MONTEREY PARK, Calif. – After seeing high energy bills, some homeowners are looking to go solar. But the barrier to entry can be expensive for homeowners to take on. That’s why one nonprofit stepped in to help low-income families afford renewable energy.

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Homeowners in Monterey Park have spent years paying down their mortgage and taking pride in their homes. But with a median household income of about $55,000, homeowners like Warren Wong and his wife who've lived in their single-story home for over 15 years, are constantly looking for ways to cut costs to make ends meet.

Now, they’re hoping new solar panels on their roof will help lower their energy bill.

“It might even go down to, to maybe only $20 they were saying. I’m hoping everything works out that way,” Wong said.

Wong said 15 years ago, when they first moved into the home, the cost of their utilities were much more affordable. Now, his current electricity bill runs him about $150 each month.

“Everything is costing more these days and it feels that solar is the way of energy in the future. It’s clean and it helps the environment and it’s more cost-effective now,” Wong said.

The average cost of installing a solar panel system on a California Home can cost about $13,000.  It’s an entry cost that many low-income households aren’t able to afford.

Wong’s home is one of over 15,000 households that has received no-cost solar panels through the nonprofit GRID Alternatives’ Energy For All Program. The program provides low-income homeowners like Wong a means to reduce their electricity bill with clean, renewable energy at no-cost.

In the process, more than 40,000 solar panel installers like Darean Nguyen gain valuable hands-on job training for a career in solar.

“We deal a lot with people who are dealing with high bills, high electricity bill. We want to make sure that we lower those bills so that they can save on whatever they need to do to provide for their family, themselves, or upgrade their house,” Nguyen said.

For Wong, it’s a financial freedom that he’s hoping will help him go from part-time barber to retirement.

“I’m hoping in about another maybe five years, I don’t have to work no more,” Wong said.

Now, he’s hoping more low-income homeowners will feel like they have options when it comes to their energy bill and in the process, create cleaner air with renewable energy.