Running Jerry Shumate’s array of medical equipment consumes a lot of electricity, and costs a pretty penny, but a new solar array installed on his roof Friday will ease that burden.

As soon as workers turned on the new solar panels atop Boyd Reagan’s roof for a test run, he said the energy meter went backwards. And for the 64-year-old retired bookkeeper living on a fixed income, it was a sign of relief.

The battle against what Gov. Jerry Brown called "the pre-eminent threat to all humanity" continued Friday on a residential rooftop in North Long Beach. Brown was in town to celebrate a solar power installation at the home of Maribel and Jose Mendoza and their four boys.

Though rooftop solar is starting to make inroads into California's less-affluent communities, most of the state's millions of low- and moderate-income residents still have to pay their utility bills without much help from the sun. But a non-profit solar installer is trying to change that a little bit at a time. Last week, that "little bit" was two struggling households in Palmdale.

PBS SoCal TV coverage - A modern day barn raising, except this time instead of building a structure to store grain and farm animals, this project stores the energy of the sun.

Established in 2001, GRID Alternatives is a nonprofit organization that provides low income communities access to solar energy. GRID Alternatives was founded by two engineers who are driven to make clean energy accessible to the low-income communities that need solar energy the most.

Susie Chang is the Greater Los Angeles Regional Director for GRID Alternatives, a non-profit organization that installs solar electric systems for low-income homeowners in partnership with volunteers

and job trainees.

PBS SoCal TV coverage - A modern day barn raising, except this time instead of building a structure to store grain and farm animals, this project stores the energy of the sun.

PBS SoCal TV coverage - A modern day barn raising, except this time instead of building a structure to store grain and farm animals, this project stores the energy of the sun.

This summer, where it was predicted that the heat would increase, Celia Juarez, who is 72 years old, will pay up to 85% less than her usual bill for electricity per month. This help has literally fallen from the sky...the sun, to be exact.