The U.S. Department of Energy has selected Wisconsin-based non-profit organization Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) to provide solar energy training and resources to technical and community college instructors across the Midwest. MREA has been teaching solar electric and solar thermal technologies since 1990 and has offices in Custer and Milwaukee, Wis.
With $3.3 million in funding over five years, MREA will work with training partners in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Iowa and Minnesota to offer instructor training institutes, provide instructional resources and organize a network of Midwest solar training programs.
This effort is part of a national initiative by the DOE, in which eight other organizations have been funded to advance similar efforts in other regions of the country. The trainings and resources will help advance instruction about solar electric and solar heating and cooling technologies, increasing the quality and availability of training programs across the United States.
Dr. Tehri Parker, executive director of MREA, remarked about this exciting “new era” of solar training. “Training in solar electric and solar thermal technologies belongs in every technical and community college across the country. It should be a fundamental component of degree programs that focus on electrical engineering, HVAC, plumbing and related fields.”
For information about MREA and its training programs, visit www.the-mrea.org. To find out more about the Department of Energy’s solar market transformation initiative, including the solar installer instructor training network, visit www.eere.energy.gov.
