Jolyn Bright
One sunny Monday afternoon, a team of volunteers came out to help install the first-ever GRID solar system of the Eastern seaboard on the Bright family’s new home. About a year earlier, Hurricane Sandy sent a tree crashing through the roof of their previous rented home. Jolyn and her husband Warren went to stay with her mother while the house was being fixed, but when they returned it was full of mold. Instead of fixing it, their landlord kicked them out. Soon after, though, their luck turned — they were able to buy their own home through Affordable Housing Alliance, a local housing non-profit, and had solar installed by GRID Alternatives, the first-ever GRID installation on the Eastern seaboard. The system is expected to save the Brights about $350 on their electrical bill in the first year. “I’m so excited,” she said, beaming with pride after coming down from the roof at the end of her install day. ”I’m going to save energy and save money. We never even thought we’d be able to have our own home. And I love that I get to help put the panels on. I didn’t get to help build my house, but I can help with this.”
