SEI Celebrates 25th Anniversary Co-located with Solar Battle of the Bands – July 13!
WHO WANTS TICKETS?!
Attention SEI Alumni and Supporters! Who wants tickets to SEI’s 25th Anniversary Celebration and Solar Battle of the Bands?! The event will be Wednesday, July 13, 2016 in San Francisco, California @ the Mezzanine at precisely 6:30 PM! Fill out this form now for a chance to get tickets >>
SEI is excited to announce our 25th Anniversary celebration will be held this year in San Francisco, California in conjunction with the Solar Battle of the Bands event! This event is also taking place during InterSolar Conference 2016 and is a perfect time to reconnect with the SEI Team and Solar Professionals from all over the industry. We will be meeting up on Wednesday, July 13, 2016 @ the Mezzanine at precisely 6:30 PM to kick off our 25th Anniversary celebration as the kick off event to Solar Battle of the Bands.
We have a limited number of tickets to give out and want to give our SEI Alumni the opportunity to enter for a chance to get a HIGHLY COVETED ticket to this event. We will make the final selections the week before InterSolar and will send emails out to those alumni that were randomly selected. You will be able to pick up your party tickets at SEIs booth at InterSolar.
SEI Launches Solar Ready Colorado
Training and Outreach Program!
Building upon SEI’s technical solar training program that has been in operation for over 25 years with over 45,000 alumni worldwide SEI is launching a Colorado based training and career outreach program titled Solar Ready Colorado: Solar Professionals Training and Outreach Program. This program which is part of a matching grant program through the Colorado Department of Labor and Employments WORK Act Grant and is empowering SEI to focus efforts in our home state of Colorado.
SEI will lead a team of industry partners to promote and offer SEIs industry recognized technical solar energy training program and provide needed recruitment and career counseling services to key industries and workforce populations in the State of Colorado.
SEI will build upon current and past industry partnerships that include leading industry associations and the largest employers in the solar industry. These efforts will ensure Colorados talent pipeline will stay strong and be a national model for preparing our states workforce for the changing landscape of energy production and distribution. Solar Ready Colorado partner organizations include: Grid Alternatives | Colorado Office, SunRun, Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association (COSEIA), and the Delta County, Colorado Public School System.
SEI Welcomes New Board Member Jon Miller
SEIs board of directors is a talented group of volunteers who keep SEIs mission and vision at the forefront of everything we do. Largely made up of Western Colorado residents, SEIs board members have varied backgrounds: a pioneer of Sustainable and Responsible Investing; a developer of coal mine methane power plants; a publisher of the Wests premier public lands and natural resources magazine (High Country News); an elected director of our local rural electric co-op that recently changed the PV landscape for co-ops by achieving a landmark FERC ruling; an expert in non-profits; the president of one of the very few locally-owned banks in Colorado; a leader in the grass-fed beef movement; and a Director of Renewables for one of the nations largest contractor associations.
Read more…
SEI Online Campus Sessions Start Monday, July 11th – Enroll Today!
SEI’s Online Campus is launching another round of industry leading technical training on Monday, July 11th! Join our live instructors and students from all over the world by registering for any of the following online courses – click for more info:
Seaward Group USA Supports SEI’s Non-profit Training Program with PV210 Solar PV Tester & I-V Curve Tracers!
A HUGE thank you to Seaward Group USA who rush shipped a PV210 Solar PV Tester & I-V Curve Tracer just in time for our hands-on lab – PV351L: PV Systems – Tools and Techniques for Operation and Maintenance Lab Week (Grid-Direct)!
SEI’s close connections with industry manufacturers ensures we have the most up-to-date equipment in our lab facility and are able to pass on the training and knowledge to our students. We thank all of these industry partners for their continued support of our non-profit mission!
About the PV210 Solar PV Tester & I-V Curve Tracer: With direct connection to individual PV modules or strings, the PV210 provides a compact and fast solution to test in accordance with IEC 61829 and IEC 62446. Measure Voc, Ioc, insulation, ground bonding, irradiance and temperature*, to prove safety and performance of PV modules and strings with a touch of a button.
More info about the PV210 Solar PV Tester & I-V Curve Tracer…
SEI Highlighted in Huffington Post Article:
Solar Industry Welcomes Coal Workers
The future of the coal industry is anything but bright, but a new study in the journal Energy Economics offers hope for coal workers for high-quality employment in the rapidly expanding solar photovoltaic industry.
