Today, Thornton resident Desi is married, but for years, she was a single mom raising four girls. As such, she’s no stranger to budgeting and finding creative solutions to saving money. It’s part of why her family is so conscious about energy usage. It’s also part of the reason she became a dance teacher 30 years ago; when she couldn’t find the resources to be able to both work and spend time with her girls, she took up dancing as an activity they could all do together. Today, she’s been leading Cultural Dance Productions for the past two decades. The non-profit dance organization teaches traditional Mexican folk dancing at no cost to children throughout the Denver metro area.
A Colorado native, Desi has been living in Thornton for decades after moving to the neighborhood in middle school. When asked about how energy costs have impacted her life, she replied that she’s always trying to budget. Even before the solar panels on her roof, she’s maintained a small solar panel powering the lights on her shed. When she heard about GRID Colorado’s (GRID CO) free solar program, she was excited. “The rising costs of energy,” Desi said, explaining what motivated her to go solar, “I’m definitely noticing them going up and up.”
Grabbing an energy bill, Desi explained how since the installation of her solar PV system, her savings totaled about $100 for the first half of the month. Because her solar installation happened relatively recently, she’s looking forward to seeing what the savings will be like during the summer—the time of the year when the panels will receive the most sunlight for the longest period throughout the day, maximizing savings.
And it’s not just the cost savings that have impacted the family: Desi explained how having the solar panels on top of the house have made the adults, kids, and grandkids in the home more conscious about saving energy. Now, it’s a game to turn the lights off or unplug unused appliances as the family checks out their solar production on their monitoring app and awaits the next bill to see not just how much energy their system produced, but also how much energy they conserved.
“Solar is always a good thing,” Desi said, explaining why she would recommend GRID CO’s Energy for All Program. “I’m just glad I got it for free,” she added. “All of the people who came out with GRID CO were awesome. They were kind, always let us know they were here, and were never a bother,” she emphasized.
To learn more about GRID CO’s free solar program and how you may qualify, fill out the intake form on our website or reach out to one of our outreach coordinators today.