White House highlights GRID Alternatives, which will hold Palm Desert ribbon-cutting May 20
MOUNTAIN VIEW – President Obama on Friday announced a major initiative to expand use of solar energy, involving more than 300 public- and private-sector commitments, plus executive actions projected to save businesses $26 billion and train 50,000 new industry workers.
One highlighted entity is GRID Alternatives, the nation’s largest non-profit solar panel installer, which is holding a ribbon-cutting in Palm Desert May 20 for panels installed on 80 homes in an affordable housing community.
Obama launched the push at a Wal-Mart which gets 14.5 percent of its power from solar panels, and the nation’s biggest retailer has pledged to double the number of onsite solar energy projects at its stores by 2020, according to a fact sheet released by the White House.
The president said 190 businesses in the administration’s three-year-old Better Buildings Initiative are on track to improve their energy efficiency by 20 percent by 2020.
“And that’s why, over the past few months, I’ve been picking up the phone and reaching out to more leaders to get them on board. And today, they’re stepping up -- from cities, school districts, businesses, universities, you're seeing folks move on energy efficiency,” he said.
GRID Alternatives Development Officer Stuart Haniff said the nonprofit has worked extensively in the desert and has pledged to help install 100 megawatts of solar energy for affordable housing across the country, as part of the president’s push.
Haniff said its programs’ reach far beyond those who live in the homes powered by its solar panels. “What we do is much more than just installing solar panels. We’re helping low-income families and training our volunteers for one of the fastest-growing sectors in the job market,” he said.
The Oakland-based nonprofit, which manages the single-family portion of California’s $324 million low-income solar program, is planning to install panels on numerous homes in a “solarthon” in the valley next February, Haniff said.
On Thursday Palm Desert’s City Council approved an $18,701 grant to GRID Alternatives for installation of solar energy systems on six low-income homes, as part of its annual Outside Agency funding program.
Several other corporations with a presence in the valley are also participating in the initiative, including Home Depot, Kohl’s, Whole Foods Markets and major homebuilders like Pulte and Lennar.
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