In November 2018, Louisiana native, Daniel Adams undertook a 28 hour drive from New Orleans to San Diego. The reason for his road trip: He wanted to volunteer with GRID Alternatives.<\/p>\n
For Daniel, GRID represented a missing piece in his solar education. He wanted hands on solar installation experience and he was willing to live on his friend\u2019s couch and be away from family for months to get the skills necessary to kickstart his solar career.<\/p>\n
In many ways a life in solar seemed inevitable for Daniel. The 25 year-old military veteran was introduced to sustainability at an early age by his mother, Kasandra Paul. She\u2019s been a proponent of renewable energy and tiny houses for as long he could remember — even spending several months constructing her own off-grid solar system from scratch. <\/p>\n
\u201cI see being self-sustainable, especially with electricity, as a way to control my own life,\u201d Daniel says. \u201cI also want to share my vision with others. There\u2019s so much history behind solar; it can do so much.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel went straight into the Marine Corps when he graduated from high school in 2012. Although he trained for combat engineering, Daniel quickly found himself being pigeonholed into the niche of rifle range coaching and marksman training. The military atmosphere didn\u2019t sit well with Daniel\u2019s independent spirit. Solar had always been a passion and he remained determined to be a part of the industry.<\/p>\n
After leaving the military, Daniel began applying for solar jobs. He quickly realized his military experience wouldn\u2019t be enough. He started taking an electrical construction course at Nunez Community College and began investigating NABCEP (North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioner) certifications, this is where he discovered GRID.<\/p>\n
He contacted Danyla Copino, Workforce Coordinator in the San Diego office. He received an email back informing him that the next training was just 2 weeks away. Daniel knew he had a small amount of time to make a big decision.<\/p>\n
Daniel\u2019s first installation was on a Native American reservation, which was a completely new experience for him. Like the altitude, his energy was high. Daniel was just happy to get to work, \u201cThe initial introduction was fast paced,\u201d he recalls. \u201cBut I really liked it because I collected a lot of new information.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel is excited about all of his new experiences at GRID. His goal is to take his knowledge back to New Orleans and transform the solar industry. \u201cI want to be innovative and change something; maybe enhance the installation process,\u201d he envisions. <\/p>\n
We\u2019re very thankful for the months that Daniel has spent on GRID\u2019s installation team and have no doubt he\u2019ll be successful! <\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For Daniel, GRID represented a missing piece in his solar education.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5629,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"audience":[],"content-type":[12],"focus-area":[],"region":[16],"series":[],"content-author":[],"class_list":["post-6744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","content-type-news","region-southern-california"],"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":"\n