California gets federal stimulus money for solar jobs training

• Department of Energy sends $3.5 Million to state

• To be spent on developing a training plan

The California Solar Training Partnership has received $3.5 million of federal stimulus money through the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a regional solar jobs resource and training center.

The center, one of nine in the nationwide “Installer Instructor Training Network,” will enable California to build a trained clean energy workforce, the California Energy Commission says.

The money will be used by a joint effort of the Energy Commission, the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the California Center of Sustainable Energy to develop a training curriculum and provide professional development for trainers in solar photovoltaic and solar heating and cooling technologies.