Nonprofit has installed over 40MW of clean power across the U.S.

San Diego County CA— GRID Alternatives, a national leader in making clean, affordable solar power and solar jobs accessible to low-to-moderate income families and communities of color, today announced the installation of its 10,000th solar electric system. The 42 megawatts of clean power represent a distributed generation power plant that is saving families over $300 million in lifetime energy costs and preventing 850,000 tons of carbon emissions.
“Our San Diego volunteers and homeowners are proud to play a part in reaching this milestone,” says Paul Cleary, Executive Director of GRID San Diego. “This shows that with the right investments and the right policies, we can create equitable energy solutions on a large scale.”
GRID Alternatives expanded to San Diego County in 2008 and began serving families in Imperial County in 2015. The local group has installed 950 solar systems for families living on low-to-moderate incomes, offsetting over 69,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions and playing an important role in the city of San Diego’s ambitious Climate Action Plan.
“For two out of the six years I’ve had solar my annual bill has been $0,” says Irasema Garcia, a City Heights homeowner who received no-cost solar from GRID Alternatives San Diego. “I have a graduate degree and the extra savings have helped me to pay for my education. I think it’s important that people realize the spectrum of GRID’s clients – I didn’t have a super high energy bill and with my income I still qualified.”
GRID Alternatives expects to install more than 1,900 systems totaling 15 megawatts of clean power in 2018 alone, and provide hands-on solar installation experience to more than 4,000 people through its SolarCorps Fellowships, installation training programs, and volunteerism.