PV Squared is a worker-owned cooperative based in western Massachusetts and central Connecticut that provides assistance with renewable energy systems.

Cooperative businesses exist to meet their members' needs and they are focused more on service than investment. Cooperatives are owned and controlled by their members. Increased local control keeps the co-op in the community. In this business structure, profits    return to members, thus money is kept within a community. Consumers believe co-ops have better  products and services at a lower cost.

The most common types of cooperatives are:

Consumer Cooperative:  A consumer cooperative is a purchasing organization, usually retail  in nature, that is formed by and for the benefit of the consumer. Consumer  cooperatives are guided by the principle that the process of producing and  distributing goods and services shouldn't be controlled by major  corporations with the goal of maximizing profit. Instead, they should be  owned, controlled and directed by the consumer to supply his or her economic  needs. Members benefit by gaining access to quality goods and services, many  otherwise unavailable, in proportion to the use they make of them. By acting  together, members have an economy of size and increase their bargaining  power. Members also share the earnings. When the organization generates  profits, members receive earnings based on their level of involvement with  the cooperative.

Rhode Island College, the state’s oldest public institution for higher learning, is home for RIC Cooperative Playschool. A cooperative preschool is formed by a group of parents who organize to provide their children with a quality early childhood program.

Producer Cooperative: Owned and operated by producers working either separately or as a group, a  producer cooperative is an organization formed to offer its members expanded  marketing capabilities and production efficacy. After allowing for the  expenses of operation and funds allocated for expansion or reserves, it  operates on a cost basis for the mutual benefit of its members and stockholders, as producer or patrons.

Business Owned Cooperative: A business-owned cooperative is an organization owned by a group of  businesses for their mutual benefit. these businesses cooperate with each  other, forming an alliance to purchase goods and services at a total cost  that is substantially less than the costs that would be incurred by  individual businesses acting alone. By purchasing cooperatively, their  buying activity becomes more efficient. They also save through lower administrative costs and guaranteed levels of business with vendors and  suppliers. The member businesses that belong to the co-op agree to pay set  fees, participate in governing the co-op and use its services. A  business-owned co-op has a democratically-elected Board of Directors to  oversee policies and operations and hire management personnel, who in turn hire staff and implement the Board's policies. Business-owned cooperatives  are common in the telecommunications and electric utility industries.