{"id":2338,"date":"2014-01-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-01-22T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gridalt.wpenginepowered.com\/the-current\/solar-brings-smiles-after-rough-times\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T12:02:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T16:02:48","slug":"solar-brings-smiles-after-rough-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/live-grid-wp.pantheonsite.io\/es\/the-current\/solar-brings-smiles-after-rough-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar Brings Smiles After Rough Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;All we knew is that solar panels help you save energy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>This was Rafael Macias&#8217; answer when asked how much he knew about solar before working with GRID Alternatives to install a 2.9 kilowatt system on his home in San Jose, California. <\/p>\n<p>Rafael and his wife, Lina, are both cancer survivors and the proud parents of 6 children, ranging in age from 3 to 23 years old. With their health challenges and the expenses of a large family &#8211; not to mention that their roof needed to be replaced &#8211; neither of them ever thought solar could help them find economic security.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I came down with this illness that kept me off work for 8 months and we went downhill &#8211; we ran out of savings, ran out of money, ran out of everything. Rough times,&#8221; Rafael explains.<\/p>\n<p>But the Macias family was too excited to both save money and help the environment to let their aging roof get in the way of a great opportunity with GRID. A week after receiving referrals from GRID staff and rallying support from their extended family to raise the funds for the roof replacement, Rafael and Lina had a new roof and were ready for solar!<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re both cancer survivors, so finally something good is happening for us,&#8221; Rafael adds. They plan to use the savings from their solar system &#8211; estimated at approximately $29,000 over the next 30 years &#8211; for food and college expenses for their children.<\/p>\n<p>GRID would like to congratulate the Macias family on the hard work and dedication they put into becoming solar energy leaders in their neighborhood! <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/gridalternatives\/sets\/72157639496993464\/\" target=\"_blank\">Click here<\/a> to see pictures from their install.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rafael and his wife are both cancer survivors, proud parents, and now owners of a new solar PV system through GRID. Says Rafael, &#8220;It\u0092s great to have something good finally happening.&#8221;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2339,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"audience":[],"content-type":[12],"focus-area":[],"region":[],"series":[],"content-author":[],"class_list":["post-2338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-equity-community","content-type-news"],"acf":{"hero_media_type":"image","hero_media_image":null,"hero_media_url":"","hero_media_poster":null,"hero_video_play":"inline","related_stories":null,"pattern_override":null,"story_callouts":null,"media":null,"featured_blog_post":null,"featured_event":null,"pdf_download":null,"blockquote":null,"author":null,"notice":null,"social_embed":null,"contact_card":null,"meta_details":null,"faq":null,"table":null},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Solar Brings Smiles After Rough Times - GRID Alternatives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rafael and his wife are both cancer survivors, proud parents, and now owners of a new solar PV system through GRID. 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