This year, GRID welcomed college teams from across the country for our most ambitious--and impactful--Solar Spring Break yet! Seventeen teams and 172 students joined GRID offices from coast to coast, working with staff and community members to spread the benefits of solar to more families and learn a lot along the way.
This year’s Solar Spring Breakers made a huge impact in the communities they served. Their contributions to 21 solar installation projects will save homeowners over $2 million in energy costs and prevent nearly 7,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions.
Teams of 10-12 students from each school traveled to different project sites around the country and spent the week on a combination of solar installations, renewable energy industry tours, and neighborhood outreach. Participants experienced many new adventures--bravely knocking on doors to bring the benefits of solar to low-income homeowners, immersing themselves in cross-cultural experiences with tribal communities, discussing social justice issues with our local partners, marveling at vast solar farms and, of course, installing lots of solar.
In Los Angeles, students from University of Massachusetts and Massachusetts Institute of Technology met with Homeboy Industries, a nonprofit helping former gang members and incarcerated individuals join the clean energy industry. Meanwhile, students from North Carolina Central University, were spending their week in San Diego installing solar for the La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians. In Washington, DC, University of North Carolina Tar Heels braved unseasonable cold temperautres to help install solar on a multifamily apartment complex in Southeast DC. And in Fresno, California, students from Duke University had the opportunity to tour Fresno's Water, Energy and Technology (WET) Center where they learned about California’s water supply and historic drought, and later installed solar for a local family.
“The install was phenomenal," said Jenna Poplausky of Duke University. "We came in knowing nothing, but the staff showed us every step and gave us the opportunity to do it ourselves. Everyone at GRID clearly cares so much about what they do and why they are doing it. Everyone is so passionate!”
With Solar Spring Break 2017 coming to a close, a new door opens! Registration for Solar Spring Break 2018 opens at the end of summer. Learn more!
Thanks to Wells Fargo for its support of Solar Spring Break 2017.