Team Leaders work under the supervision of GRID Alternatives' professional solar installation staff and help provide guidance and leadership to less experienced volunteers, ensure a positive and safe experience, and verify that all work is done to our quality standards. Team Leaders add organizational capacity by helping us serve more homeowners and train more volunteers to install solar.
Benefits
- Priority on most installations
- Private invitations to Team Leader-only volunteer events and trainings
- Experience that counts toward qualifying for the NABCEP PV Installer Exam
- Invaluable hands-on and leadership experience and access to potential employment opportunities
Becoming a Team Leader
Team Leaders may specialize in roof or ground work, or both. To become a Team Leader you will:
- Log at least 40 hoursfive installation daysof volunteer hours. (Team Leaders on average log 160 hours.) Sign up for installations in the volunteer portal.
- After completing 40 hours, sign up for and attend a Roof and/or Ground Team Leader training led by GRID Alternatives staff.
- Demonstrate mastery of a set of key skills and the ability to train other volunteers to perform those skills. Progress can be tracked in the volunteer portal.
Once requirements have been completed, you will receive an orange GRID Alternatives tee-shirt signifying your Team Leader status as well as Team Leader permissions in the Volunteer Portal.
NABCEP Field Experience Qualification
GRID Alternatives Team Leaders can use their team leader experience to meet the installation requirements needed to sit for the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) PV Installer Certification Exam. For each NABCEP system installation requirement, the team leader must have led one complete installation as a Roof Team Leader and another complete installation as a Ground Team Leader. For more information about the NABCEP, visit nabcep.org.
Employment Opportunities for Team Leaders
Team Leaders have access to various potential paths to employment, including on-site networking opportunities with other volunteers and corporate sponsors; referrals to companies who are hiring for both installation and non-installation positions in the solar industry; and referrals through GRIDs Sub-contractor Partnership Program (SPP) for paid short-term work as an SPP job trainee. (For installations where the volunteer model is not practical, GRID works with SPP companies that agree to a reduced cost model and commit to hiring at least one eligible job trainee for each sub-contracted installation.)