OUR ORGANIZATION

Get to know Solar Energy International.

SEI’s Purpose

Our purpose is to empower students, alumni, and partners to expand a diverse, inclusive, well-trained and educated solar workforce and spread the knowledge of how to safely deploy industry-leading technology. Our aim is to mitigate climate change, promote sustainable economic growth, and support energy independence.

SEI’s Values

SEI is a dedicated community of hardworking professionals who believe in a world where all people have equal access to clean energy resources to ensure the safety and health of their communities, natural environments, and the planet. Our Core values are to Educate, Engage and Empower each other and the world through our work, aligning with our mission of a world powered by renewable energy.

Realizing this vision takes committed hearts, and we work every day to ensure that the people and communities we engage are educated and empowered to make a difference. These beliefs create the bedrock for SEI’s actions and programs and our core values guide what we do and how we do it, including a loyalty and commitment to our staff, students, instructors, and collaborators.

Educate

We Educate through reliable and quality educational products and services designed to provide a pathway to a skilled, knowledgeable, and equitable workforce.

We believe that training and building a global renewable energy workforce is essential to our collective futures. SEI is dedicated to continuous innovation in providing reliable, relevant, and quality services that are accessible to all, delivered by experienced industry thought leaders. We strive for a learning environment that puts service to students first and provides a pathway to a skilled, knowledgeable, and equitable workforce.

Engage

We Engage by building a community in all levels of our organization that is rooted in integrity to our mission.

We recognize the power in collective engagement, and knowing that diversity equals success, we endeavor to create a culture of inclusion amongst our community that focuses on taking care of each other and the planet. SEI is grounded in integrity, compassion, professionalism, and excellent service, and we engage with our work, our staff, instructors, students, and our collaborators to develop solutions and curate experiences with wide-ranging impact.

Empower

We Empower all those we work and collaborate with to believe in their potential, have a curiosity to learn and the determination to make a difference in their own lives and in the world.

We strive to empower as a way of life at SEI. We encourage people to apply their education to make a difference in their life and communities by providing resources, fostering connections and creating career opportunities. SEI’s work environment is focused on harmonious and productive teams, encouraging work/life balance, individual responsibility, and spirited fun. We advocate for personal and professional growth and prioritize quality of life.

Industry Partners

KACO New Energy
Schneider Electric
Discover Battery
DPW Solar
Tritec Energy
Solmetric
Solar Pathfinder
FLIR
Strata Solar
Wiley
OnGrid Solar
AMtec Solar Products
Solar Island Energy
Terra2
SMA
CED Greentech
Mitsubishi Electric
Scanifly
Ilsco
NorthStar
Victron Energy
Solar Edge
Alternatex Energy Solutions
Sky Blu Energy
RBI Solar
SOLV Energy
PVpallet
Quick Mount PV
S-5!
Duke
MT Solar
Azimuth Energy
MK Battery
Trina Solar
Magnum Energy
IMO Precision Controls
Fluke
O2 Energies
MidNite Solar
SPS - Solar Panel Store
Unirac
Morningstar
Iron Ridge
Seaward Solar
REC Solar
General Specialties Manufacturing
Fortress Power
Panasonic
Solectria
SnapNrack
Outback Power
Hannah Solar
Gardner Engineering
Crown Battery
CAB Products
Enphase Energy
ABB
Wakulla Mat
First Solar
CertainTeed
Sol-Ark
Baywa r.e.
GoodWe
Mission Solar Energy
RevoluSun
Fimer
Trojan Battery
HellermannTyton
PanelClaw

