HES Solar Partners with YMCA of San Diego County for 2021

HES Solar is thrilled to partner with the YMCA of San Diego County for 2021 with a partnership that will help homeowners and business building owners benefit from all the rewards of installing a solar system while seamlessly helping the YMCA recover more quickly from the recent lockdowns that greatly impacted its programs. 

To jump straight to our partnership page and support the YMCA by initiating a donation when you go solar, please click this solar partnership page.

The Cameron Family YMCA in Santee overlooks a beautiful pool to take in that California sunshine while the rooftop solar powers the facility.

The YMCA has helped so many people and communities in so many ways since its founding 1844. When the 2020 lockdowns were put in place, certain essential business functions like solar installation and home battery installation were able to continue forward, albeit with challenges and strict safety protocols and regulations. Unfortunately, services that the YMCA of San Diego County provides were not able to continue during the mandates. The YMCA, an organization built on opening their doors to others in need, was forced to shut those doors for essentially one year. 

HES Solar’s business was impacted negatively as well, but the growing California solar company rebounded quickly and recovered to have a successful year in 2020 and into 2021 as one of the top solar installers in San Diego. So when it was clear the lockdown regulations were going to be lightened mid-way into 2021, HES Solar wanted to do for the YMCA what the YMCA has done for so many – help. HES was looking for a way to celebrate 20 years as a leading Southern California solar company, and a partnership with the Y seemed perfect. 

The partnership was formed in 2021 and officially kicked off on July 1st to help the YMCA’s efforts to return to full functionality. HES Solar will donate $500 to the YMCA of San Diego for every 2021 customer who contracts through the partnership for a home solar system, with or without adding a home battery energy storage system, or for a commercial solar system, also regardless of whether or not the system includes commercial energy storage. For people interested in installing solar panels on their home or business, contacting us through our YMCA partnership page will automatically enact a $500 donation when they purchase their solar system through HES Solar. 

In City Heights, the Copley-Price runs on carport solar arrays as well as rooftop solar arrays to power the YMCA programs inside.

That’s all there is to it. Customers will power their homes with clean, green, renewable solar energy and lower their electricity bills, and the YMCA will get a boost toward bringing its great facilities and programs to more San Diego residents; homes will be powered by the best solar system designed and installed by a top San Diego solar company. 

We have some great events planned to celebrate this partnership. The first celebration is planned but is not announced; it will be an extraordinary way for some of the kids in the YMCA day camps to meet a local legend and have some outdoor sports fun at the same time. This event is planned for early July and we’ll share the story about it here. Unfortunately for adults and kids not in the YMCA camp group that we’ve selected – this will be an event only for some lucky San Diego kids already participating in a YMCA program. They don’t even know about the surprise yet!  

After our fun kick-off event we’ll have some more events coordinated through the YMCA. Some of these will be solar education experiences and presentations. HES Solar will work with the YMCA of San Diego County to present to kids and adults the different aspects of solar panel electricity production. We’ll cover the design of a solar array and its inverters and wiring, the installation and construction of the solar panels for rooftop solar, carport solar systems, ground mount solar arrays, how a solar system ties into the power grid, the different ways solar storage can optimize solar power use, and then show the reduced carbon benefits that solar energy production delivers. 

The Jackie Robinson YMCA uses its solar panels in National City to charge up the programs and supply power to keep the beautiful Jackie Robinson field ready for players of all ages.

The YMCA / HES Solar partnership has many goals; it strives to help grow both companies, to give more San Diego homes the advantage of solar power production, and to teach how solar converts the sun’s energy into electricity. As an additional goal, HES Solar hopes to inspire young people to look into solar energy as a future career. The world is turning to renewable energy for its benefits, and HES Solar hopes to get some more people thinking about how they could be a part of implementing more renewable energy sources. This includes not only home rooftop solar panels, but larger utility-scale solar farms. Even beyond solar the future holds other promising forms of applying energy technologies to generate more green energy. Just 20 years ago most people in San Diego would not believe that over one million homes in California are powered by solar energy, but that has happened. The next ambitious goal is to reach the one million mark of homes that use a home battery to incorporate home energy storage to make the best use of their electricity. 

The 2021 partnership will have some prizes available through contests this year. Whether participants purchase home solar from HES Solar or not they’ll be able to enter contests hosted through the YMCA of San Diego County’s locations. Prizes are likely to be great YMCA experiences that not only will benefit the participants but also share the news as more great YMCA programs open and expand. 

The McGrath Family YMCA uses its Spring Valley solar panels to power the reopening of hte YMCA’s programs after the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021.

