Watch as the White House Council on Environmental Quality takes questions on the new Green Economy.

httpv://www.youtube.com/user/whitehouse?blend=1&ob=4#p/search/0/aFjhhEaj11U

Solar Cells and Solar Photovoltaic Electrical generation are among the most common and renewable energy sources available to date. During these times when awareness is increasing, the government is greatly increasing government programs to finance renewable energy sources. Solar panel installation training offers you the opportunity to cash in on government grants for solar training for the use of your unemployment retraining benefits, finding new green job employment opportunities or even just to find one of the many new jobs installing solar panels.

Finding a solar panel training school is about much more than just discovering somebody to show you the way that photovoltaic cells and solar panels work, it involves discovering a school of solar energy that can help you to get the certifications you need to get a job in the ever-expanding field of solar and wind energy or green jobs. The American government is throwing massive amounts of subsidies into the creation and expansion of green jobs including solar energy, solar training and photovoltaic panel installation, maintenance and repair.

Solar Power Training Certification is now required in many states in order to get one of the increasing number of jobs in renewable energy and even to bid on these jobs, Solar Power Installation Training and certification is required in many other states. While it is important to understand all of the principles of solar panels, training should include more than just the basics of solar panel installation and maintenance. Not only will you have the chance to become comfortable working around renewable energy sources, you will also have the opportunity to grow more comfortable and relaxed in the same environment where you will be taking your Solar Certification Testing.

For those people who are more comfortable planting their boots on a roof than flying around the country, there is also online solar training available. You do not even have to put your boots inside the classroom at all if you are more comfortable that way. With Boots on the Roof’s online solar power training courses, you can still get everything that you need to pass the Entry Level Certificate of Knowledge of PV Systems or Photovoltaic systems. Boots on the Roof’s Wind and Solar Training is a leading Renewable energy training institute, is enrolling students into its Solar Energy Training classes both online and on campus to better suit your needs. When you are looking for schools for Photovoltaic Design and Installation, you need look no further than one of Boots on the Roof’s 6 Day Boot Camps. On campus or online, this is THE resource for all of your wind and solar training needs.

Watch the latest green stories! 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlPr3Y1WrIs

Already the need for qualified workers in the field of solar energy exceeds the numbers that have acquired the necessary solar energy credentials. Government, private industry, and educational institutions are well aware of the shortfall and the expected future increase in demand. Programs in colleges, trade schools, and even introductory programs that expose younger audiences to the possibility of employment in the solar industry are receiving funding and media coverage. While industry, government, and the general public desperately need a larger workforce trained in solar technology, those that have solar power credentials from renewable energy schools can expect guaranteed jobs and secure financial incomes.

There are currently a variety of solar training programs available. Some are targeted at the working student who cannot afford to take time away from work. Those programs offer weekend and evening courses, and some even offer the classroom portions online. Virtually all solar school programs concerned with installation of solar systems have a large portion of the program dedicated to hands-on training. These programs are especially crucial to training carpenters and electricians in how to use their existing skills for the purpose of advancing renewable energy.

Another encouraging aspect of the training available for those interested in pursuing careers in clean renewable energy is that the new programs are open to a greater variety of students. In the past, studies and job training in environmental science were available only to people holding academic credentials. Generally these courses were part of science and engineering departments at large well-funded universities. But today’s solar school can be a small operation with no affiliation with an academic university. A person who has absolutely no academic credentials, such as a construction laborer with no college but an intense interest in solar energy, can gain a solar energy credential and look forward to a more secure job.

Generally when we first think of jobs involving solar energy we think only of the jobs that pertain to the installation of the solar systems in homes and businesses. Certainly that is a large part, if not the largest part, of the jobs available, but it is important to remember that there will also be jobs in the development of new products and systems as well as in the marketing of such systems. Just like other product industries spawn mini industries in a supporting role, solar energy will need an array of people involved in everything from design and invention to sales. For this reason when we think of studying at a solar school we need to remember that the schools will be varied. Some will be small trade schools with the sole purpose of offering a solar panel installation certificate, while other schools will be located in large universities where portions of the engineering or business departments are devoted to training students in various roles concerning solar technology.

