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.

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.

Online Discussion Boards

Online discussion boards may include blogs, forums, social network communities, and other places where you can interact and discuss solar technology topics. Since you’ll be interacting with all of the members involved, online discussion boards serve as a fantastic place for solar training. Active members join online discussion boards every day so you can always get the latest information regarding solar energy and technology.

The topics that you can expect in your solar electric training depend on the forum, blog or social network that you join so for better results, you can try joining multiple sites and see which place is best for you. The benefit of participating in these boards is the fact that you can meet new people and learn plenty of new things inside and out of solar-related topics.

Online Seminars and Videos

If online discussion boards aren’t interactive enough for you, you can try looking for online seminars that may have some special topics covered regarding solar electric power and solar technology. Not all online seminars are free, but require you to pay an upfront fee instead. Some websites offer useful DIY solar panel projects that include eBooks, videos, and online solar training in the package.

If you are not willing to pay for these resources, you can still experience some online solar electric training by watching videos found in free video streaming sites such as YouTube and Metacafe be sure to conduct your searches every now and then as new videos could be added. Solar technology is becoming more popular with more people talking about it.

Online Research

You can do your own self-studying without much interaction and do solar training all by yourself simply by reading articles and blogs online. Be sure to check the dates of these articles and collect the latest ones so you can be up-to-date with the current trends of solar technology. The sky is the limit when it comes to online research because a simple search on solar training can lead you to thousands of different pages.

If you are really serious about full online solar training, it is best to try all of these methods so you can get all kinds of solar electric power topics and information. Knowing all of this should give you some good opportunities to try some real solar electric training that is needed to tackle real jobs that are being offered by renewable energy sectors. These energy sectors are desperate in finding workers that are capable of handling the job so it is best to get into solar training as early as now if you want to pursue a career where you can contribute to your community.