Larry Hoang, Lifestyle Solar

Larry Hoang emigrated from Vietnam to the US with his family in 1980. After working at a furniture store in San Jose, Larry discovered that he was a very good salesman. He wanted to start his own business and decided to move to Fresno to open Lifestyle Furniture. Larry got interested in solar after taking a seminar at the Solar Living Institute in 2005. He took some classes, got licensed, and founded Lifestyle Solar. He says the process of becoming a GRID sub-contracter helped him improve the quality of his installations immensely. The GRID standards were high, he says, and he failed at first, but tried again until he got it right.Today, Lifestyle Solar has about 20 employees, and mostly hires former GRID volunteers. Most install for a year and then move on, and he hires new ones. “The people who come from GRID have a good attitude, and are good people,” Larry says, “I like to see people go out and do something for the community.”