Skip the Grid 2026: Celebrating 5 Years of Powering Homes in the Navajo Nation

Written by April Gabatin

At SOLV Energy, we work at utility scale-developing big numbers, but even bigger impact within the communities where we build. Skip the Grid is one of the clearest expressions of that mission.

What began in 2019 as the Lightmakers Project-a determined effort by SOLV Energy to bring solar-powered electricity to homes in the Navajo Nation at no cost to residents-has grown into an initiative built on partnership and community trust. Five years later, Skip the Grid is a collaboration between SOLV Energy, Nextpower, Heart of America, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (SLO), united by a shared point of view: that access to electricity is not a privilege, it's the foundation.

Standing in a multigenerational home, watching a family experience power for the first time, recalibrates your perspective-the scale shrinks, and the meaning expands.

Powering as One Team

From Red Mesa to Chinle to Holbrook, SOLV Energy and our partners have spent five years proving that the solar industry can show up for the people closest to the energy gap-not just once, but year after year.

Within the Navajo Nation sits half of the Holbrook Unified School District (HUSD), where nearly two-thirds of students are Native American. A significant number of those students go home each night to a house without a reliable source of electricity, in the second poorest county in the United States.

This year's trip was the largest in Skip the Grid history, powering 50 homes across Holbrook, Arizona, extending into the Hopi Reservation, with more than 90 students impacted across HUSD. Since the initiative launched five years ago, more than 200 homes now live with electricity-each one representing a family that can now refrigerate medication, study after dark, and start the day on their own terms.

The 25 Cal Poly SLO students and faculty who made the trip this year had spent an entire quarter preparing before a single panel went up-developing installation plans, coordinating Goal Zero systems, and accounting for the unique roof angles and demands of each home. When installation began, students served as team leads on the initiative that took place during what was meant to be their Spring Break.

"Skip the Grid is known as an interdisciplinary project here at Cal Poly SLO-being able to represent all seven colleges is a one-of-a-kind experience," said Sean Murphy, a Mechanical Engineering student and third-time Skip the Grid participant. "The first time I attended, we powered 20 homes. Now we provided electricity to 50 homes in three days-and I think that's incredible."

Heart of America had been doing their own groundwork long before our boots hit the ground-building relationships with the Holbrook Unified School District, identifying families without access to power, and earning the community trust that makes the work possible in the first place. Their presence is what turns an installation trip into something lasting.

Nextpower also joined as a key collaborator, sending their own employees to work alongside SOLV Energy teams in the reservation-a signal that Skip the Grid has grown beyond a single company's initiative into something the broader energy industry wants to be part of.

Education Night

During the three-day installation schedule, our teams visited Holbrook Junior High School for an evening that extended well beyond solar education. Students listened in through a career-focused Q&A panel with energy industry professionals, resume-building workshops, and professional headshots-concrete tools for students who are beginning to think about what comes next.

One high school teacher even took the time to learn about SOLV Energy's PowerUp! Scholarship-an annual program that awards six $1,500 scholarships to high school seniors committed to building a more sustainable and equitable energy future.

For students growing up in a community where utility-scale solar projects sit on the horizon and panels are now going up on neighborhood rooftops, the evening carried a clear message: with the right tools and the right introduction, they can be part of building it.

What Five Years Has Built

Five years ago, SOLV Energy showed up in the Navajo Nation with solar panels and a mission to provide good energy. Today, Skip the Grid is proof of what that mission looks like in practice-a replicable model that brings together the industry's best resources, its brightest students, and its most committed partners in service of communities that have no longer have to wait for reliable power.

More than 200 homes powered. Five school districts supported. Four partners, aligned on one mission. The work is not finished-but the foundation is built.

Interested in donating to or learning more about Skip the Grid?

Please email Alyssa Grant, Director of Impact, [email protected].