California is the nation’s solar energy leader, and groups like GRID Alternatives are the reason why.

GRID, a nonprofit, clean energy organization (and program manager for the Single-family Affordable Solar Homes (SASH) Program), works with California communities and local organizations to identify needs and develop renewable energy solutions that are environmentally, socially and economically sustainable for low-income individuals and families.

The SASH program is funded by California ratepayers, via a ruling by the California Public Utilities Commission, or CPUC, and aims to provide low-income homeowners with affordable solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to reduce energy costs. Peripherally, it also spurs local “green” jobs training to provide solar installers for the PV systems.

GRID’s Fresno office (one of three; the other two located in Los Angeles and San Diego) will, during the first week of the new year, begin working in Daly City, just south of San Francisco, to install solar PV systems on two local homes whose residents qualify for low-income assistance under GRID guidelines.

The homes, located in the area of Miriam Street and Parkview Avenue, are new construction being built under the auspices of Habitat for Humanity, another nonprofit group dedicated to housing the less fortunate.

The systems themselves, rated at 2 kilowatts each, will be provided at no cost to the future homeowners and will produce about three-fourths of the electricity needed, saving residents about $40 per month.

As GRID co-founder and program director Tim Sears notes, the program is relevant because low-income individuals historically spend a greater portion of their income on energy than do middle-class households, so any savings in this area makes expenditures in the areas of food, clothing and transportation that much easier.

GRID offers these services not only through the funding provided by California ratepayers, but by relying on the generosity of solar industry suppliers, who often discount parts and materials. GRID also conducts donation drives in the communities where it works, and in turn provides community members with hands-on training in solar technology – which can lead to well-paying solar energy careers.

Four kilowatts is a tiny portion of California’s proposed 70 gigawatts, but this is also how the solar revolution will be won; inch by inch and panel by panel as the “old” energy economy reluctantly relaxes the grip it has maintained for over a century thanks to formerly abundant reserves of coal, oil and gas.