California Center for Sustainable Energy

The California Solar Training Partnership received $3.5 million of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ( ARRA) funding awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a regional resource and training center. The center, one of nine in the nationwide Installer Instructor Training Network, will enable California to build a highly capable clean energy workforce and to maintain its worldwide leadership in solar energy.

As part of this nationwide network, the partnership will design a training curriculum and provide professional development for trainers in solar photovoltaic ( PV) and solar heating and cooling technologies. The partnership is a joint effort of the Energy Commission, the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the California Center of Sustainable Energy, among others.

"The California Energy Commission is investing $500,000 in the California Solar Training Partnership, which will expand access to high-quality, standardized solar training for workers in the state," said Energy Commission Chairman, Karen Douglas. "Coupled with the statewide Go Solar California campaign, this partnership will advance the state's efforts to meet these accelerated goals for renewable energy and will foster the creation of sustainable jobs."

The Solar Training Partnership will provide professional development and curricular resources for California Community College faculty, Regional Occupational Programs (ROP), and high schools. The partnership is an additional component of the Clean Energy Workforce Training Program (CEWTP), the largest state-sponsored green jobs training program in the nation. CEWTP supports workforce training programs at community colleges or workforce investment boards and partnership academies in high schools throughout California to prepare individuals for jobs in energy efficiency, water efficiency, renewable energy and clean transportation.

For more information on CEWTP, go the Energy Commission's green jobs website at: www.energy.ca.gov/greenjobs/.

For additional information about Go Solar California, visit: www.GoSolarCalifornia.org.