GRID Alternatives Colorado has partnered with utilities, municipal agencies, and affordable housing providers including Denver Housing Authority, Grand Valley Power, Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association, Colorado Energy Office, and the City of Thornton to develop a variety of solar projects.
GRID Alternatives Colorado has now installed over 5.5 Megawatts of solar throughout Colorado, saving hundreds of low-income qualified families and multiple affordable housing providers more than $9.8 million and offsetting over 47,000 tons of greenhouse gases over the systems' lifetimes.
GRID Alternatives Colorado's newest job training program is the Solar Training Academy, implemented in partnership with Denver Housing Authority and the Denver Urban Renewal Authority. The Solar Training Academy is a hands-on training program that will provide a pipeline to employment in the construction fields for underserved and unemployed Denver residents. Through the quarterly program, up to 60 low-income qualified trainees annually will gain the hands-on and classroom training necessary to land a job in the solar or related construction industries.
Solar Programs
Through developing rooftop, community solar, and multifamily solar projects, GRID Alternatives provides discounted electricity that benefits low-income families while providing hands-on installation experience for job seekers and community volunteers. Learn more.
Workforce Development
Hands-on experience is central to our model, and we want to help turn that experience into meaningful employment opportunities for people in communities we serve. Our workforce development programs and initiatives include:
- Installation Training Programs, training programs offering participants hands-on installation training to develop their skills and increase employment opportunities.
- National Women in Solar Program, an effort to build a diverse, equitable and inclusive solar industry by providing pathways to technical careers for women, highlighting the voices of women of color in the industry, and providing national leadership on solar workforce diversity.
- SolarCorps Fellowships, one-year placements at GRID Alternatives that give participants the opportunity to get broad and deep experience in a variety of aspects of the industry.
- Solar Futures, a K-14 education program offering classroom curriculum and hands-on training for youth.
- Troops to Solar, an initiative supported by Wells Fargo to connect veterans to solar industry jobs by providing workforce training to U.S. military veterans and active service members across the country.
