Workforce

Building college workforce training & intership programs

We estimate there are currently 2,000 to 2,500 workers employed in the solar industry in California. The industry is growing at 35 to 40 percent per year, thus we anticipate requiring another 10,000 to 20,000 solar workers in the region over the next decade. Of these, we estimate approximately 60 percent of the jobs to be in manufacturing and installation, 20 percent in sales and marketing, and 20 percent in engineering.

The SolarTech Workforce Committee works with local schools to define and execute standardized training and certification at various levels for solar installers, salespeople, and other workers in the solar energy industry. SolarTech has partnered with other regional groups to develop solar-specific training courses and address the talent needs for a flexible and responsive workforce.

SolarTech members have collaborated with the Silicon Valley Industry Driven Regional Collaborative (SV IDRC) to design and execute an integrated, comprehensive and sustainable workforce delivery system within the community college system. MORE on workforce standards

Committee Goal: Link 2-year, 4-year, utilities, and private workforce training organizations to create an integrated Silicon Valley regional energy job training clearinghouse by 2012.

Projects

Conduct a labour market study of the solar industry identifying occupational needs, as well as the career opportunities and career ladders within the industry's various sectors, including first-person accounts of the skills, knowledge, training, and benefits of a select number of occupations.
Work with local educators to define a curriculum and certification program for occupations unique to the solar industry, with an initial focus on solar system installers. Local educators include community colleges, adult education centers, trade schools, and workforce investment boards.
Develop a multi-tiered training and certification process for solar installation technicians, with the top level being coursework and practical jobsite hands-on training necessary to prepare for taking the NABCEP certification.
Create a Workforce Training Standards team consisting of champions from local community colleges, adult education centers, trade schools, workforce boards, solar installation companies, and solar module manufacturers to define and execute a pilot short course and associated practical jobsite hands on training for the lowest level of proposed certification MORE on SV IDRC

Solartech Participants: Member companies collaborating in the workforce committee include representatives from local government economic development, community colleges, public and private universities, workforce investment boards and human resources from various solar sectors.

Member Companies: