Pictured: GRID Alternatives Team Leader Marcos, Mitsubishi volunteer Naoto Shimada, and homewoner Felipe Perez
Thanks to our homeowners, volunteers, sponsors, and donors, GRID Alternatives Greater Los Angeles had a fabulous year in 2012, which we celebrated with what is becoming an end-of-year holiday tradition, a sponsored installation with Mitsubishi Electric!
With the volunteer and philanthropic support of Mitsubishi and the Mitsubishi Electric Foundation, the Perez family of Huntington Beach, who own a home from Habitat for Humanity, wil now see an 83% reduction in their energy costs.
The Perez family moved from Zacatecas Mexico to California 16 years ago. Felipe and Elvia Perez have two children, Oscar and Esau. Felipe works in a Santa Ana factory as a machine operator and Elvia is assistant teacher in a preschool care center in Santa Ana as well. Their oldest son Oscar is a student at the University of California, Irvine, and Esau is in eighth grade.
"I'm feeling emotions very similar to how I felt six years ago when we got the house from Habitat," Elvia says. "We were so pleased we could move to a more favorable environment for our children to grow up in. Now we want to thank GRID Alternatives and Mitsubishi for helping us go solar and decrease the cost of electricity because even though we work so hard, we still struggle to afford all these expenses ourselves."
The Perez family is also proud to be making their own contribution not just to a better environment for their own family but for all families, We want to thank you also for giving us this opportunity so that we too can contribute to reducing pollution for everyone with our new solar system.
When asked about how she initially felt about solar, Elvia says, "We had heard about this kind of energy system. But at first we were afraid and wondered how it would works and how much it would cost us and what happens when it is cloudy?" she laughs. "But thanks to GRID we learned how solar works and feel confident in this great benefit for our family and our environment."