| SEI’s First Cohort of Graduates from the “Reach for the Sun” Training Program
Solar Energy International (SEI) is pleased to announce the first graduating class as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Reach for the Sun military solar training pilot program. This solar training program’s goal is to provide military personnel who are transitioning out of active duty with the technical skills needed to become leaders in the worlds clean energy economy.
Through the Solar Instructor Training Network (SITN), SEI led the training program for 20 Marines and Sailors from Camp Pendleton through a four-week intensive training. The training consisted of classroom and hands-on training, which culminated in the participating military personnel taking the NABCEP PV Associate Exam
. In addition, a career day was held to connect the program participants to jobs, thus closing the loop from training to entering the renewable energy workforce. Vivint Solar, SolarCity, SunPower, SunEdison, and Sunrun each interviewed the participants and by the end of the day, many of our service members had job offers.
VIEW PHOTO ON GALLERY ON FACEBOOK >>
SEI’s Board President Interviewed by CNBC
Two Industries Fighting Over Your Power Bill!
Resistance is Futile – GO SOLAR!
 Not all traditional power companies are opposed to solar power. Many utilities are in fact setting up initiatives to work with solar firms and take advantage of the power source themselves.
That is exactly what Ed Marston says needs to happen to the entire utility industry. He is the president of Solar Energy International, a nonprofit organization that trains people in how to use renewable energy.
“Solar and wind have so much momentum behind them,” he said.
Marston compared the situation to the land line telephone business at the turn of the century. It didn’t disappear all at once but has declined over several years. He predicts a similar fate for big utility companies if they continue to resist renewable energy technologies.
“Resisting solar doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “The industry has to look ahead and say, ‘We are going to lose if we don’t adapt quickly.'”
Read more at CNBC >>
SEI Online Campus Sessions Start on
Monday – March 2nd – register today!
Just getting started learning about Solar PV?
SEI’s Online Course PVOL101: Solar Electric Design and Installation (Grid-direct) is the perfect place to start.This SEI online course has launched thousands of careers for solar professionals worldwide. Many of SEI’s 35,000+ Alumni started their professional development with SEI’s PVOL101: Solar Electric Design and Installation (Grid-direct).
PVOL101 Online is also a great place to start for home owners, educators, policy makers, and anyone generally interested in the technical aspects of Solar PV.
View the Full 2015 SEI Training Schedule
or call SEI’s Student Services at (970) 963-8855 x1
SEI Welcomes New Members to the Team!
SEIs family continues to grow! Were pleased to welcome:
- Jeff Ruppert is the new manager of SEI Solar Professional Services. Jeff is a civil and structural engineer who has worked around the world implementing hundreds of large-scale projects. When not at SEI, Jeff is a fly-fisher, publisher of the The Last Straw journal, and dad to a one year old daughter.
- Denise Massart-Isaacson has recently joined our Business Office. Denise is the Queen of Ultimate Frisbee and frequently travels around the country for tournaments, when shes not immersed in book-keeping. If youre coming to Paonia this summer, Denise will likely recruit you to play.
- Pete Mueller is our Americorp VISTA working on Solarize Delta County. Originally from Chicago, Pete recently bought a home in Paonia. When hes not tearing out ceilings or redoing foundations, Pete can be found running, cross country skiing, and exploring the wilderness.
- Jake Schmitt is our newest Work-trader. Originally from Urbandale Iowa, Jake is helping the PV Team prep for the upcoming training season in exchange for classes. In his free time, Jake loves to draw, paint and hike. Hes currently living on a goat farm in Paonia.
Nathaniel Huckleberry Huck Finnigan (son of SEI Workshop Coordinator- Jess Finnigan Class of 2035) SEI also welcomes the newest members of the Class of 2035, including Nathaniel Huckleberry Huck Finnigan (son of SEI Workshop Coordinator- Jess Finnigan), Samuel Hendrix Thornton (son of SEI instructor- Orion Thornton) and Eli Villacci (son of PV Instructor and Curriculum Member- Joe Villacci). Were anxiously awaiting the birth of Baby Woodruff, who is due any day, and will love solar heating as much as her dad does.
SEI Alumni Highlight:
Blake Jones and Namasté Solar
SEI Alumni Highlight: Blake Jones (SEI Class of 2002) and Namasté Solar Celebrate 10 Year Anniversary!
