SEI’s 9th Annual Instructor Training Week kicks off with dozens of SEI instructors and staff converging on Paonia, Colorado for a full week of professional development. This professional development event is for the nation’s leading solar energy instructors from SEI who are preparing the nation’s (and the world’s) students for a clean energy workforce. The event is filled with technical and instructional training to keep our instructors at the top of their game and learn new techniques to pass on the depth and breadth of knowledge found within this talented group of solar professionals.
The local ABC News channel covered the kick off of Solar Instructor Training Week with a report on SEI and the growth of solar jobs in Colorado.
According to the Solar Foundation’s recent jobs report and Colorado workforce statistics, there are now more than twice the number of people working in the Colorado Solar Industry (over 5000 people) than there are coal miners (less than 2500 people) in the state of Colorado. This region is poised to shift from one energy source to another – but technical training and workforce development will be critical. This growth is happening everywhere. By the end of this decade, solar will be a major part of America’s energy portfolio, employing more than 420,000 workers and pumping a whopping $30 billion per year into the U.S. economy.
SEI has the largest global alumni network of renewable energy students and graduates from our training program with over 45,000 alumni world-wide. Our training program is proud to have over 40 instructors who are among some of the most experienced and industry recognized professionals teaching for our non-profit school. SEI’s cadre of instructors have over 550 years of combined experience.