SEI is headquartered in the heart of the declining Western Colorado coal country – this hits home for us. Many of our neighbors are losing their jobs as more and more coal mines close down. The good news is that they have the solar industrys leading technical training school right here in their backyard.
Read full article at Huffington Post…
SEI Alumni Highlight: Noel Wichman Veteran
Solar Energy International (SEI) is proud to welcome Noel Wichman into SEIs alumni network. Noel has the distinction of being the first student to utilize his Veterans Benefits to enroll in classes at SEI. Living just 10 miles away from SEIs Campus in Paonia, CO, Noels drive to SEI was short but his journey to solar training was long. Noel has been interested in the solar industry for over two decades, but only recently began solar installation training.The impetus of SEI accepting Veterans Benefits for in-person classroom and hands-on lab training through SEIs Solar Professionals Certificate Program (SPCP) was a marked turning point in his journey. Previously, Noel spent 13 years as active duty in the U.S. Air Force before working for a mining company in Colorado. Now, however, the time was ripe for a career transition. Ive always had a great interest in solar and it seems like the time is right for the whole industry
For better or for worse, solar is becoming more prominent in the energy industry and meeting the energy needs of the world.
Read more…
SEI Welcomes Marla Korpar
 Marla Korpar joins SEI as the fourth AmeriCorps VISTA to coordinate an expanded round of Solarize outreach, a campaign aimed at community revitalization through a solar economy. Marla will be working on continued regional efforts to foster solar energy awareness and local energy development throughout her term.
A western Pennsylvania Native, Marla grew up with a love for the mountains and the environment. She attended Penn State University earning a B. S. in Environmental Systems Engineering. One of her greatest joys has been chairing an organization that raises money for pediatric cancer research and treatment.
Marla worked with Penn States Cooperative Wetlands Center for two summers surveying wetlands in her beloved Appalachians and high in the rarefied air of the Peruvian Andes. After college, Marla moved to Texas to work for Chevron as an environmental engineer. Through dust storms, heat waves, and floods, Marla learned a lot about energy, and herself, in Texas. Marla joins SEI today to align her knowledge of energy demand and production with her passion for environmental sustainability. Marla is ecstatic to work with brilliant minds engaged in promoting clean energy for future generations!
SEI Welcomes Paulina Dunham
 SEI welcomes Paulina to the team as our Spanish Program Assistant. She is originally from Chile, has lived a few years in Colorado and has recently moved to Paonia. She enjoys being surrounded by nature, wildlife, and all the green in Colorado’s western slope.
Paulina received a degree in Industrial Design and has always been interested and passionate about renewable technology; one of her first projects as a student was to build a solar tent. She enjoys coordinating and helping students and people from all over Latin America. When she not working at SEI, Paulina enjoys gardening, hiking, and taking dance classes.
SEI Completes Another Successful
Spanish Program FV201L Lab Week!
Solar Energy Internationals Programa Hispano (Spanish Program) welcomed thirteen students from all over Latin America to SEIs solar training facility in Paonia, Colorado. The students came to SEI to attend FV201L: Laboratorio Fotovoltaico de Sistemas Conectados a la Red- Práctico or Grid-Direct Photovoltaic Systems Laboratory. The class was taught entirely in Spanish by SEI instructors Brad Burkhartzmeyer and Chris Brooks, and assisted by the Spanish Programs three newest instructors in training! The week-long lab emphasized hands-on solar installation training in a lab setting, exposing students to an array of systems theyre likely to encounter in the field.
More info…
Photo Highlights from SEI’s 201L Lab Week!
The PV201L: Solar Electric Lab Week in Paonia, Colorado was an amazing event! We had students from all over the world take part in a TOTALLY full lab session! If you missed out – don’t worry! We have more sessions coming up this Summer and Fall!
Summer Classes and Labs are Filling Fast!
Watch SEI Training Overview Video >>
If you plan on attending any of SEI’s solar training events this summer – YOU BETTER ENROLL SOON! Class seats are going fast for our highly attended hands-on labs, classroom courses, and online courses.
