Solar Energy International
We envision a world powered by renewable energy.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Scalable renewable energy projects are essential to reaching greenhouse gas emission and carbon reduction goals. Renewable energy adoption needs to be feasible in the scope of industry and trained workforce in both developed and developing economies around the globe. Access to power equals access to opportunity.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Active Duty Military and Veterans Career Transitions Program
Solar Energy International’s (SEI) Solar Professionals Certificate Program (SPCP) is authorized to accept Veterans Education Benefits for qualified candidates and offer outreach programs for veterans and active duty military personnel. We proudly offer educational opportunities to military members, their families, and veterans.
Additionally, SEI was selected as the lead training provider during the pilot program for the Department of Energy’s Sunshot Initiative Solar Ready Vets program.
Approved for Veterans Benefits by the Colorado State Approving Agency, SEI is authorized to offer eligible veterans the ability to use their education benefits towards our in-person classroom and hands-on lab training through SEI’s Solar Professionals Certificate Program (SPCP).
Native Americans Expanding Solar
SEI partners with Native American tribes to solve energy poverty, and assist tribes with developing solar expertise to complete infrastructure projects and grow quality job opportunities. SEI is partnered with Red Cloud Renewable at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation for Tribal Train the Trainer, performing outreach to over 37 tribes in the process. SEI has trained people from the Western Shoshone, Oglala, Cheyenne River, Skull Valley Goshute, Lakota Sioux, Yurok, Zuni, Hopi, Navajo, Rosebud, Muskogee, and Chippewa Nations in renewable energy technologies.
Solar In the Schools (SIS)
SEI has delivered K-12th grade STEM based programs to over 20,000 students so far.
SEI and regional utility, DMEA, worked to develop renewable energy generation at local schools through installations of PV systems supported by technical solar energy curriculum. We partnered with Delta County Joint School District No. 50, creating vocational programs and career exploration for high school students, in a region facing severe backlash of lost coal mining jobs. While based in Western Colorado, SEI aims to grow this program across the state and intermountain West. In 2020, highschool vocational programming expands to Montana.
Solar Forward
A grassroots community program spurring regional investment and utilization of renewable energies, and rural job creation. As of March 2020, the program has worked across 4 counties, and has generated 1.5 Megawatts of installed solar power, 18 news jobs, over 70 community events attended by 1,200 people, initiated C-PACE financing in 2 counties, and ushered more equitable net metering policies in 3 municipalities. The program will serve 3 more counties this year, with planned expansion to New Mexico and Wyoming, driven by community request.
Middle East and North Africa Training Program
SEI has partnered with Shams Global Solutions, a local Omani company, to provide the first and only certified photovoltaic training program in Oman. We've trained over 2,500 people from the MENA region. By the end of 2018, SEI's Middle East and Africa program will have offered trainings in Oman, UAE, Israel, Kuwait and Egypt through a combination of public and private courses and soon plans to expand training opportunities to Saudi Arabia.
Training Clients include:
• Shell Development Oman
• Uganda Ministry of Water and the Environment
• Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research (KISR)
• Diamond Developers LLC – The Sustainable City
• Kuwait Ministry of Water and Electricity
• RENTECH Systems, LLC (Dubai-based PV company)
• PTL Solar in cooperation with The British University in Dubai
Latin America Program
SEI has offered full curriculum in Spanish language since 2013, training over 9,000 Spanish speakers, empowering Latin Americans with solar education, and increasing energy access in their communities.
In 2018, SEI opened its first International Solar Training Center in Costa Rica through a partnership with CFIA (Federated College of Engineers and Architects of Costa Rica) and CIEMI (College of Electrical, Mechanical and Industrial Engineers).
This new training facility accelerates and expands access to world-class solar training to Spanish speakers throughout Latin America.
The center is fully equipped with the best tools to construct, commission and test solar electric arrays. It has 3 solar PV systems installed in compliance with the US National Electrical Code (NEC), which allows students to learn about the most up-to-date design and safety parameters. The systems are composed of leading technologies and popular products available internationally for students to build and wire photovoltaic arrays from the roof up.
Where we work
External reviews
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Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of people trained
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
SEI's has trained 75,000 people over 28 years; our goal is to scale the renewable energy workforce.