Namasté Solar, a Colorado employee-owned cooperative that designs, installs, and maintains solar electric systems for residential, commercial, non-profit, and government customers throughout the United States, announced that February 2015 marks the company’s 10th anniversary of its founding.
Ten years ago, Blake Jones returned home to Colorado with the intention to start his own solar company after working for three years in the solar electric industry in Nepal. Toward the end of 2004, as Colorado’s historic Amendment 37 passed, Blake and his co-founders, Ray Tuomey and Wes Kennedy, finalized their shared vision for starting an employee-owned, transparent, and democratic company whose purpose was to benefit all of its stakeholders, not just its stockholders. After choosing a company name that was meaningful to all the partners, Namasté Solar was officially incorporated in February 2005. Visit http://www.namastesolar.com/Read the Full Story…
SEI Travels to Angola
for Solar Energy Training Workshop
On February 23, SEI Instructors Michael Stangl and Jay Peltz kicked off a week-long solar energy training workshop in Luanda, Angola, organized by the U.S.Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).The one-week comprehensive solar energy training covers topics such as safety, instrumentation, load analysis, battery bank sizing, and renewable energy finance. Twenty-five Angolan engineers and technicians from several of Angola’s provinces participated in the program, as Angola increases its efforts to adopt solar power technology to solve rural electrification challenges.
Ambassador La Lime and Minister of Energy and Water João Baptista Borges gave remarks at the opening ceremony. With electricity access rates estimated as low as 30% (9% among Angola’s rural population), the government is keen on introducing off-grid solutions that will provide electricity to rural areas, home to more than 50% of Angola’s population. Both the Ambassador’s and Minister’s remarks highlighted the plight of the poorest Angolans and their struggles to obtain electricity access.
SEI Announces Certificate Program
Application Deadline – March 2nd
If you are considering completing SEI’s Solar Professionals Certificate Program in 2015, you will want to apply for admission and scheduling of your prerequisite training by March 2nd in order to complete the program in a timely manner this year.
Program completion is still possible if you start later in the training year, but becomes more and more difficult from a scheduling standpoint due to full courses. Contact SEI Student Services today to speak to a SPCP advisor or complete the online application today.
or call SEI’s Student Services at (970) 963-8855 x1
SEI’s Programa Hispano Technical Training at 2015 MiaGreen Expo & Conference
SEI’ Spanish program had a great 2015 MiaGreen Expo & Conference in Miami with a one-day Spanish PV training. SEI’s Program Hispano instructional team trained 32 people from Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Peru, United States, and Colombia. Check out all of the 2015 Spanish trainings at solarenergy.org/programa-hispano
SEI’s Technical Training at COSEIA 2015
The COSEIA 2015 Conference was a huge success! The Colorado solar industry is as strong as ever! It was great seeing so many of our alumni come to our booth to say hi and we thank our network of past students who are doing such great work in our home state! Congratulations to COSEIA for running yet another great event! See you next year!
SEI Work Trader Position Open
For over 20 years, SEIs Work-Trade Program has enabled people from around the world to hone their renewable energy technology skills and improve their capabilities while helping to strengthen and grow SEI. In fact, the majority of our current staff were once work-traders!
Summer Helper position
This person will work at SEIs PV lab facility in Paonia, Colorado. More than one person will be hired, as coverage is needed from April through mid-October. The job entails assisting Paonia office manager Chris Smith. Duties can be extremely varied. They include taking care of the drink station for lab students, running errands, data entry, assisting with potluck set-up, weeding and trash pick-up, creating and laminating signs, making name tags, making Records of Completion for students, helping with bicycle rental, etc. Read the full job description…
Our Friends Over at the Living Farm Have Lauched an Awesome Online Course!
Are you having dreams of shoveling compost and not snow? Are you dreaming of working in your own garden in the sunshine? Nows the time to make this a reality! Our little community of Paonia, Colorado is known for many things, including the amazing farms.
We are pleased to promote The Abundance Garden online course, which was created by our friends and farmers at The Living Farm, which is just down the road from SEIs campus. The Abundance Garden Course is a new high performance gardening system that will teach anyone how to grow nutrient dense organic food in a compact, easy and fun garden.
This course can change the way you garden forever. Anyone, even people with no gardening experience can learn to grow nutrient dense food in their first year. They take the hard out of gardening. In just 15 minutes a day in 128 square feet will produce more than you can imagine, making gardening fun and productive for everyone. Check out their free webinar or better yet, sign up for their online course.
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