2016 Classroom Courses Schedule
July 2016
PV203: PV System Fundamentals (Battery-Based)
July 11 – July 15 | Paonia, Colorado
PV303: Advanced PV Multimode and Microgrid Design (Battery-Based)
July 25 – July 29 | Paonia, Colorado
August 2016
PV202: Advanced PV System Design and the NEC (Grid-Direct)
August 15 – August 19 | Paonia, Colorado
PV203: PV System Fundamentals (Battery-Based)
August 22 – August 26 | Paonia, Colorado
2016 Hands-on Labs Schedule
July 2016
PV301L: Solar Electric Lab Week (Battery-Based)
July 18 – July 22 | Paonia, Colorado
August 2016
PV201L: Solar Electric Lab Week (Grid-Direct)
August 08 – August 12 | Paonia, Colorado
PV301L: Solar Electric Lab Week (Battery-Based)
August 29 – September 02 | Paonia, Colorado
View the 2016 Training Schedule >>
or call SEI Student Services at 970-527-7657 x1
Solar Energy International (SEI) Receives Approval for Veterans Education Funding
Solar Energy International (SEI) is pleased to offer comprehensive Veterans Educational Funding and outreach programs for veterans and active duty military personnel. We proudly offer educational opportunities and benefits to military members, their families, and veterans who have honorably served.
SEI is now authorized to offer eligible veterans the ability to use their education benefits towards our in-person classroom and hands-on lab training through SEIs Solar Professionals Certificate Program (SPCP).
This education funding approval is part of SEIs broader expansion of their Active Duty Military and Veterans Outreach Program. As an organization, SEI believes in the opportunities that renewable energy can offer our country, such as energy independence and sustainable use of our countrys natural resources. With that in mind, we also honor those who have served our country and who are choosing to follow up their military service with a new kind of service; service in the renewable energy sector.
Read more…
SEI and Grid Alternatives Team Up for Volunteer Install in Gypsum, Colorado
Earn a PVOL101 Online Scholarship!
Attention SEI Students coming to Paonia, Colorado for training in the coming weeks! Solar install volunteer opportunity! July 28th, 29th & 30th AND August 4th, 5th & 6th – 8:30am – 4:30pm in Gypsum, Colorado!
As part of SEI’s Solar Ready Colorado program and partnerships, we will be helping GRID Alternatives, and Holy Cross Energy in Gypsum, Colorado to develop community solar exclusively dedicated to subscribers qualified as low-income. The array will be built with local power from families, schools, companies and more. Join us in putting the “community” back in solar!
In the coming year, SEI will be offering 50 scholarships to the first 50 Colorado resident volunteers who complete all installation volunteer days for any Grid Alternatives install in Colorado. The scholarship will allow recipients to buy SEI’s Solar Electric Handbook for $109 and get the online course – PVOL101: Solar Electric Design and Installation for FREE! (limit one scholarship per person)
CONTACT: Allison Moe – Workforce Manager [email protected] or 303-481-4384 – More info: http://www.gridalternatives.org/colorado
THE OPPORTUNITY AND IMPACTS: Volunteer and get hands-on experience installing a 150kW ground-mount community solar array with GRID – Install solar panels that will help 30-45 local qualified families save approximately $500 per year each – Offset 5,600 carbon tons from our atmosphere!
SEI is Hiring! AmeriCorps VISTA Position
Apply Here >>
Member Duties : The AmeriCorps VISTA will serve at the SEI campus in beautiful Paonia, Colorado. Here he/she will work in an office setting among and closely with industry professionals. He/She will work with another VISTA member to foster renewable energy awareness and adoption, by stimulating a local solar market to create long-term employment opportunities and promote economic resilience! In addition, this VISTA will focus on efforts to expand the our local efforts to a national audience. There will be frequent educational events to plan. Be prepared to collaborate with other individuals and organizations.
More info…
Join SEI at Solar Power International 2016
in Las Vegas – September 12-15
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) are the leaders in research and education for the solar industry in the US. In addition, advocacy is a top priority at SEIA.
All Solar Power Events are produced by SEIA and SEPA, including the development of the cutting-edge educational programs offered at each show. What sets Solar Power Events apart from other conferences is the support of these two organizations. All proceeds from the events go straight back into the industry.
More info…
Congratulations to SEI’s Summer 2016 Solar Professionals Certificate Program Graduates!
 Congratulations to the following students who have completed our most rigorous training program!
- Rafael Cetraro
- Marc Chabot
- Patrick Cheves Pfister
- Mauricio Gonzalez
- Jules Kontchou
- Alexander Ross
- Alejandro Ruiz Rodriguez
- Christopher Wu
The SEI Solar Professionals Certificate Program is a selective admissions program to help ensure the success of our students and provide a quality workforce for the solar industry. To determine a candidates likelihood of program completion, alignment of career goals, and overall good fit for this professional training program, we require a certificate program application to be completed by every student candidate. This is required for any certificate path and acceptance into the overall program. Multiple Certificates can be earned by adding courses to your original Certificate Path.
Application and Enrollment Info >>
or call 970-527-7657 x 1
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