Job Training

After a successful launch, we're making our return to the Rockaways as we look to continue our rebuilding efforts on the peninsula devastated by Hurricane Sandy.

GRID Alternatives Mid-Atlantic landed on the map “not with a whisper, but with a bang, a big bang,” as District of Columbia Housing Authority Director Adrianne Todman put it. Around 300 people came out to help us install 19 kW of clean, renewable solar power for ten deserving families, and spread the word that solar can and should benefit everyone.

Sal Torres got to say thank-you in person to Wells Fargo for its support of GRID's job training program, which propelled him into a solar career.

Jim’s love for solar started decades ago. In a woodworking class he participated in a group project to create a solar cooker, warming a hot dog on a chilly Michigan spring day. One swine sausage later he was hooked. “I thought the whole idea behind solar, collecting power from the sun, was the way to go.”

We caught up with GRID Volunteer Zachary Peek about how to build a career in Solar!

Leticia Reis, one of our summer interns, came to us by way of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s BioResource and Agricultural Engineering (BRAE) Department. She heard about GRID Alternatives this fall during a partnership with the BRAE Department in which GRID employees participated in a Solar Photovoltaic System Engineering lab course and spoke at several sessions of the class.

We would like to thank and say farewell to three AmeriCorps State members and PG&E solar fellows who have completed 1700 hours of service to our office – Lauren Walburg, Anton Muller and Dan St. Sauveur.

Our Hollister Summer Immersion in Solar enabled us to provide volunteers and job trainees with real-world experience through hands on training in solar installation both on the roof and the ground. It also gave us a chance to pilot Troops to Solar and Students for Solar, two of our new Workforce Development Initiatives and enabled us to have two Women’s Builds as part of our National Women in Solar Initiative.

This year, our Central Coast regional office is continuing its work as a non-profit solar contractor with the help of three new employees and four new interns.