TUCSON, Ariz. — When Louis Woofenden received his first mini solar electric system as a child, it was more than just a toy, it was the technology that powered his home and would guide the rest of his life.

Woofenden, a 25-year-old student at Pima Community College, is a nationally certified solar-electric system installer with a unique background in solar power. He grew up and was home schooled at his parent’s off-the-grid home on an island off the coast of Washington. This is where he learned to work with solar energy at a young age.

An off-the-grid home, Woofenden said, is one that is not connected to any outside power. The electricity used in his home was generated by wind turbines and solar power. He said on average they generated and used what would amount to $20 of power per month at a conventional home.

“It requires a little bit of a different philosophy,” Woofenden said. ”We had to be in tune with the weather patterns. If there wasn’t enough (power), we decided not to do as much that day.”

During those down periods a gas-burning generator was kept as backup. For space-heating, the family burned wood, while for cooking and water heating, they used natural gas. The batteries used to store power had to be constantly checked and all electrical items in the house needed to be extremely efficient. Despite these difficulties, Woofenden said it wasn’t all that different.

“Using off-the-grid power requires some change in habit,” he said, emphasizing the last word, "but it doesn’t require change for what you can do with it."

Woofenden took this knowledge of solar power with him when he left home at age 18 to attend Bryn Athyn College, a small, private liberal-arts college northeast of Philadelphia. It is here he came up with a proposal to create a solar-powered pumping system for a school in Ghana, Africa. He accepted a 10-week internship for the trip and got money for his proposal at the last second.

In Ghana, Woofenden and his colleagues traveled to different towns teaching and helping the impoverished populations. In the town of Asakakra, water had to be lifted by bucket from a well and carried by hand up a hill to the schoolhouse.

“They would put buckets down a 30-foot well, pull them up and haul them up the hill," he said. “Most of the labor fell on the women and children of the village, as is with a lot of places in West Africa.”

Woofenden used a solar-powered pump to push the well water to a holding tank at the top of the hill where the water was gravity-fed to various spigots throughout the town. He recalled the moment the system started working as the point he decided he wanted do this sort of work in the future.

“There was water spilling out and everyone was excited,” he said.”Being able to make a concrete change in someone’s life is really an amazing thing.

“They have so much less stuff but so much more happiness. We gave a little and learned more than we could actually give.”

In the summer of 2003 Woofenden moved to Tucson to be with his girlfriend and continue his studies at the UA. In need of a job, he walked into The Solar Store(watch), gave them his experience and was hired on the spot.

At age 21, Woofenden was nationally certified by The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners as a solar-electric system installer. He said he is one of, if not the, youngest people in the country to ever get certified.

Now Woofenden is in charge of training new employees and providing quality control on different projects. His favorite project is building systems for completely off-the-grid homes, a throwback to his youth.

Woofenden plans on attending the University of Arizona soon and after graduation plans to try and continue helping needy people with his expertise. He admitted it is a daunting task to gain funding and doesn’t really know where to start, but he is passionate about helping people.