GRID Alternatives Co-founder and CEO, Erica Mackie, was featured as one of Fast Company's Most Creative People 2015.

Clean energy startups are attracting women, experts say, by offering an outsized opportunity to have an impact on society in an exciting sector with potentially lucrative financial rewards.

GRID Alternatives provides solar energy to low income homes and provides a path to work in the solar industry.

In partnership with GRID Alternatives Colorado, Grand Valley Power last week broke ground on a photovoltaic power plant in Grand Junction, a mainly rural, low-income area. Residents will be able to buy electricity generated by the 25-kilowatt solar system, saving an estimated $50 to $75 on their monthly utility bill.

College students at Northeastern University were more than happy to trade beaches for hard hats and help families in need during their Solar Spring Break trip with GRID Alternatives North Valley. 

In an effort to bring more equality to the solar workforce, solar manufacturing giantSunEdison announced Friday that it is giving a $5 million contribution to Grid Alternatives, the largest nonprofit solar installer in the United States, and whose work includes providing job training to women, minorities and other underrepresented groups in the industry.

For some of the country’s most financially vulnerable families, a high utility bill can mean choosing between such things as putting food on the table, or paying to keep the lights on and enough heat flowing to endure cold winter months.

Solar is one of the fastest growing industries in the US, which now employs more people than the coal and natural gas industries combined, but women have largely been left behind. In this series on careers in energy, Breaking Energy takes a look at the women, organizations and companies pushing for a more gender diverse workplace.

Miguel Rodriguez’s new interview attire — shiny black shoes; dapper white, blue and black dress shirts; three handkerchiefs; and three regimental-striped ties — led not to a position on Wall Street, but to a job installing solar panels on city roofs. And that is just the way he likes it.

Eight families in Madera, California will save on their energy bills with solar thanks to GRID Alternatives and community partners like Lifestyle Solar.