According to many experts the need for qualified personnel and the need for solar schools will continue to increase. For those new to the workforce or those that want to compliment their existing skills a certification in solar technology may be the best way to spend money on education and get an immediate return on the investment.

Boots on the Roof, a leading Renewable energy training institute, is enrolling students into its Solar Thermal and PV Training classes. For more information on qualifications, Training Dates and Locations, click here.

Want to get into residential solar panel installation?  Get solar energy training!  Watch this video and where you could be!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV3euyl8mlw

Boots on the Roof, one of the best solar/wind training providers in the San Francisco bay area, is currently enrolling students into its upcoming Solar PV and Wind Energy training boot camp.  Students can get certified as solar PV installers. The training program includes hands-on labs, classroom activities focusing on solar electric system design, safety regulations, installation and extra business topics related to photovoltaic.  To learn more about dates, locations, and course details,  click here.

This is the kind of job most people imagine when they think about a career in renewable energy.  Solar Laboratory Technicians are the scientists working in research & development laboratories for renewable power companies.  They constantly research and invent new and better technologies to generate and utilize green energy sources.

Specifically, Solar Laboratory Technicians pioneer new ways to improve and diversify ways of gathering sunlight, turning it into electricity, storing it, and utilizing that energy.  Similar research & development laboratory positions exist, however, in other areas of the renewable energy economy.  Green power companies involved in wind power, geothermal energy, hydroelectric power, and biomass gases all need research scientists and technology architects.  And this isn’t even mentioning the many other new alternative energy technologies that are currently being explored, but have yet to become well-known household terms.

Obviously, being a Solar Laboratory Technician requires a large amount of detailed knowledge of solar electronics.  The most common and well-known type of solar power systems are photovoltaic solar arrays  that convert sunlight into electricity.  The development of solar cells that can generate more electricity, automatic tracking systems to follow the movement of the sun to optimize the efficiency of solar arrays, and batteries that can store more electricity for longer periods of time are all things that Solar Laboratory Technicians research, build, and test.

There are many other types of non-electric solar power, however, that a Solar Laboratory Technician should be familiar with.  An example is thermal solar cells, which convert sunlight into heat.  Other areas include passive solar systems, an area of research that seeks to optimize variables such as location, weather, architecture, windows, and insulation to heat or cool a building by either absorbing or reflecting sunlight.  Finally, another form of solar energy utilizes focusing lenses and mirrors to concentrate sunlight and thermal energy.  Applications of this technology include warming homes, heating water, and even boiling water for electricity-producing steam turbines.

Requirements for Becoming a Solar Laboratory Technician

Obviously, Solar Laboratory Technicians must possess a greater knowledge of solar power systems that solar panel installer-roofer or maintenance technician.  In fact, Solar Laboratory Technicians require some of highest education and most thorough training of all careers in the green energy economy.  Solar Laboratory Technicians need to understand applied and theoretical science, as well was the design, development, engineering, construction, and testing of electronics, particularly electrical power systems.

Solar Laboratory Technicians should also have practical experience using scientific equipment, tools, and instrumentation.  Advanced mathematics, including calculus and statistical methods and applications, will most likely be a prerequisite.  The ability to read, interpret, analyze, and compile scientific data, charts, and graphs is also necessary.

To become a Solar Laboratory Technician, you would need at least a Bachelor’s degree in physics, chemistry, engineering, or material science.  A Graduate degree in any of there fields would be better.  Some companies might also accept an Associate’s degree if combined with at least two or more years of work experience in this field.

Boots on the Roof, a leading Renewable energy training institute, is enrolling students into its Alternative Energy Training classes. For more information on qualifications, Training Dates and Locations, click here.

