GRID Alternatives Partners With UC Research Lab

GRID Alternatives is excited to announce a new partnership with the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL) in the Energy and Resources Group (ERG) at UC Berkeley that will integrate robust academic research into GRID projects that provide access to electricity in places beyond the reach of the power grid. Students and researchers from the lab will collaborate with GRID staff and partners to study GRID’s work in Nicaragua, Nepal and tribal communities in the United States, providing in-depth evaluation of project models and outcomes and informing energy access practices internationally.

RAEL was founded by Dr. Dan Kammen, Class of 1935 Distinguished Professor of Energy with parallel appointments in ERG and the Goldman School of Public Policy, with a mission to help new energy technologies contribute to environmentally sustainable development in ways that are both culturally and socially appropriate. The partnership builds on more than four years of informal collaboration with UC Berkeley students interested in renewable energy.

“Getting electricity to the 1.2 billion of people who still lack access is about more than cutting edge technologies,” said Dr. Kammen, “It’s about finding solutions that are culturally, socially and economically appropriate, and are really solving the problem they are intended to solve.

“Partnering with organizations like GRID that are doing this work on the ground is a great opportunity to study what’s working and why, and get that information to the people who can use it.”

Dr. Kammen, a member of GRID’s National Advisory Council, was recently appointed U.S. Science Envoy for the U.S. State Department and been a leading voice in renewable energy deployment globally.

“GRID’s volunteer-based model has long provided a way for people interested in renewable energy work--from industry representatives to academics and the general public--to get hands-on with solar technology and see how it makes a difference for underserved communities,” said GRID co-founder and CEO Erica Mackie. “This partnership will help us go a step further and contribute to a global body of knowledge around how to maximize impact and ensure that projects are sustainable for the long term.”