This 2021 partnership is the first public event-related partnership between the YMCA of San Diego County and HES Solar, but it’s not the first partnership between the two groups. HES Solar has designed, installed, and monitors seven commercial solar systems at seven YMCA facilities. The large solar systems add up to over 2.5 megawatts of solar power and the expected electricity savings is well over two million dollars over the next 20 years. When considering the cost vs benefits of solar it’s usually eye-opening to look forward toward decades of savings. To read more about these specific business solar systems please read our YMCA commercial solar case study

The 2021 partnership sprang from HES Solar, a family-owned and San Diego-based solar installer, considering ways to celebrate 20 years as a top solar installer and to expand home solar in San Diego, commercial solar in Southern California, as well as find a way to give back to a great community group. There are few solar companies in San Diego County that have been around for 20 years (several companies claim longer but not all as solar installation providers for that entire time). HES Solar began putting solar panels on homes in 2001. At that time it went by the company name Home Energy Systems. 

Back in 2001, rooftop solar was still a fairly wild idea. Solar panels were not as efficient and solar installation experts were in short supply. Home Energy Systems was a trailblazer in helping homeowners break free from the utilities; not surprisingly, people twenty years ago also wanted to lower their electricity bill and charge their home with renewable energy. Most solar homes are still tied to the grid, but HES Solar has also created off-the-grid solar systems to provide a fully independent energy source for the homeowner (home batteries make this off-grid solar not just possible but also convenient). As Home Energy Systems grew it began taking on larger and larger commercial solar projects, including some very large solar panel installations. The company changed its name to HES Solar to better describe the top Southern California solar installer and the various solar projects it was building. To learn the story of the founding and growth of the energy company please read about it here

The carport solar in Mission Valley helps the Mission Valley YMCA, located near downtown San Diego between Kearny Mesa and Mission Hills and HIllcrest.

For San Diegians considering residential solar, HES Solar builds your home solar panel system with the best quality solar components, complete with a 25-year power, production, and product warranty. We also give a 10-year workmanship warranty on the solar project build, and provide lifetime solar power generation monitoring. From Chula Vista to downtown San Diego, to El Cajon, up through Poway and Encintas and up into Temecula, HES Solar is ready to deliver energy freedom through solar energy. There are so many benefits to home solar. We’re ready to install a SunPower solar system and can pair it with home energy storage such as a SunPower SunVault or Tesla Powerwall. We’ll install an EV charger for the garage or just build an EV charger outlet for you to simply plug in your own home car charger for homes with an electric car. More people are discovering the win-win of powering an electric vehicle with solar panels.  

Businesses in San Diego can greatly benefit from commercial solar systems just as the YMCA of San Diego County does. A business looking to run on renewable energy needs to look no further than HES Solar for any solar power needs. Whether looking for solar to power a retail store, using solar power to light and cool a business building, or turning power from the sun into products through solar power for a manufacturing facility, there is a perfect solar system ready to cut costs dramatically and consume less dirty energy and more clean energy in the course of doing business. San Diego business owners can learn more about the solar array options – rooftop solar arrays, carport solar arrays, or ground mount solar arrays, as well as commercial energy storage (SunPower Storage Solution, Tesla Energy Powerpack, and BYD Storage systems), and EV charging stations (ChargePoint EV chargers) at our commercial solar page. 

San Diego home solar powers the active lifestyles of San Diego residents. If you want to lower your home bills, use more renewable energy, and help the YMCA of San Diego County please contact us and mention our 2021 YMCA partnership.

For anyone who is already a solar producer or who does not need a system for their current residence, HES Solar has a great referral program for renewable energy advocates to help spread the word of HES Solar and what it provides. Our referral program is used by our customers to turn their friends on to HES Solar; but being an HES Solar system owner is not required to sign up and help share solar production in Southern California. More details can be found with this link to our solar referral program.

For 2021, HES Solar wishes all San Diego residents, businesses, and organizations a quick recovery from the effects of the lockdowns. HES Solar is joyous to be in partnership with the local YMCA association to help bring back all the wonderful programs and facilities the YMCA provides. We’re hopeful that our partnership can contribute in a significant way. For San Diego residents considering adding a solar system to their house or office building, please consider partnering with HES Solar to install solar solutions for any needs. We wish everyone a happy, successful, and healthy 2021.

Share:

Contact us today for a free estimate

READY TO GO SOLAR?

We are a San Diego-based, family-owned solar company. We have been an energy innovator since 2001 and can handle projects from small, rooftop solar panel additions to large-scale commercial microgrid systems. 

Our website is a great resource for your solar research. We’d also love to speak with you to answer any specific questions you have about your project. Click here to be contacted by an HES Solar representative, or simply dial us at 619-692-2015. We don’t use call centers so you’ll speak with a full-time HES Solar employee in California.

Robert Laverty

Senior Energy Consultant, Residential

Robert Laverty joined the HES team in the summer of 2018, bringing his ten years of solar design experience and his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Puget Sound with him. Robert is dedicated to finding solutions to help families produce and store electricity in order to reduce their reliance on grid power as well as help reduce their household’s carbon footprint. Robert’s experience as a newspaper editor as well as his involvement with the sustainability-focused Rocky Mountain Institute drives him to constantly seek out innovative ways to meet energy needs through renewable resources as well as helps him share those ideas with Southern California homeowners. When not at work or volunteering time with his church or community, Robert spends time with his wife and two sons or pursues his passion of fly fishing.

Contact Us Today for a Free Estimate

Skip to content