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Center Monthly Highlight Report
 LBCC completes Wind Propulsion Instructor Certification
LBCC instructor obtains national certification as a wind propulsion instructor during a Train the Trainer and Certification course encompassing an extensive 3 day testing and certification process. Cal Macy, Project Director, was selected as one of only 10 to attend and become certified as a wind propulsion instructor. This select group represented over 600 years of practical experience on the topic and brought candidates from as far away as Oregon to attempt the certification process. There was a 70% failure rate on the certification process as only 3 of the 10 candidates fulfilled the stringent requirements to become certified as instructors.
Wind propulsion has been around since the days of the Roman Empire however recent developments in available high tech equipment and the need for extreme safety in light of recent tragic incidents has led to the national certification program. The theories and physics behind this counterbalanced wind propulsion system requires trained operators to ensure a safe and reliable utilization.
The prerequisites for this course were stringent. Prior to attending the course, each candidate had to complete CPR certification with the Red Cross and due to the close proximity of water to the wind propulsion generators, they also had to satisfactorily complete a water safety survival demonstration.
In order to become certified, an instructor candidate must not only pass a series of written exams covering the several classes they will be teaching, but they must also prove their mastery of the subject in several practical lab demonstration exams followed by two classroom presentations on topics selected by the certifying instructor team. The candidates were expected to already have mastered the material in 3 large manuals provided as prep for the exams as no instruction in these areas was provided. An 80% score was required on the written exams to qualify.
This prestigious certification is valid for 3 years with the USSA and is recognized internationally as a standard for training in this area. It provides LBCC with another possible training opportunity and can be renewed providing all required elements are maintained.
Huffington Post Business - Wind Video - The Future
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California and Hawaii Solar Instructor Training Network (SITN)
Jerry Bernstein - City College of San Francisco
ATTE’s Center at City College of San Francisco (CCSF) is working directly with the Chancellor’s Office to provide solar installation training to instructors in California and Hawaii. The California Community College Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) competed for and won a 5-year, $3.5 million grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) in late 2009. The purpose of the grant was to provide photovoltaic (PV) and Solar Heating and Cooling (SHC, or Solar Thermal) installation training to community college faculty and PV installation training to IBEW/NECA trainers in the two states. Our two states comprise one of 9 SITN regions nationwide intended to provide installer training to all parts of the country. ATTE directors were involved in designing the effort and preparing the grant application. The CCSF ATTE Director was asked to lead this effort due to his NABCEP solar installation credentials and his experience running federal and commercial grants.
The initial objective of our SITN grant was to train over 300 Community College faculty and IBEW/NECA instructors over 5 years. Five PV and SHC training sessions are being conducted during the first 18 month grant period for Community College faculty. These trainings, combined with those anticipated by our partners at the Labor Management Cooperation Committee (LMCC, joint IBEW/NECA training partner) and State of Hawaii Community College System will result in over 100 faculty trained during the first phase alone, one of the highest regional totals.
By the end of the first year, however, the need for substantial changes began to become apparent. Individual efforts by the state’s Community Colleges have resulted in the availability of PV installation courses or programs at approximately half the colleges in the system. With this rapid adoption, it began to appear to the ATTE management team that the project’s goals needed to be changed. Indeed, discussions were started with DOE and the national SITN organization early in 2011 to re-direct the project to include other needed skills such as sales & marketing and design. This position was subsequently supported by a CPUC/UCB study released in March 2011 emphasizing that in California, enhanced workforce skills rather than more installers were needed. It now appears that other SITN regions are beginning to address this same changed need in skills and the need to help educate code enforcement officials if the costs of PV installations are to be lowered.
With an uncertain federal budget, it is unknown (in mid-2011) which parts of the SITN program will continue. We anticipate that as California is the nation’s largest PV market and Hawaii is the largest SHC market that these two states and the ATTE-managed project will continue with continuous adjustments to meet the education needs of students and the states’ workforce.
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