On June 30, Enphase and GRID Alternatives announced a major expansion of their long-standing partnership. The two companies will help install an estimated three megawatts of new capacity, save 900 families $25 million in energy costs over the systems’ lifetimes, and prevent 78,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
GRID Alternatives is the largest nonprofit solar installer in the US. Its core constituency is low income families living in subsidized housing. A major part of its mission is providing job training in the solar industry for the people it serves.
“Enphase’s expanded donation in 2015 represents a nearly 50 percent increase in our partnership’s cumulative impact to date,” said Tim Sears, CFO and cofounder of GRID Alternatives. “This partnership has already helped bring the benefits of clean energy to families and workers across the country, and continues to grow with us as we expand to serve more communities and explore new ways to deliver solar’s benefits to people that need it most.” His remarks were made in a press release made public by Business Wire.
Over the last 6 years, Enphase has partnered with GRID Alternatives to bring the benefits of solar power to underserved communities through in-kind microinverter system donations and employee volunteer installation hours. Since 2010, the partnership has helped install over 1,900 rooftop arrays with a cumulative capacity of nearly 6 megawatts across California, Colorado, New York, and New Jersey; saving $50 million in lifetime power costs and preventing 150,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
Enphase Energy delivers energy management technology for the solar industry that increases energy production, simplifies design and installation, improves system uptime and reliability, reduces fire safety risk and provides a platform for intelligent energy management. Its semiconductor-based microinverter system converts energy at the individual solar module level and brings a system-based high-technology approach to solar energy generation, storage, control, and management.
“Continuing our partnership with GRID Alternatives exemplifies Enphase’s commitment to putting clean, affordable energy on rooftops across America,” said Jeff Loebbaka, senior vice president of global sales, marketing and support for Enphase. “We’re also proud to play a role in the job training of under-served communities who otherwise may not be able to join the transition to clean energy.”
GRID Alternatives has already installed 5,400 rooftop solar systems with a capacity of 18.5 megawatts. Its systems are responsible for saving customers $136 million in lifetime electricity costs, preventing 426,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, and providing over 21,000 people with the training needed to find jobs in the solar industry. It presently serves communities in California, Colorado, the Mid-Atlantic and New York tri-state regions, and Tribal communities nationwide.
