Grid Alternatives provides solar trainings to underserved communities

WASHINGTON (Circa)– Solar panels are more than renewable sources of energy for participants in the GRID Alternatives program.

For Tazz Hunter, they are catalysts of change.

“The people that don’t want to be in the streets, it’s giving us a chance,” Hunter told Circa.

He’s 18 years old, but Hunter has been through unimaginable loss. On top of losing his mother and father, he’s been shot.

Hunter hopes the workforce development program, which teaches participants how to install solar panels on homes in the nation’s capital, will help him succeed in the wake of adversity.

“So this is just giving me the opportunity to change my life from the place I’m at, and change it,” he continued. “It can change everything for the better.”

GRID Alternatives is a nationwide training program that aims to increase the country’s commitment to solar energy while also providing job training to underserved youth. The nonprofit serves undeserved communities in California, Colorado, and several tribal areas.

The group trainings are pretty standardized across the country. In D.C., for example, eligible residents between 18 and 24 are able to learn about the innerworkings of solar industry through educational workshops and on-the-ground experiences. At the end of the training participants are able to earn skill-based certificates that will make finding a job in solar, or a related field, much easier.

According to the Solar Foundation, the industry employs more than 250,000 Americans–representing a triple-digit percentage increase since 2010. More than half of solar companies, however, require new hires to have prior experience. That’s where Grid Alternatives aims to help.

Batrina Wallace went from a laid-off employee, to a program graduate, to a full-time worker in just a few months. She says the work is dirty, but even the more meaningful.

“We know that underserved communities sort of live in the heaviest polluted areas. So, for them to be a part of that change, I think is great,” she said.

And for states looking to implement sustainable policies, Taresa Lawrence, Deputy Director of the Energy Administration at Washington D.C.’s Department of Energy and Environment, says this program is a win-win. She says it not only stimulates the economy through local business and green job creation, but also reduces overall energy costs.

“Solar technologies, solar installation methods, and just basic job readiness training that has been just key in making sure that no one gets left behind, that everyone can participate as we move towards the future of clean and renewable energy.”