Number of new champions or stakeholders recruited
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We work with Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center, the only Native American owned renewable energy center, to advance tribes' access to energy, where currently 40% of people live in energy poverty.
Number of overall donors
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of community events or trainings held and attendance
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
SEI's Solar Forward program hosts community events, across rural Colorado, highlight to communities the advantages of kickstarting solar markets--especially increased resilience, & rural job creation.
Number of individuals attending coalition meetings
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This metric is for SEI's Solar Forward program, which operates across the rural mountain West, to promote community and economic revitalization through kickstarting solar markets.
Number of curricula designed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
SEI consistently develops solar technical training content; we currently have 38 curricula offerings, in both English & Spanish. We teach over 35 tailored contract trainings per year around the globe.
Number of curricula accessed by other organizations
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
SEI's textbooks, Solar Electric Handbook: Photovoltaic Fundamentals and Applications & Photovoltaics: Design & Installation Manual, has sold over 75,000 copies, and is translated to Spanish.
Number of hours of training
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
SEI's mission is to scale the renewable energy workforce. In 2020, we average providing 52,300 hours of training each year.
Number of job skills training courses/workshops conducted
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In 2020, SEI will offer 66 trainings, online and in-person, to serve over 350 businesses, and 5,500 people across the solar industry.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Solar Energy International (SEI) envisions a world powered by renewable energy. SEI’s mission is to train the global solar energy workforce. We specialize in the development and delivery of online, in-person and hands-on education ranging from small-scale systems to complex microgrids. Since 1991, we’ve trained over 76,000 students from 145 countries. Cumulatively, our operations have resulted in 31,000 Megawatts of solar—nearly 10% of worldwide installed solar, and an estimated 800 million tons of avoided greenhouse gas emissions.
SEI textbooks, Photovoltaic Design and Installation Manual (over 70,000 copies have been sold; also available in Spanish) and our Solar Electric Handbook: Photovoltaic Fundamentals and Applications are used in colleges and training programs around the world.
Our training, industry relationships, and advocacy broadly benefit renewable energy workforce development and infrastructure projects across the state, the nation, and in countries we work with internationally. Through solar business development, supporting community solar, retraining energy industry workers, delivering STEM education, and offering municipal, military, and governmental decision-makers the technical framework for quality standards in solar development we are beginning to bridge the gap towards energy transition.
Reducing Barriers and Expanding Jobs through Partnership
We partner with groups to help advance the diversity of workforce, and variety of communities we serve. Examples include: GRID Alternatives, Women In Solar Energy, ReMerg (an offender recidivism reduction program), Hispanic Contractors of Colorado, Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center, Oregon Tradeswomen, and more. We work with over 300 entities each year, from small businesses to utility-scale industry leaders. Through the Colorado State Approving Agency, we are able to accept Veterans benefits, and veterans can receive scholarship and job placement support for upskilling with SEI certifications. In 2016, and 2017, we received WorkAct funding through Colorado Department of Labor, which enabled us to outreach or provide training to over 20,000 Coloradans, and through this were able to vastly diversify who learned about SEI, and participated in learning with us. In 2019, SEI awarded $59,000 in scholarships to 91 individuals.
Solar Jobs in-demand, a trades-education tied to sustainable development
Solar Installer is the number one in-demand job across the nation. The solar job market has expanded rapidly over the past decade, and now employs 269,000 people across the nation. Between 2014 and 2019, solar employment increased 44% overall, adding 76,000 jobs, which is about five times faster than job growth in the overall U.S. economy. Solar represents about 2.6% of overall U.S. electricity generation, yet it employs almost twice as many workers as the coal industry. In the energy sector, only the oil/petroleum and natural gas industries have more employment than solar.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
SEI has trained over 75,000 students from 145 countries, at our campus in rural Western Colorado, and online. In 2018 we opened campuses in Costa Rica, serving Latin America, and Oman, serving Middle East/North Africa responding to global increase in renewable energy adoption, and thus need for technical training. Cumulatively, our operations have resulted in 4,500 Megawatts of PV installed worldwide.
● Solar Ready Colorado: A statewide effort by SEI and industry partners, grant-funded by CO’s WORK Act, to advance outreach, recruiting, and training to the rapidly growing Colorado solar industry and jobs market[MK6] .
