So Saturday morning we woke up, very groggy due to being up until 2am, and made the 40 minute trek to Piru, CA. We pulled up to street of all Habitat for Humanity homes, and found it to be a very cute and pleasant little neighborhood. Josh and I checked in, grabbed our shirts and our hardhats and made our way over to the rest of our Wells Fargo crew.
They had bagels and coffee, and some cinnamon roll bites to get us started for the day. We split up into ground crew and roof crews, and started our various jobs. The ground crew bent conduit and got the solar panels ready, while the roof crew laid the wiring and ground wires. Then it was time to install the panels. The ground crew lifted the panels up to the roof crew and before we knew it, we had 6 panels secured onto the racks.
Then we stopped for lunch, which we were told was going to be provided by the homeowners themselves. I just figured they would all pitch in to buy something, but we soon saw that they had all cooked different dishes. This food was probably some the of the best food I had ever eaten. Carnitas, Rice, Macaroni Salad, Tamales. Like, seriously, the best I've ever had. And it was really cool to feel that sense of community there, and feeling how appreciative they all were for the chance to have solar panels installed on their roofs.
After lunch, we got right back into it and installed the last 6 panels. After just a few minutes they had the panels hooked up to the grids, and we were all able to see their electricity meter start turning backwards. It was such an exciting moment!
There had already been a few homes that have had solar panels installed, and they told us that their power bill went from $100, to $2, which is essentially the cost to keep the houses hooked up the grid. That's amazing.
I'd do this event over again in a heartbeat!
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