Solar energy and energy efficiency are great ways to lower monthly energy bills while saving the environment, but the upfront investment is still often prohibitively expensive. This is especially true for families with limited income, though they tend to get hit the hardest by rising energy prices. GRID Alternatives, a Bay Area nonprofit, has created an impressively effective program that gets solar power onto the homes of low-income families at what seems like no cost.
Here’s a quick breakdown of what they do: They provide free design and free installation services – all the homeowner is responsible for is the cost of the equipment. The solar panels and inverters (usually obtained with discounts) are paid for with PG&E rebates and low/no interest loans (all of which they help apply for). The labor is provided by professional installers that donate their time and volunteers that they train (I’ve sat in on the training, but have yet to be volunteer labor). And homeowners participate in the installation, gaining potentially valuable job skills.
Once the systems are installed, these families stand to save money each month because the loan payment is less than their reduction in energy costs.
GRID Alternatives has facilitated projects in Oakland, San Francisco, San Mateo, Pleasanton and Livermore and get donor support from corporations like Google, PG&E and The Body Shop Foundation, and public agencies such as the San Francisco Department of the Environment, the City of San Mateo, Pleasanton and Livermore. In the past 6 months alone, and with mostly part-time staff, they’ve managed to install 22 systems on Habitat for Humanity and other low-income developments.
