Cutting Edge Technology on Display at Solar Energy International's PV Lab Facility

By Holly Loff, Solar Energy International Development Associate

Solar Energy International's students come to our solar training lab workshops not just to be trained by the best; they come to see the best products on the market - the latest and the greatest.

Likewise, SEI's instructors, besides loving to teach, come to train at SEI's Paonia PV Lab Facility because our lab is filled with the latest technology. SEI's instructors and students get to work with the newest products on the market.

Every year SEI's PV Project Coordinator, Jeff Tobe, sets to work on making contact with the manufacturers in the PV industry. With 10 years in the industry, Jeff has amazing relationships with people in solar and renewable energy technologies. He connects with these folks at industry conferences and learns about new products that are changing the market. Due to SEI's reputation for quality, non-biased training, the PV industry has been quite generous in donating their newest products to our PV Lab Facility in Paonia, Colorado. This equipment is not only used for training future installers, designers, salespeople and the workforce, but it's a critical component in our ongoing curriculum and textbook development.

The SEI staff gets excited as the trucks roll in with deliveries of batteries, inverters, modules, racking, and more. Our team sets to work carefully unwrapping the products and designing the layout to incorporate into the master plan of our PV Lab Facility.

The outcome is a state-of-the-art training facility that greatly enhances SEI's training program, curriculum and textbook development.

It would not be possible to offer in-depth, hands-on PV training, as well as an ever-evolving PV curriculum and textbook, without the support of our industry friends. Additionally, SEI's outreach programs including Solar In the Schools, International, domestic and Native American programs also benefit from industry product donations.

Solar Energy International gives a sincere "thank you" to:

I would encourage you to come out and see the products in use, or work with them yourself by registering for an SEI lab week, such as our newest workshop, PV351L: Tools and Techniques for Operation & Maintenance Lab Week offered in both August and October this year.

Hope to see you there!