●Solar Forward: SEI offers assistance to farmers, ranchers, and an array of other businesses, resulting in $1.5 million dollars locally invested in solar through the installation of 57 solar PV systems totaling 402 kW of local power in Delta County, Colorado. The success of this program sparked the pilot Solar Forward program, now providing technical advising to Gunnison County to implement a Solarize program in their community. Solar Forward is slated to serve 3-5 Colorado communities in 2019.
● Sol Smart Program Gold Designation: An effort led by SEI VISTA workers, Delta County became the smallest county to ever receive this recognition, taking measurable steps to encourage solar energy growth and remove obstacles to solar development, using the state's commercial property-assessed clean energy (C-PACE) financing tool, and a permitting and inspection training for local municipalities.
● OSHA Training: In Fall 2017 SEI was selected to receive the Susan Harwood Training Grant to develop a series of 12 CEU online solar-specific safety trainings.
●National Electrical Code (NEC): SEI Instructors Rebekah Hren, (Principal) and Brian Mehalic (Alternate) represent SEI on NFPA Code-Making Panel 4 for the NEC. Having our voices heard during this process to set these standards for safety in the broader electrical industry demonstrates SEI’s leadership and acknowledges our long standing as subject matter experts.
●Solar In Schools: Offers practical hands-on STEM curriculum for 5th-12th grade teachers, as well as High School pilot programs focused on training a young workforce for jobs after High School. Our SIS programs have resulted in installed solar systems on 6 area high schools.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
See above; we are built of a well rounded staff and instructor pool that have earned SEI broad accolades across the solar industry. We are eager to build partnerships, and achieve a vision of scaled renewable energy to improve quality of life around the globe. We currently are funded primarily through tuition from our classes, and strive to cultivate strategic partnerships and apply for private foundation and governmental grants.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since 1991, we’ve trained over 76,000 students from 145 countries. Cumulatively, our operations have resulted in 31,000 Megawatts of solar—nearly 10% of worldwide installed solar, and an estimated 800 million tons of avoided greenhouse gas emissions.
Next steps for our Colorado-based grassroots programs are to grow to serve communities across the Intermountain West, helping to empower citizens through advocacy, and voice in policy changes at rural electric co-ops. Our Solar In the Schools program would like to build on the vocational aspects of our highschool level STEM programming, and to expand K-12 programs and teacher trainings to serve all of Colorado and beyond.
Internationally, SEI is interested to further develop resources that will help regional industry understand the value of solar certifications, in terms of longevity of systems as well as worker safety, and to provide pathways for people who have not attended a university to enter the industry. Particularly, we are focused on:
• Distributed Energy Goals: by Increasing distributed generation to a small producer scale through upskilling and diversification of workforce, including certification of installers for entry into force. We are a working example of how to welcome more women into the renewable energy industry, and are very interested in advancing individuals with transferable skills, into the industry.
• Scaling of Clean Energy through facilitation of penetration of renewables: Our previous work in regions working to develop and refine solar energy regulations have been pivotal in supporting worker safety, and component/equipment quality control standards. SEI's curriculum supports flexibility in design, longevity, and operations and maintenance of solar PV systems. These elements also support the growth of sustainable economic opportunity for solar companies in the region.
Marco Calvo, President of CIEMI Board of Directors said, “By partnering with SEI, we are fulfilling the responsibility to offer our community (of engineers) the security that things are being done as they should, with high quality professional standards. From CIEMI we seek to offer solutions to the professionals of the solar industry so that they are able to build efficient, safe and reliable installations. The solar industry is growing in Costa Rica and in Latin America, and we want our workforce to be prepared to occupy the new jobs that the sector generates. We trust in the trajectory of SEI and the quality of its instructors to provide qualified education”.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Solar Energy International
Board of directorsas of 05/13/2020
Mr. Ken Gardner
retired-Gardner Engineering
Term: 2015 - 2022
Paul Bony
CLEAResult
Term: 2013 - 2021
Hal Brill
Natural Investments
Tom Vessels
Vessels Coal Gas
Jon D Miller
Gardner Capital Inc.
Zach Krapfl
Gates Corporation
Johnny Weiss
retired-co-founder of SEI
Cathryn Peterson
Maxfield-Peterson
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as: