WEEB!
For those of you who have not yet installed a solar electric system with GRID, a WEEB (Washer Electrical Equipment Bonding) is a small piece of aluminum hardware that is placed between solar modules to ground the modules to the rails they are clamped to. But for the lawyers of Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP, WEEBS were an opportunity to spontaneously organize themselves in to two WEEB-and-clamp construction assembly lines with some healthy competition on either side as to which team would do the job most effectively and with greater speed (and WEEB was also a great alternative to the word Cheese! when posing for this photograph)!
Ervin Cohen & Jessup sponsored a 3 kW solar electric system for the Cardenas family in the Los Angeles area city of South Gate, and their spontaneous game over the WEEBs was demonstrative of the good humor, committed effort and community spirit that the whole day was characterized by.
Oscar and Angela Cardenas have three children, Cynthia, Suzanne, and Albert, and Angelas elderly Mother, who was born in Lima, Peru, also lives with the family. Already qualified for a very low-income energy assistance program through their utility, the familys monthly energy costs were still a challenge to manage and even a small savings from solar could make the critical difference in being able to afford a medical visit or fill a prescription. The solar-electric system that GRID Alternatives and the Ervin Cohen & Jessup team installed will reduce their energy costs by 87%, while reducing 160,000 lbs of greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of planting almost 300 trees.
The Cardenas family was deeply grateful to GRID and to the ECJ team for the volunteer and philanthropic support that helped make solar happen for their family, and they themselves contributed so much to the day. They turned on the radio in their garage for some fun background music and provided a huge BBQ lunch and buffet in their backyard, and Oscar even got up on the roof and helped install the system. The following week the Cardenas family sent GRID a special Thank You card:
"The Cardenas Family appreciates what the GRID Alternatives staff and the Ervin Cohen & Jessup volunteers have done for us. We are so proud of our new solar electric system. Thank you for giving us this opportunity and providing solar electric systems for homeowners and making the dream come true for many families. Now we are going to really reduce our energy costs and make the environment better. Thank you again. Sincerely, Oscar, Angela, Cynthia, Suzanne, and Albert." (Here's Oscar and Angela on the roof, posing with their new solar system).
It was a big project and got pretty hot up on the roof in the afternoon but the job was done and at the end of day, the 15 module project was ready to produce clean, affordable energy for the Cardenas family for decades. As the Ervin Cohen & Jessup team said good-bye and drove away, mostly in energy-conscious carpools, the radio in the garage (I kid you not) played, Its a Wonderful World.
And you know what? Sometimes it really is.