Tony first heard of GRID in his hometown of Sacramento, where he volunteered with GRID North Valley, earning all 11 Installation Basic Training skill certificates and serving as an intern. When the Bay Area SolarCorps Construction Fellow position was posted, it was a perfect match for Tony. You may have already met Tony out on the roof with GRID Bay Area where he teaches participants, monitors our quality control checklist and always finds new and amazing ways to pose for group photos. Read on to learn more about Tony!

While hundreds of world leaders descended on San Francisco, GRID showcased California low-income solar policy in action with State Senator Kevin de León and other leaders in San Francisco’s Bayview community.

Following the 2015 Valley Fire, GRID Alternatives Bay Area/North Coast  began looking for opportunities to pair rebuilt homes with solar and its associated cost savings. Earlier this month, on a scorching 119 degree day, the Wasik Family became the first fire survivors to receive a GRID solar system, nearly a year to the day after moving in to their rebuilt home.

GRID Alternatives Bay Area is partnering with BRIDGE Housing on our largest multifamily solar install to date benefiting low-income renters. Over six weeks this fall, we will install 208 kilowatts of solar - more than 700 panels - at East Palo Alto's Peninsula Park apartment complex. With 129 units, Peninsula Park will be our biggest impact yet! Read on to learn more.

Damian is GRID’s Outreach Coordinator for the South Bay/Silicon Valley. As a Bay Area native from East Palo Alto and an advocate for the environment and in empowering disadvantaged families, Damian is an incredible resource to both GRID and the communities we serve.

Welcome to our July installment of our Staff Spotlight feature, where we share a brief interview to introduce you to some of our amazing staff members here at GRID Bay Area! This month, we are introducing you to our SolarCorps Outreach Fellow, James Walker! James brings enthusiasm and passion to everything he works on, which is part of what made him stand out as a GRID intern before joining our staff. James's SolarCorps year of service combines his interests in foreign languages with his passions for addressing wealth inequality and climate change.

As the morning fog cleared on Saturday June 9th, the sun shined out over 100 volunteers on the rooftops and homes at Atchison Village in Richmond as a part of GRID Bay Area’s 13th Annual Solarthon event. The 2018 Solarthon, GRID’s annual solar installation block party and fundraiser, was a huge success: community volunteers, executives from the solar industry, solar clients and residents of Atchison Village, and local job trainees all came together to successfully install for 19 families in one day and take part in a celebration of Richmond's bright future!

On Earth Day 2018, eleven participants traveled to Nepal with GRID Alternatives to install a 1.2 kW off-grid solar system in Chitwan National Park. Here, Marissa Leshnov, GRID Bay Area’s SolarCorps Workforce and Volunteer Fellows, recounts some of the moments that shaped her experience in Nepal’s sub-tropical plains.

Below is a guest blog from Barbara Postel, a resident of the Atchison Village community where GRID held it’s 13th Annual Solarthon event. Barbara, whose solar system had been installed prior to the event, spent her Saturday giving back to GRID alongside the team of Solar Champions who had fundraised in support of the event. We are so lucky to have amazing people like you in the GRID family, Barbara!

On a Friday morning in mid May, 16 students, dressed in button up shirts and shined shoes, began filing into GRID Alternatives’ Bay Area training space. The students had just finished a month of intensive hands-on solar training - the longest solar cohort training to date in the Bay Area - with GRID Alternatives and Rising Sun Energy Center, a Berkeley-based job training nonprofit and longtime partner of GRID’s. Each student walked with a little extra pep in their step knowing that they were prepared for the the private job fair with local hiring employers that took place on their last day of the month-long training.