By Kathy & Thom Gottberg (12/22/09)

          After months of just hearing about state and federal green stimulus money, twenty enterprising students have jump-started their green careers, proving to the rest of us that green in the valley is well on its way.   In mid-December, the first Solar Boot Camp hosted by Renova Energy, UCR Riverside Extension, and Riverside County Workforce Development successfully concluded as an important step for the Green Economy in the Coachella Valley.

       As has been previously reported, the 32-hour Solar Boot Camp was the first introductory solar installation class to be held in the Coachella Valley.   While related classes have been taught in Riverside and San Bernardino, the funding and approval for such classes to be held locally took until now to be available for prospective students.   On Saturday, December 19th, twenty students graduated from the Renova Energy Academy marking the beginning of a qualified and educated green workforce right here in the desert.

            The students themselves were a diverse group with a wide variety of plans for their newly found solar knowledge.  Ranging in age from 18 to 72, the students demonstrated that the new green economy matches the needs of eager workers, no matter what their skill set.  The oldest student, Lance Scott, or “Pops” as he admitted he was called, said that he was there to advance his career as a federal safety officer specializing in solar farms throughout the southwest.   With clearly an enormous background as a retired Navy SeaBee, an engineer and educator, he said, “From an age stand point there are many doors that can be opened—from design, to marketing, to installation, or from my end, safety.  This is like learning a whole new language.”

            The youngest “cadet” in the solar boot camp was Ezekiel Rosales.  Ezekiel was a recent high school graduate who was urged by his father to attend.  With only five years of school wood shop as his background, he admitted that he was looking forward to the future solar classes to learn even more about installation.  Still, he said enthusiastically, “I want to take this far.”

            Other classmates demonstrating class variety included Lea Waki and Ryan Lawliss.  Lea is a former construction manager who signed up to broaden her horizons.  Ryan is a self-employed general contractor with over 20 years in the business.  Ryan was also there because he wants to enhance his business and possibly start a new solar related business. 

            When asked about details, experienced contractor Ryan explained that they had learned, “a huge part of what we need to know about how these things are done on either industrial or residential buildings.”    From a construction manager position, Lea agreed, saying, “a lot of times people in the front office don’t know what has to happen out in the field.  This (class) gives you an idea of what needs to happen in the field so you can streamline your documents.”  Beginner Ezekiel added, “I’m not ready to go out alone, but I could as part of a team.”    Lance expressed appreciation for the staff’s hands-on approach to teaching.  Rather than tell students how to do something when they struggled, the staff actually stepped in and demonstrated it in a way that was easy to see and duplicate.

            All four students who attended the class rated it highly and said they had already been recommending future classes to friends and colleagues.  Ezekiel said, “This will definitely help others coming out of high school.”  Ryan continued with, “For the first class, they did an exceptional job.  I have a couple of contractor friends who took similar courses and, when I told them what we were learning they said, ‘Wow!  We never learned any of that!’”  Even better, Ryan said “Especially the hand’s on aspect.  There’s just nothing out there like it.”

             Lance was equally enthusiastic saying that even with his technical training and aptitude he rated it “off the scale.”  He admitted to receiving what he called, “extra tutoring.”  Collectively all the four agreed that there were lots more to learn and that a follow-up course was warranted.  But Lance’s excitement about the future was evident when he said, “the doors of opportunity are just wide open!”

            Lea joined in by saying “I think we all know our energy consumption is too high, but this is a way for people who are unemployed to gain an education so they become an asset to another company.”  She also complimented the Renova Staff by saying, “they are very level-headed, even, and approachable so you don’t hesitate to ask a question.”

            One of the course instructors and Chief Technical Officer of Renova Energy, Thomas Hall offered his perspective by saying, “We were excited to have a total group of 20 students graduate thru Renova Academy. What a great opportunity for workforce students to have knowledge bases in solar that can be put to work through a possible Workforce Initiative in the city that would give local community incentives to having a trained Workforce Development.”

            According to Renova CEO Vincent Battaglia, additional classes in Solar 101 will be offered in the future and eventually available to the public.  Other classes to be added in related subjects include Solar Thermal 101, Energy Efficiencies as a Trade, Electric Vehicle Maintenance and Applied Wind Technologies. For more information on how to enroll in UCR Extension courses please go to www.extension.ucr.edu/schedule/index.html and search keyword: SOLAR.  For more information on Renova Energy & Solar, please visit www.renova360.com.