Powering up solar education

With the housing market in the doldrums and interest in green energy on the rise, electricians are looking to the sun for a new line of business.

The country's largest electricians' union has launched a program in Minnesota that trains electricians to install solar panels.

Training goes beyond offering desks and a teacher. At the Charles W. Lindberg Electrical Training Center in St. Michael, Minn., where most of the training will occur, instructors have turned a south-facing deck into a solar laboratory equipped with 36 solar panels and three inverters.

That laboratory has a $26,000 solar roof, which students construct, dismantle and reconstruct with every class. It produces about 6 to 7 kilowatts and offsets the amount of electricity the school purchases from Xcel Energy.

Demand for solar-powered energy is enjoying a resurgence unseen since the 1970s, as energy companies, businesses and even homeowners look to reduce carbon emissions, comply with state renewable energy mandates and grab state or federal rebates.

Minneapolis and St. Paul recently became U.S. Department of Energy "solar cities" bent on making solar power mainstream by 2015. With that and new state mandates for renewable energy, the state Commerce Department recently tracked 180 solar electricity installations totaling 850 kilowatts in Minnesota. About 40 more are in progress under the state's solar rebate program.

Together, they "will provide the state with its first megawatt of solar electricity when completed," said Stacy Miller, program administrator for the Minnesota Office of Energy Security. "It's pretty exciting."

With the heightened interest, the training program from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) couldn't come at a better time.

"Electricians are key to mainstreaming solar," Miller said. "I don't think we can do it on the sort of scale that needs to be done without electricians." Previously, only solar companies installed the panels, Miller noted. "Now electricians see some market potential and some money to be made," so they are signing up for training and expanding a movement.

Part of Minnesotans' growing interest stems from new state requirements that power companies generate at least 25 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025. That goal is also jump-starting IBEW training programs in wind energy and geothermal heating systems.

The solar program, officially piloted in December, now boasts 60 students who completed three levels of classes. Seven are ready to sit for exams. Four others just earned full solar installer certification from the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners after completing the classes, exams and 64 hours of additional training and solar installations in the field.

Electricians must learn about proper light-absorption angles, panel design and construction, kilowatt calculations, batteries, code requirements, aesthetics and more, explained Assistant Director Paul Holum.

Union officials expect hundreds or thousands of electricians to jump at the chance to go through the program. "I would love to see all 2,733 of our electricians go through it," said Tony Maghrak, training director of the IBEW's Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee in Minneapolis. "I just think that would be a huge market advantage for our contractors."

Maghrak insists that electricians get an education beyond kilowatts. Unlike some solar contraptions that were deemed eyesores in the '70s, today, "You have to keep your eyes open for our solar panels. They blend in really well," he said.

Dee DePass • 612-673-7725