Watch President Obama’s speech on Jobs and Clean Energy.  See why it’s important to get solar energy training now.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVuD2TiNNuQ

Boots on the Roof, one of the best solar/wind training providers in the San Francisco bay area, is currently enrolling students into its upcoming Solar PV and Wind Energy training boot camp.  Students can get certified as solar PV installers. The training program includes hands-on labs, classroom activities focusing on solar electric system design, safety regulations, installation and extra business topics related to photovoltaic.  To learn more about dates, locations, and course details,  click here.

Don’t be fooled by the fancy title.  Solar Fabrication Technicians are essentially specialized construction workers for the rapidly growing green economy.  These are the people who build and erect the solar panels of sun farms.

It is important to point out this is an industrial, not residential, construction job.  Being a residential Solar Fabrication Technician (usually referred to as Solar Installer-Roofers) requires a slightly different skill set.  Residential solar fabrication involves a lot of retrofitting solar power systems into existing buildings.  This most commonly involves setting up solar panels on the roof and wiring them into the building’s electrical power grid.  Consequently, residential Solar Fabrication Technicians are a combination of carpenter, roofer, and electrician.  Industrial Solar Fabrication Technicians, in contrast, work more with metal, concrete, and heavy construction equipment.

Being an industrial Solar Fabrication Technician involves a slightly different set of trade skills than residential technicians.  It involves less carpentry and more metalworking.  Furthermore, on an industrial scale, construction positions are more specialized.  Industrial Solar Fabrication Technicians build and erect freestanding solar collectors and can leave the wiring to the electricians.

Solar Fabrication Technicians need to be proficient in working with metal sheeting and tubing, usually steel and copper.  You must be able to cut, bend, file, drill, rivet, weld, and paint metal, using machine shop equipment such as jigsaws and band saws, drill presses, power brakes, pneumatic drills, and rivet guns.

Requirements for Becoming a Solar Fabrication Technician

A Solar Fabrication Technician is one of the careers in the green power segment that doesn’t necessarily require a college degree.  Work experience and training in construction and the trades are more that sufficient.  You’ll need to complete either a vocational school program, or a trade apprenticeship program in an area such as metalworking or pipefitting.  Even if you haven’t completed such a program, enough years of work experience in the trades may be enough to qualify you for a position as a Solar Fabrication Technician.

That being said, an academic degree certainly doesn’t hurt.  In some sun farms, the solar panels are mobile, designed to be able to tilt and rotate to follow the sun across the sky to collect the most direct sunlight.  In such cases, Solar Fabrication Technician positions might require varying degrees of mechanical aptitude as well and trade skills. An Associate’s or even Bachelor’s degree in engineering or material science would certainly increase your chances of landing a Solar Fabrication Technician position at such a sun farm.  It would also help you get promoted to foreman or other supervisory positions.

If you are looking for a job in the green economy, keep in mind that a Solar Fabrication Technician job is mostly a construction position.  If you take pride in your craft, are willing and able to perform sometimes strenuous manual labor, and don’t mind working outdoors in potentially very hot weather (most sun farms are located in California and the Southwestern deserts for obvious reasons), then you’d be a good fit for the Solar Fabrication Technician job.

Boots on the Roof, a leading Renewable energy training institute, is enrolling students into its Alternative Energy Training classes. For more information on qualifications, Training Dates and Locations, click here.

What Is a Solar Installer-Roofer?

Solar Installer-Roofers are the people who install solar panels and solar cells in the roofs of residential and commercial buildings.  Currently, trained, qualified Solar Roofers are hard to come by these days, even in our quickly growing “green” economy.  Why?  Because a Solar Roofer must not only possess the trade skills and construction experience of a roofer, but must also be a competent solar electrician.

Solar Roofs

There are basically two different types of solar roofing jobs being done today: retrofitting and integrated.  Retrofitting is installing a solar panel on an existing roof.  Integrating is incorporating solar cells and panels into a new roof being built.

