Solar power company brings jobs, clean energy to Morgan Hill

A San Mateo-based solar power provider recently opened a facility in Morgan Hill which employs about 120 people, and offers to install and maintain sun-powered electricity systems for homes and businesses throughout northern and central California.
SolarCity opened its Morgan Hill location – a distribution and installation center – on Adams Court this summer, and will soon be hiring up to 20 more people for jobs related to the installation of solar power systems, according to SolarCity spokeswoman Molly Canales.
The company has grown significantly since it was founded in 2006, with more than 37,000 residential customers and 2,100 employees throughout California. SolarCity has 24 operation centers in the state similar to Morgan Hill.
Currently 117 people are employed at Morgan Hill’s SolarCity location, primarily in installation, maintenance and office positions, Canales said.
One of SolarCity’s local customers, Kumar Malavey, 50, of San Martin, recently acquired a solar power system for his home from the company. Malavey installed a 3.2-kilowatt per hour system on his home, both to seek a cleaner energy solution and to cut down on his electricity bills.
“We have some college-age kids and they run up the bills pretty high,” laughed Malavey, who works for Hewlett-Packard.
His system was just turned on this month, so Malavey doesn’t know exactly how much he is saving on his light bills. But with the aid of a computer application provided by SolarCity which allows customers to monitor their daily electricity use, he estimates he is currently saving about 50 percent on power costs.
Malavey, who moved to the area from San Jose about three years ago, heard about SolarCity through a representative promoting the company at Home Depot.
“From a general customer standpoint, they make it really easy,” Malavey said. “They did a lot of good customer support.”
SolarCity’s office manager in Morgan Hill, Joyce McKenzie, has worked at the facility since August. The company recently installed a system on her parents’ home in Gilroy.
McKenzie previously worked for a family-owned landscaping company whose owners recently retired.
“The people (at SolarCity) are great,” said McKenzie, who lives in San Jose. “They love their company, they love their job. It’s a lot of work and a lot of hours, but everybody’s happy to be here.”
California leads the nation in the solar power industry which continues to grow, according to the Go Solar California website. There are more than 190,000 individual solar electricity systems installed on homes and businesses throughout the state, producing more than 1,800 megawatts of electricity.