Wisam Kalyana is an Installation Basics Training graduate with GRID Alternatives, a 2025 recipient of Prebys Foundation’s Youth Workforce: Career Pathways grant.
This grant supports carrer paths paths that help young adults earn steady, livable wages in San Diego through access to paid internships & apprenticeships, and opportunities for increased earning potential already in the workforce through additional training opportunities.
Wisam’s Story
“I was born in Iraq in 2002 — I’m 23 years old. I lived there for eight years and because of the war, I had to immigrate to America. After my family and I waited in Lebanon for two years for our paperwork to be approved, we arrived in San Diego in 2012 and have lived here since.
I started school here in the fifth grade. At that time, solar energy wasn’t very popular, at least where I used to live and go to school. When I got to 10th grade, I started learning about solar as more people were installing solar systems in my community. And I knew that solar energy was going to be the future and that is when I decided I wanted to be a part of that industry.
When I finished high school, I did get a job, but it wasn’t in solar. However,my mother saw on a Facebook group that GRID Alternatives was looking for solar installation trainees. So, she told my brother, and he signed up and graduated from GRID’s Installation Basics Training (IBT) program.
One of my siblings has a disability in his left arm, so he only has three fingers. The IBT training instructors didn’t say “no,” or “you can’t do this or that.” The supervisor always kept an eye on us and made sure my brother was good. He made sure that he was able to learn, participate, and knew what was going on in each training session.
Doing this training with my siblings was a lot of fun. The drive was always fun. It was always rowdy and chaotic. We always had the music all the way up. It was great to be here together because we knew we had each other’s back. Other people had our back, even the supervisor and the people working here, and everybody helped each other out.
The program was around six weeks. The first week you’re in the classroom, we have tutorials and everything is hands-on, so you learn firsthand what to expect and what’s going to happen on the job site. The second week is when we actually go to the job site and practice installing solar on real projects with our supervisors.
Training with GRID connects with me on a personal level because in Iraq, we didn’t have power all 24 hours. So, we used to save it for later in the day. So, It’s important to me, what GRID Alternatives is doing to connect people to solar power, regardless of their income level.
After completing the IBT program, I now have a 11-month long fellowship here at GRID Alternatives with the SolarCorps program, starting next month. After that, I’ll start looking for a solar technician or a solar installer position and hopefully that will help me become a solar electrician.
My biggest dream is taking care of my parents, taking care of people, and helping people throughout my whole life. I always try to help people. It brings me joy. It feels good to help others.
If I do end up here at GRID Alternatives for the rest of my life, I’ll be glad, I’ll be happy. They’re beautiful people. They help you with anything and everything you need. I love them. The atmosphere is outstanding here.”
This profile is a feature for People de San Diego, a storytelling project by the Prebys Foundation highlighting valuable community members of San Diego County.
