Georgetown should go, and enjoy your time at Cotter. It is a very unique high school, and you won’t realize that until you leave.”