Sharon's life was rock bottom when she was homeless and sleeping under a bridge. But now she has a bright future in the solar industry. She participates in a local job training and solar installation programme for low-income workers called Solar Works DC.
When more than 225 volunteers finished weatherizing 150 homes across Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia and West Virginia, families across the region were ready to enjoy reduced energy expenses and added warmth in advance of the chilly temperatures and icy conditions expected this winter.
Everybody talks about jobs, and the clean energy economy is growing jobs at a faster pace than virtually any other industry. So, where do you go to get trained? A national non-profit is training the solar workforce of the future while also giving solar power to low-income homeowners who would not otherwise be able to afford it. It's called Grid Alternatives.
Nicole Steele is interviewed for Pathways Magazine, talking about being an Executive Director of GRID Mid-Atlantic, and some of her favorite moments (page 11).
With the soaring demand for cost-saving solar panel installation in residential communities, a Washington, D.C.-based program is looking to arm residents from underserved areas with the skills needed to build a career, all while providing low-income families with the energy-saving benefits of rooftop panels.
It was June 29, and Dexter Rawlings had finished his first day of on-the-job training, installing solar panels on the rooftops of Washington. After hours under the unforgiving summer sun, he arrived home, exhausted. But an email was waiting for him with an encouraging message: The work he had done was projected to save local homeowners more than $11,000 in energy bills over the lifetime of the panels.
Enter GRID Alternatives; a non-profit that provides solar energy installations to low income families, free of charge! Listen to volunteers and employees of GRID explain why they chose to set up office in the Mid-Atlantic, the valuable experience volunteering has, and why they’re so charged up about solar energy!
Wade Watkins is one of 31 low-income residents going solar thanks to a pilot project facilitated by the U.S. Department of Energy. The partnership between the City of Baltimore, GRID Alternatives, and Civic Works helps people like Wade save money on his energy bills.
