About 80 Austin-based employee volunteers from global solar innovator, SunPower, brought solar energy to four low-income families in Austin’s Blackland Neighborhood.
(Article by SolarNovus.com, republished from http://www.solarnovus.com/solar-for-low-income-families-in-austin-texas_N9660.html)
Working with national solar nonprofit Grid Alternatives over two days, the volunteers installed four rooftop solar systems totaling 13 kilowatts of generating capacity. The systems are expected to save each family electricity costs, and collectively reduce approximately 233 tons of greenhouse gas emissions over their expected 25-year life. The four homes are among 48 affordable homes built by the Blackland Community Development Corporation (CDC) to serve low-income families, seniors and people with disabilities. SunPower has partnered with Grid Alternatives since 2006 to extend solar power’s benefits to disadvantaged communities, helping more than 800 families and generating 80,000 hours of solar job training opportunities.
SunPower also contributed 1 megawatt of high efficiency solar panels to Grid Alternatives in 2015 to support Solar Futures, a national education initiative targeting high school juniors and seniors. SunPower by Freedom Solar provided help installing the panels.
Grid Alternatives is America’s largest non-profit solar installer bringing clean energy technology and job training to low-income families and underserved communities through a network of community partners, volunteers, and philanthropic supporters. GRID has installed over 6,300 rooftop solar systems with a combined installed capacity of 22.4 megawatts, saving $167 million in lifetime electricity costs, preventing 480,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and providing over 24,000 people with solar training.
Read more at http://www.solarnovus.com/solar-for-low-income-families-in-austin-texas_N9660.html
