The biggest hurdle for transitioning home energy systems from fossil fuels to solar power is the upfront investment. Over the life of solar panels, your electricity costs will be zero, but in the short term, it ain’t easy going green. Dave Llorens, co-founder of One Block Off the Grid, took a simple idea–buying in bulk–and quickly enabled whole communities in a dozen cities to leverage their collective consumer power to go solar. To date he’s helped 500 homeowners make the switch. Llorens recently returned to his native New Orleans with $50,000 to educate neighbors about the benefits of patching into the sun. The result? Five blocks off the grid. Think of him as the Johnny Appleseed of solar power.

With $50,000, Dave Llorens helped free five blocks of New Orleans from carbon belching power plants. What could you do?