As a life-long resident of Desert Hot Springs, Alondra Rendon always wanted to help her community. After noticing the growing number of solar system homeowners, she became interested in being a part of her community’s transition to renewable energy. However, she was not sure where or how to start. Fortunately her high school, Desert Hot Springs High School has the REAL Academy which partners with GRID’s Solar Futures program to equip students with the tools needed to pursue a career in the solar energy field. This REAL Academy alumna is a success story that shows how the combination of hard work and GRID resources contributes to one of the organization’s goals of connecting people to good jobs.
Although the thought of diving into something she knew little about made her nervous, she remained open-minded and quickly learned that solar work was fun! Alondra said her favorite part of the program was doing her first installation for a family in Thermal. Alondra recalls, “that experience was a rush of energy. I was learning so many new things like ground work, wiring, and installing yet, the GRID staff was patient and kept at a speed that I could keep up with.”
Alondra expressed that she was grateful the Solar Futures program gave her experience in the solar industry. She currently holds an administration position at HPE (Hot Purple Energy) as of June 2018. She felt that GRID adequately prepared her for her new job because it gave her the knowledge of how solar energy works and the confidence to pursue her interests. She loves her job because the people are great, they do good work, and she just loves learning more every day.
Alondra’s goals for the future are to further build on her work experience by continuing her employment at HPE and to take classes at the College of the Desert. She said that GRID’s Solar Futures program was a huge influence on her future goals. She was given the experience she needed in her profession and fell in love with working in solar.
She highly recommends GRID Solar Futures program to anyone who is interested in getting free hands-on training and education in renewable energy and solar.
If you are interested in volunteering or training with GRID, or if you would like to know more, visit our website, or call us at (951) 471-7043.