Board of Directors

Gerald Espinosa
Gerald EspinosaSEI Board President
Gerald retooled for a career in the clean energy economy by coming to Solar Energy International (SEI). As an alum and AmeriCorps VISTA for SEI’s Solarize program, Gerald became immersed not only in the promise of solar energy technology, but the positive impacts renewable energy can have in forming relationships, improving communities and fostering equity. After gaining installation experience with Namaste Solar’s residential and commercial operations, Gerald transitioned to Commercial & Industrial (C&I) Project Development. Gerald recently joined Pivot Energy, a leading national solar developer, assisting with origination, project analysis, and distributed generation deployment. Gerald lives in Denver and is building a Tiny Home with his partner, an elementary school teacher.
Paul Bony
Paul BonySEI Board Vice President
Paul presently works as a Senior Program Manager at CLEAResult. CLEAResult’s comprehensive set of energy programs and demand-side management strategies deliver solutions that lower load requirements for utilities, reduce energy bills for end users, and minimize environmental burdens on communities. Paul has a diversified background in marketing and delivering energy efficiency and renewable energy products and services at the utility, manufacturer, distributor, dealer and consumer level. He helped write a solar thermal bill that Senator Gail Schwartz will introduce in 2013. He has spearheaded similar efforts in Maryland and New Hampshire. He also serves on the Montrose Economic Development Council.
Kathy Swartz
Kathy SwartzSenior Project Analyst, Bowman Consulting Group
Kathy Swartz is thrilled to join the SEI Board of Directors after serving as Executive Director from 2012 through 2021. Originally from Ohio, Kathy moved to Colorado almost 20 years ago and has made Paonia her homebase to pursue her passions of clean energy, locally grown food, and healthy watersheds. After serving for nine years, she left in 2021 for a long sabbatical to dive into food, including working at a local organic farm and starting her own catering company that uses food as a catalyst for connection and play. She currently is the interim Executive Director at the Western Slope Conservation Center, a local nonprofit focused on protecting public lands and watershed stewardship. When not running non-profits or cooking for others, Kathy can be found hiking with her dogs, biking, and savoring a decadently simple life.
Cathryn Peterson
Cathryn PetersonBoard Secretary-Treasurer
Cathryn has over 30 years of tax, financial, legal, educational, consulting, and management experience with both national and international firms and law schools. Cathryn began her career in accounting in the oil and gas industry in Denver. After gaining years of increasingly responsible accounting experience and teaching a college course in oil and gas accounting, she joined a Denver financial consulting firm where she quickly ascended to Vice President in charge of financial planning.. She co-chaired a joint venture with a top-ten bank and developed a business plan for implementation of the financial planning systems in their Dallas headquarters with roll-out to all their branches. After law school) Cathryn was, inter alia, managing attorney for an international Fortune 500 company’s Denver office where she consulted with local and national law firms on professional and organizational development projects.
Johnny Weiss
Johnny WeissCo-Founder, Solar Energy International (Retired)
As an educator, a certified industrial trainer, and a building professional, Johnny has more than 40 years experience in the real-world applications of renewable energy technologies. Johnny Co-Founded Solar Energy International in 1991. He was the Executive Director and led SEI for over 20 years, helping establish SEI as a leader in solar education. Johnny has consulted and collaborated with teams and NGOs worldwide, and with Native American tribes. He brings supportive, environmental and ecological ethics and understanding to team efforts. With decades of experience designing and building solar systems, Johnny is particularly interested in solar electricity-generating projects (photovoltaic/PV) that are sustainable, green, international, and socially worthwhile. Currently, he is focused on helping to develop Solar Training Centers in Tanzania and on Native American reservations
Zach Krapfl
Zach KrapflCEE, Vapor Propulsion Labs
Zach is a mechanical and civil engineer based in Paonia, Colorado. He currently works with Gates Carbon Drive on electric bikes and light electric vehicles to produce a silent drive train that lasts 10 times longer than conventional systems. Zach previously worked with Bosch in Germany to create the most respected electric bike system sold globally that has now displaced over 27 billion automotive road miles and counting. He lives and works inside a net-zero passive house structure he constructed with pumice crete, living roof, rainwater catchment/grey water, PV, Solar thermal, and biomass backup heating.
Kristan Kirsh
Kristan KirshVice President, Global Marketing at Nextracker
Kristan Kirsh is a global marketing executive with ten years in the cleantech and solar sectors running global communications for Nextracker, a solar tracker and software systems provider for utility-scale solar applications. From start-up to global market leader, Kristan is responsible for building the Nextracker brand and developing its various community programs. Kristan also conceived of the company’s installer training program PowerworX, a renowned academy boasting over 1,000 graduates worldwide. Prior to working in the renewable energy sector, she held numerous marketing leadership roles for EdTech non-profits and IT companies such as Cisco Systems. At home crossing borders, Kristan’s first career was in international development where she worked in community health throughout Latin America and the Caribbean with USAID and the World Bank. Her first experience with photovoltaics was on a training program in the Peace Corps where she installed a 36 watt panel on her corrugated zinc roof tied to a car battery in the Dominican Republic. Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, Kristan holds a B.A. in Economics from U.C. Santa Barbara and two Master’s in Public Health and International Public Policy from the University of Pittsburgh, PA.

SEI Advisory Board

Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990) Archives

“I have taken virtually all of the PV courses that SEI offers and every time I think there is nothing left to learn, they prove me wrong. They are the best of the best at what they do.”

-SEI Alumnus