FOSTER CITY, Calif. -- Lyndon Rive, a former member of the U.S. National Underwater Hockey team, didn't have a mother who doted on him.

She worked until 11 p.m. most nights and didn't go to his boyhood sporting events.

Yet, Rive considers her the "best mother in the world" and not because she retired at age 45 as a millionaire. "She always supported me in whatever I wanted to do," Rive says.

That turns out to have been a good choice.

Rive, 32, is now CEO and co-founder of SolarCity, which in three years has grown to become a leading residential solar installer in California, the nation's largest solar market.

Perhaps more important, California-based SolarCity has emerged as one of the top consumer brands in solar at a time when green is hot and President Obama makes solar and other renewable energy sources front-page news.

Last year, SolarCity helped pioneer a way to bring solar to the masses and remove one of the biggest hurdles to its widespread adoption: costs of $15,000 or more for homeowners to go solar. With a SolarCity residential lease, customers can lease a system at no money down, and in many areas, save 10% to 15% a month on their combined electric and lease-payment bill, SolarCity says.

While other companies offer similar financing options, SolarCity has "created the first brand in solar for consumers," says Joel Makower, executive editor of GreenBiz.com, an online trade publication. "They were very smart and creative in an industry that had been plodding along."

On any day in San Francisco, chances are good that you'll spot a green SolarCity van en route to an installation. The company claims 4,500 residential and commercial customers in California, Arizona and Oregon, including eBay and Intel.

Rive says SolarCity's revenue will grow 40% this year -- despite the recession -- and 250% next year, given orders on the books. SolarCity employs 450 and plans to add 180 workers in the next quarter, he says. It also aims to expand to at least five states in the next year. Rive, while not releasing revenue for the privately held SolarCity, says it turned its first profit in the recently finished third quarter.

"Our trajectory is on fire," Rive says.

That's not a new phenomenon for him.

At age 17, Rive raked in thousands of dollars a month in his native South Africa as a distributor of natural cosmetics. The business ate up so much time, Rive never went to high school, and faced expulsion. His mother told him to "solve this problem," Rive says.

Armed with his financial statements, Rive met with the principal, who then agreed to let Rive skip school but take the exams. Rive graduated and never set foot in college.