Women in Solar

In her own words, Rhonda Rhoque, a GLA volunteer, shares her story of transitioning into a career in solar.

On a chilly November morning in 2014, GRID completed its first multi-family installation in Fresno, California at the Viking Village Apartments. As one of the volunteers on this project, Cynthia Mancillas discovered her passion for solar installation. “It was a great feeling knowing my family and the rest of community would benefit from the install.

“Influential, Fun, Academic…” is how Emily Guillen describes volunteering with GRID. She’s an exemplary student from Desert Hot Springs High School’s Renewable Energy Academy of Learning (REAL) and she has no problem getting to work during installations!

Nine Nicaraguan women joined GRID Alternatives and community members of El Guayo, Nicaragua to install solar power on the school. The women were participating in GRID’s first Mujeres del Sol project, an all-Nicaraguan, all-women installation event to both educate and inspire local women in the energy field, and bring power to a community yearning for access to more education and opportunities for themselves and their children.

Cassie is just one hundreds of Veterans who have walked through GRID Alternatives’ training doors to continue serving their communities here at home. This year several of our offices are ramping up partnerships with Veteran service agencies, like The Mission Continues, in an effort to help them learn new skills and gain a foothold in the solar industry.

It’s not every day when opportunity walks through the door and slaps you in the face. But….it happened at GRID Alternatives Central Valley when Irene Morales walked through our doors one wintery day looking to volunteer with us. As luck would have it, through her volunteer efforts and sheer dedication to helping families, Irene became our Development Assistant in December 2013.

SunEdison and GRID Alternatives announced an expanded partnership through RISE, a new national initiative to build a more inclusive solar workforce and connect an industry that needs good people with communities that need good jobs.

We are humbled by the generosity of our many volunteers, supporters and contributors - together we achieved a huge milestone: our 500th Solar Installation on the Central Coast!