Programs & Services

Solar Richmond is a nonprofit organization that provides solar industry training, transitional employment, and staffing services to solar companies while serving as a solar energy advocate. Our goal is to create an inclusive green economy that offers green-collar job opportunities to underemployed local residents. Read our client and solar partner testimonials!

Staffing Services

Solar Richmond facilitates job placement for partnering solar integrators, making it easier for you to secure well-trained workers who are committed to entering careers in the skilled trades. SR’s staffing service maintains a database of graduates available to work on both temporary and permanent assignments. The staffing service handles payroll, liability insurance and workers’ compensation so employers can save on recruitment, hiring and other HR-related expenses.

Solar Training & Transitional Employment

Solar Installation Training

Solar Richmond’s signature program is comprehensive solar installation training. Through our partnership with RichmondBUILD, Solar Richmond trainees receive 13 weeks of intensive, hands-on experience in construction and solar installation.

After the training program concludes, Solar Richmond offers internship and transitional employment opportunities to graduates who are committed to entering the solar field and ready to take the next step in their new careers. Our staffing agency and sales team generate these opportunities to support our graduates in gaining entry into this exciting, competitive growing industry. RichmondBUILD/Solar Richmond graduates have gone on to full-time employment with local installers SolarCity, Sun’s Free Solar, and Sun Light & Power.

East Bay Green Jobs Corps/Brighter Futures Program

Through a partnership with the East Bay Green Jobs Corps, Solar Richmond is now also offering training and solar internship opportunities to Bay Area youth and young adults in Oakland, Berkeley and Richmond. Most recently, in December 2011, Solar Richmond was selected for a generous award from the San Francisco Foundation to continue to offer employment and training in the local community.

Holistic Leadership Development

Through the Solar Richmond Internship Program (SRIP), Solar Richmond supports the holistic personal and professional development of SR interns by tapping into their innate leadership potential. Heavy emphasis is placed on cultivating emotional intelligence, self-awareness, resilency skills, and the capacity for personal growth and transformation. An action learning approach will be used to link leadership development to immediate personal and professional concerns by challenging participants to practice leadership skills in real world activities.

The lasting value of our curriculum depends on the amount of follow through students achieve on their personal and professional development plans. The program will provide structured support for personal change by supporting interns in establishing personal and professional development goals and strategies - and by offering coaching support from staff, holistic health experts, and educators.

Solar Consulting

For homeowners, we offer an affordable way to go solar and help your community at the same time. For business and nonprofit customers in the greater Bay Area, we provide initial system estimates and financing information for solar electric systems. By working with Solar Richmond, you not only receive solar consulting but also support green economic development. You will reduce your carbon footprint and stabilize your energy costs while providing an opportunity for our well-trained program graduates to deepen their experience in the solar industry.