Bay Area News

Thanks in large part to Sunrun, GRID Alternatives Bay Area recently installed an 8.06 kW solar system at the Rio Vista Veterans Residence. The home will provide a permanent residence with case management and support services for six formerly homeless veterans. The six bedroom house is being built by Solano-Napa Habitat for Humanity and will be owned and operated by the Berkeley Food & Housing Project with the assistance of American Legion Post 178.

As you exit Highway 101 and drive into Redwood Valley Rancheria, you can see the scorched slopes of the surrounding hills - evidence of how close the fires came to destroying this lovely valley. The dead trees stand as a reminder even though the grass is green and lush under them. It’s been two years since the fire took several homes in this community, leaving tribal members in FEMA trailers waiting for their homes to be rebuilt. 

En un estado donde el 30% de la población es de habla hispana, y siendo GRID una organización que provee servicios a muchas comunidades de habla hispana, los miembros de GRID Juan Bernal, Melissa Bergsneider and Luis Amar se dieron cuenta que algo faltaba en nuestros programas del Área de la Bahía: una manera para que nuestra comunidad de voluntarios, aprendices y clientes de habla hispana puedan participar en instalaciones solares de GRID completamente en su lengua natal.
“We see a great need to include traditionally underrepresented groups into the solar industry,” - Melissa Bergsneider, SolarCorps Fellow and one of the team members spearheading an initiative to offer Spanish language solar installation instruction at GRID. Learn more about Melissa’s vision and our first successful Spanish language solar installation for the Villa Family in Menlo Park.
GRID Bay Area's North Coast branch office has been partnering with California's tribal communities to bring solar savings and job training to indigenous families since 2013, installing 896 kilowatts DC to date on tribal lands in the region. Join all of us at GRID Bay Area in observing Indigenous Peoples' Day on Monday, October 14th. Read on for a list of ways you can support Bay Area Indigenous Peoples.
Every fall, GRID Bay Area hosts Women in Solar programming thanks to support from the We Give Donor Circle. Led by our 2018/2019 SolarCorps Workforce Development Fellow, Gwen Chang, 2019 was a full week of Women in Solar programming - 9 total events over the span of 6 days! These included 3 webinars, 2 solar installs, a practice roof session, resume review workshop, networking happy hour, and a women in solar leadership panel discussion. And what a week it was! Read on for the highlights.