Solar Energy International (SEI) is pleased to celebrate our 10th year of offering hands-on labs at our Paonia, Colorado campus with a full schedule of training available. The 2015 lab training season starts on April, 20th – we hope to see you here! Check out the 2015 Hands-on Labs training schedule…
SEI has a rich tradition of teaching by doing. Over the past 24 years since SEI’s educational non-profit inception, more than 40,000 people from all 50 states and 66 countries have attended SEI’s renewable energy courses both online and in-person.
Ten years ago, SEI expanded operations to include a 7-acre parcel of land amongst the thriving agricultural community in Paonia, Colorado. Since then, thousands of people have come through SEI’s training program which is one of the most rigorous educational experiences in the renewable energy industry. Many of these participants went on to work for large scale solar companies, started their own business, or traveled back to their homeland to implement all they had learned during their time in Paonia.
The SEI hands-on lab experience exposes students to detailed site analysis and system design and installation across the leading types of renewable energy applications. Since the SEI training model takes on a “brand agnostic” approach to teaching, SEI students get to experience aspects of PV systems from many of the leading manufactures in the industry. Equipment donations to the SEI Lab in Paonia are the lifeblood of SEI’s educational operations and could not exist without the generous support of these industry partners.
Industry Supporters
When SEI decided to invest in the Paonia, Colorado campus over a decade ago, it set forth a foundation for SEI’s long-range goal of creating a renewable energy educational center to include classrooms and hands-on lab facilities. There has always been a vision of a physical place that creates an enriching forum where participants could engage with instructors who are actively working in the industry and work along side fellow students from all walks of life.
Looking ahead to the next decade, the future looks even brighter for SEI as the organization moves forward with a vision of a world powered by renewable energy. But SEI needs your help.
In a recent open letter, SEI’s President of the Board, Ed Marston said, “After decades of up-and-down , solar-generated electricity across the US and the globe can now go head-to-head with coal- or gas-generated electricity. Traditional electric utilities rightly fear a death spiral, in which their customers leave their systems, first in a trickle and then in a flood as solar becomes more and more affordable.
But an immense conversion to solar can only happen if there are skilled, dedicated people to design, finance, build, commission and maintain solar installations. As a leading solar instructional organization in the world (we know this sounds immodest, but it is true) SEI must grow to meet the need. It is our mission and it is our job.
We must expand our seven-acre Paonia, Colorado campus. We must add to our hands-on and to our on-line course offerings. We must publish new textbooks. We must add staff.
You know from your time with us that SEI does its work with enthusiasm and passion, but also carefully and safely. We think ahead; we look ahead; we plan ahead.
And so we already have architectural drawings for the expanded campus. We have strengthened the campus infrastructure. We have carefully constructed plans to expand our course offerings. We are prepared to create an expanded SEI to meet the world’s coming PV needs.
But while we are ingenious, we cannot make bricks without straw. Or if you prefer, we cannot make PV panels without sand. SEI is stuck at its present capacity because we lack the capital to invest in the future.
If we were a corporation, we would tap Wall Street with a stock offering. But even though SEI operates in a business-like way, we must remain a non-profit. We must be driven by our vision and our mission, and not by financial profit.
So in this time of opportunity and need, SEI turns to the people who know us best. We are writing to ask you to contribute to our SAND INTO ELECTRICITY drive. With the money from this campaign, we will launch a $2 million capital campaign to expand our physical and training capability.
We were there for you when you decided to enter the world of solar energy. Now we ask that you be there for another generation who wish to turn sunlight into electricity. Please be generous.”