Solar electrician skills are less important for retrofitting solar roofing.  This is a relatively easy job.  It basically consists of mounting one or more solar panels on an existing roof, and feeding the wiring though the roof to the battery banks.  A regular roofer could do this, and leave the wiring to an electrician.

Retrofitted solar roofs, however, have many drawbacks.  Solar panels are bulky, more exposed to the elements of wind, rain, and snow, and many consider them to be an eyesore that drags down property values.  Consequently, integrated solar roofing has become increasingly popular.  The solar panels are actually built into the roof, the sides more or less flush with the rest of the roof.  Such solar panels are less exposed to harsh weather and more aesthetically pleasing.  It’s still obvious, however, that you have solar panels on your roof.

To compensate for this problem, solar cell manufactures have started producing “solar shingles.”  These are specialized roofing shingles that have photovoltaic solar cells built into them, but otherwise appear to be the same shape, size, and color as regular asphalt shingles.  Solar shingles can provide an entire building roof that is essentially one big solar panel, but (from a distance, at least) looks like any other roof.  Although solar shingle roofs are increasingly popular, they have also increased the demand for Solar Installer-Roofers.

Unlike solar panels in which all the solar cells are already wired together, solar shingles must be wired together into a solar array as they are applied to the roof.  Furthermore, the solar shingles need to be installed and wired together before the rest of the roof is installed with regular shingles, so that the wires from the solar shingles can be run along the ridge cap of the roof, where they are hidden from sight and protected from harsh weather.

Requirements for Becoming a Solar Installer-Roofer

Solar Installer-Roofers are usually made rather than found.  Unfortunately, few people today possess both roofing trade skills and solar electronics training.  Therefore, solar roofing companies either hire roofers and train them to be solar electricians or hire solar electricians and train them to install roofs.

If you are already a roofer, enter a two-year program in electrical engineering at a community college or vocational school.  Another option is an electrician apprenticeship trade program.  Either way, this should give you the electrical knowledge and experience necessary to qualify for a Solar Installer-Roofer position.  For there, your employer should train you on the specifics of their methods and equipment.

On the other hand, if you are already have an Associates or Bachelors in electrical engineering, or are a certified electrician, you’ll need to train to become a roofer as well.  Vocational schools should at least offer a few classes in this construction skill, and some might even offer full programs.  Another route is to enter a roofing apprenticeship trade program.

Boots on the Roof, a leading Renewable energy training institute, is enrolling students into its Alternative Energy Training classes. For more information on qualifications, Training Dates and Locations, click here.

There is an overwhelming need in our country for people who have advanced educations in the renewable energy industry. Not only is the demand for this energy higher than ever, those professionals already in the field are nearing retirement and suitable replacements will be needed. It is estimated that there will be over 100,000 positions to be filled.

Solar energy education is flourishing. Educational institutes have recognized the need to included solar energy education programsdue to the increased need for well training professionals in the solar energy industry. There are programs that offer certificates all the way up to four year degrees and beyond.

Solar energy education is not only for those looking to start a profession in the industry. Many homeowners are getting solar energy education to learn how to install and maintain solar energy systems for their homes. There are basic courses designed for these individuals. These programs will teach them the basics of how to install a variety of solar energy systems, the state codes they must follow and the specifics for their area. They also teach them how to be able to repair and maintain all part of their home’s system.

Engineering degrees are very valuable and these professionals are in high demand. Also degrees that focus on research and development have growing demands as companies are looking to make solar power more efficient. An environmental internship can be a helpful addition to a solar energy education program. Internships allow you to prove that you can be a valuable player at a company. It will give you invaluable experience and additional trainings that will give you the edge over your competition who are entering the solar energy industry.

Boots on the Roof, a leading Renewable energy training institute, is enrolling students into its Solar PV Training classes. For more information on qualifications, Training Dates and Locations, click here.