A message from SEI Executive Director Kathy Swartz–Thank you!

To Our Supporters, Friends, and Alumni,

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! We are so pleased to announce that we reached our goal of raising $120,000 to build our first international training facility in Costa Rica! We couldn’t have done it without you!

The solar training facility in Costa Rica will serve people within the region, including all of Latin America and the Caribbean. The facility will be located in Uxaraccí, Costa Rica, which is approximately one hour from San Jose. We are currently finalizing the training system design and procuring equipment. We will break ground in the next month and will offer our first hands-on lab class from April 23-27!

The initial build-out this year will focus on the installation of three grid-tied solar systems. We plan to add two battery-based systems in the future to round out the training program. The facility is being modeled after our successful training facility in Paonia, Colorado, and will provide a regionally accessible, affordable location for Spanish speakers to obtain hands-on PV installation experience. This comprehensive lab setting will include all the support tools, equipment, and infrastructure necessary to ensure the high-quality standard in training Solar Energy International (SEI) adheres to.

As part of our vision of a world powered by renewable energy, it’s more important than ever to ensure that people around the world have access to hands-on practical training, which includes building international campuses. This is a very strategic and very important first step for SEI! Thank you for supporting our vision!

Additionally, your generous end-of-the year gifts helped us grow our scholarship funds, support our projects in the developing world, provide necessary funds for our Solar in Schools program, and expand our Paonia Campus. We received tremendous support for these programs through our #SolarEnergy4All campaign, and we are so grateful for the opportunity to do more good!
2018 is slated to be an exciting year for us!

Nationally, SEI is directly involved with the 2020 National Electrical Code (NEC). Rebekah Hren, (Principal) and Brian Mehalic (Alternate) represent SEI on NFPA Code-Making Panel 4 for the NEC. At the First Draft meeting in January they worked with other panel members to review and respond to hundreds of Public Inputs submitted for consideration as revisions to Articles 690, 691, 692, 694, 705, 710, and 712. Over 100 of the Public Inputs were developed by the PV Industry Forum, which SEI helped coordinate. Rebekah and Brian are dedicated to representing the voice of PV system installers in the continuing evolution of the NEC. The 2020 NEC First Draft Report is scheduled for release on July 6, 2018!

Internationally we’re connecting with regional partners to offer our training across the world. So far in 2018 we’re slated to deliver training in Costa Rica, Saudi Arabia, Oman, UAE, Uganda, and we’re just getting started! Our Program Hispano and Middle East and Africa business development departments are working hard to expand our reach.

And finally, locally we’re launching the Solar Forward program. The Solar Forward program aims to use increasingly more affordable solar technology to strengthen the economies, resilience, and independence of Colorado communities and rural areas. Leveraging the experience that we have accumulated from implementing solar energy programs in our rural home base, we are partnering with Colorado communities who are interested in growing their solar markets by providing them with a dedicated adviser to provide consulting on community solar initiatives. The adviser will assist communities every step of the way in the program planning and implementation processes.

We’re also expanding our campus in Paonia, Colorado. We recently built a new pavilion and we will be installing a solar carport this spring. As we plan for the future, an on-campus classroom and housing are on our minds. Our goal is to offer world-class facilities to accompany our industry-leading training.

In a time where there are many unknowns, this we’re sure of: we are working towards our vision of a world powered by renewable energy every day. Thank you so much for your generous support. Together, we are making renewable energy education more accessible to all!

Onward, upward,

Kathryn Swartz, Executive Director

The post A message from SEI Executive Director Kathy Swartz–Thank you! appeared first on Solar Training - Solar Installer Training - Solar PV Installation Training - Solar Energy Courses - Renewable Energy Education - NABCEP - Solar Energy International (SEI).