SEI Eco-Campus: Hands-on training in alternative energy

It’s always sunny in Colorado. Bright future, too: Denver was recently ranked 2nd in America for clean technology opportunities. The Governor’s Energy Office has submitted a plan to allocate $49.2 million for clean energy jobs and reductions in energy usage; $47.2 million for energy efficiency and conservation grants; and $79.5 million for low-income weatherization. And companies such as Esource are working full-time to help businesses all over the state reduce and streamline their energy consumption.

What does this mean? It means that if you’re looking for work in Colorado, green is the way to go.

Solar Energy International (SEI) could have told you that already: from their Carbondale headquarters they’ve been advancing the alternative-energy cause for 16 years. In 2005, foreseeing the need for hands-on solar education, they built a new eco-campus in Paonia. There, anyone can sign up for training in green-building topics from solar installation to renewable fuels to straw bale construction. Though the workshops are prohibitively expensive for anyone not planning to make a career out of alternative energy, those who can afford it get a comprehensive (and certifiable) education here. Lower-income students can even apply for SEI’s work-exchange program, which cuts their tuition by half in exchange for help in the office.

As for me, I can’t even afford a car. I noticed SEI, always bustling with people, as I walked or biked by on the highway. On my last day in Paonia, my curiousity finally got the best of me and I stopped by for a tour of the facilities.

SEI is set up primarily for hosted solar workshops, which run in sessions of varying lengths and depth of information. In the workshops, 17 students work with 4 instructors to completely uninstall and reinstall each type of system: roof mount, ground mount, and pole mount photovoltaic panels; converters and battery banks; wind turbines; solar hot water; micro-hydro power. The systems here are fully functional and actually power the SEI office, which pays no electric bill and often sells power back to the grid. Students learn about every piece of the system and how it works by taking it all apart and putting it back together.

SEI has several community-oriented programs, too: everything from classroom presentations and the Solar School Bus to INVEST, sending skilled workers to rural areas around the world.

Here beneath the sunny Colorado skies, workshops continue through the summer; there are courses in Carbondale and Paonia, as well as international programs and online courses.