North Carolina · Nonprofit
THE CENTER FOR ENERGY EDUCATION FKA SOLAR CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE
THE CENTER FOR ENERGY EDUCATION FKA SOLAR CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE (North Carolina) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,138,106 to it, the largest being WINDWARD FUND ($1,200,000). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 80% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.7M
- Funders on record
- 18
- Grants received
- $2.1M
- Net assets
- $2.1M
What The Center for Energy Education Fka Solar Center for Excellence does
Mission
To provide a cutting-edge space where education, research and industry-leading professionals work and learn side by side. A space where the local community finds the inspiration and opportunities to become the solar professionals and advocates of tomorrow.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
"solarfest" 10 year anniversary. Community event held to showcase how solar energy and agriculture can work together to strengthen economic opportunities and sustainability in rural and underserved communities. Participants learned how clean energy is driving new job creation, business investment, and educational pathways across rural north carolina. Approximately 1,200 people in attendance.
$595,031 spent56% of program spendingVarious small programs and exhibits designed to educate the community about renewable energy. Approximately 550 attendees.
$297,515 spent28% of program spending"watt's up camp" is a summer camp held in starke county, indiana. Students in grades 4 through 8 explore renewable energy sources, energy efficient measures, and learn about career opportunities. Approximately 12 students participated.
$178,509 spent17% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,071,055.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $1.1M to $1.7M (+59%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
79% of THE CENTER FOR ENERGY EDUCATION FKA SOLAR CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Mozine Lowe
Executive director
Board chair
Georg Veit
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 9 funders, grant income rose $173k → $623k.
5 of 18 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 80% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $48k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest East Carolina Health). These are real filings, and they are not money THE CENTER FOR ENERGY EDUCATION FKA SOLAR CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE raised.
From the IRS filings of THE CENTER FOR ENERGY EDUCATION FKA SOLAR CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
THE CENTER FOR ENERGY EDUCATION FKA SOLAR CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 56% of grant income and the top three 83%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
88% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund THE CENTER FOR ENERGY EDUCATION FKA SOLAR CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 87% · 2021 49% · 2022 75% · 2023 48% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
60% of THE CENTER FOR ENERGY EDUCATION FKA SOLAR CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 39% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
80% of THE CENTER FOR ENERGY EDUCATION FKA SOLAR CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $430k that is directly attributable, 54% of it comes from North Carolina funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.7M arriving through sponsors registered in 5 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
THE CENTER FOR ENERGY EDUCATION FKA SOLAR CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 1,074 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,074 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like THE CENTER FOR ENERGY EDUCATION FKA SOLAR CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In North Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
88% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
78%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE CENTER FOR ENERGY EDUCATION FKA SOLAR CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds THE CENTER FOR ENERGY EDUCATION FKA SOLAR CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE?
- THE CENTER FOR ENERGY EDUCATION FKA SOLAR CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE (North Carolina) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,138,106 to it, the largest being WINDWARD FUND ($1,200,000). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 80% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE CENTER FOR ENERGY EDUCATION FKA SOLAR CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE have?
- IRS filings report 18 organizations giving $2,138,106 in grants to THE CENTER FOR ENERGY EDUCATION FKA SOLAR CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE CENTER FOR ENERGY EDUCATION FKA SOLAR CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE?
- WINDWARD FUND is the largest funder on record, with $1,200,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE CENTER FOR ENERGY EDUCATION FKA SOLAR CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North Carolina. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Center for Energy Education Fka Solar Center for Excellence →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 18 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing