How SunWork is Keeping Safe During COVID-19

SunWork’s top priority is the safety of our customers, our volunteers, and our employees.

At SunWork, safety has always been our top priority. We are committed to reducing the risk of COVID-19 for our customers, our volunteers, and our employees in the communities we serve. In response to the elevated risk associated with indoor gatherings, we have shifted many of our activities to be online instead of in person, including our volunteer training workshops. Our sales operations are also conducted virtually – online and by phone. For facets of our operations that cannot be conducted remotely, we are working to take safety precautions to protect the health and safety of our customers, volunteers, and employees. Please review the information below which is focused on the key audiences we serve in the San Francisco Bay Area and the California Central Coast.

Prospective Customers

Our consultants are happy to talk with customers about SunWork and to provide solar estimates for their home or nonprofit. The best way to start the conversation is to fill out our Request Quote form. Once a new customer qualifies for SunWork and has received a rough estimate, the next step is to schedule a site survey, which generally requires a physical visit to the site. Fortunately, nearly all of our work is done outside, where the potential for COVID-19 transmission is greatly reduced. Sometimes we need to enter a home to assess an interior electrical panel or investigate details of the roof construction. When this is required, we will utilize face masks and maintain social distancing whenever this preferred either by residents or by our staff person.

New Customers

Our solar installations typically take place on the weekend and we work with trained volunteers. Fortunately, nearly all of our work is done outside, where the potential for COVID-19 transmission is greatly reduced. All staff and volunteers are instructed to have face masks handy for any entry into the home that may be needed, for installation work or restroom use.

Current Customers

If you have a question about your system, please send an email to support@sunwork.org or call (650) 529-9918. Many issues can be resolved over the phone but if needed we are able to make service calls and will practice social distancing and face mask use whenever preferred.

Volunteers

Safety is our top priority when working with our volunteers. We always conduct an orientation and training refresher at the beginning of our solar installation projects. In response to COVID-19, our Project Leads (who are SunWork employees) have received additional training which specifically addresses health and safety. Volunteers who feel sick may not participate in projects. Regardless of vaccination status, volunteers are encouraged to bring their own face masks if they have one (as well as their own work gloves), but we also have extra medical ear-loop face masks available on site, to be available for use when going inside the home to use the restroom, etc. We appreciate our dedicated volunteers and want to help keep everyone healthy and safe while participating in our projects.

Our regularly scheduled classroom volunteer trainings have been discontinued indefinitely in response to COVID-19. Instead, we’ve created an online volunteer training webinar. Please watch for announcements about upcoming training on our Volunteers page. You can also sign up to be notified of upcoming training via email.

Employees

Our employees generally work from home offices so their in-person exposure to other staff is limited. When in the field, our employees are well versed in best practices for minimizing COVID-19 transmission risk, and have received training to suspend work until they are tested if they are feeling ill or if they may have been exposed to the virus.  Many building permit offices have continued to offer the online application options they developed at the start of the pandemic, so this limits exposure as well.

Thank you to our employees, volunteers, and customers for your understanding and cooperation as we all work to adapt to new circumstances created by COVID-19. We strive to continue to provide affordable solar systems to our low-energy-footprint customers and provide our volunteers with learning opportunities and a way to give back to our communities.