Solar Energy International’s (SEI) Solar Ready Colorado Initiative received the 2017 IREC State/Local Government Achievement of the Year. Solar Ready Colorado is a statewide training and career outreach program led by SEI and industry partners and funded through the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment’s WORK Act Grant. The program offers SEI’s technical training program to Coloradoans who can fill the solar industry’s predicted skilled workforce shortage and helps to ensure the state is prepared for the changing landscape of energy production and distribution. The awards, given out by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), honored the 2017 3iAward recipients which celebrate the nation’s best innovation, ingenuity and inspiration in renewable energy and energy efficiency. The winners are based on a prestigious annual national search.
The Solar Ready Colorado program was honored for its innovative approaches to outreach especially the Solar Ready Colorado Career Expo and Envision360 Virtual Reality project. The Solar Ready Colorado Career Expo was co-sponsored by project partners Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association (COSEIA) and GRID Alternatives Colorado at COSEIA’s annual Solar Power Colorado conference. More than 150 job seekers attended the expo and engaged with Colorado solar companies about the jobs available in this growing industry. The partners will once again put on the Career Expo event at the newly expanded Solar Power Mountain West conference from March 12-14, 2018. coseia.org/conference/
“This event provided a forum where some of Colorado’s top solar companies could meet individually with job seekers was a unique way to showcase the opportunities in this fast growing part of our economy, which already employs more than 6,000 Coloradans,’’ said Chris Turek, Marketing Director of SEI ”we look forward to an even bigger career expo next year.’’
The event also marked the launch of the SEI Envision360 App and SEI Google Cardboard Project. Envision360 is a solar recruitment program technology tool that gives students a virtual experience of what it’s like to work in the solar industry, using Google Cardboard Viewers and virtual reality (VR) technologies. Solar companies across Colorado are featured in the app through interviews of key staff about their experience in solar and through 360o experiences of their warehouses, offices, and job sites. The app and viewers are being utilized by Coloradoans new to the solar industry as well as in schools to educate students about career opportunities in solar.
