SEI and Red Cloud Renewable Launch Tribal Train the Trainer Program!

Jay OwenGreen Prosperity, Global Citizen

Solar Energy International (SEI) and Red Cloud Renewable Launch Tribal Train the Trainer Program
SEI is proud to once again join hands with Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center (RCR), bringing advanced solar PV expertise, with an accessible technical curriculum that puts power into the hands of learners.
SEI is proud to once again join hands with Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center (RCR), bringing advanced solar PV expertise, with an accessible technical curriculum that puts power into the hands of learners.  Our ‘Train the Trainer’ model creates a new web of skillful solar trainers, equipped to initiate solar teaching and related projects in their own communities. 

Collaboratively, with generous support from All Points North Foundation, the project will provide in-depth training, equipment, curriculum, and mentored co-teaching to a cohort of Native Americans selected from across the Great Plains tribes.  Learning will take place both at SEI’s Colorado campus, as well as Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center.  Participants will also have the opportunity to sit for NABCEP certification, and expand their skills and opportunity networks.  In the words of Henry Red Cloud, RCR Manager, “additional hands-on training is needed for these solar warriors to understand and implement the technical aspects of solar electric within their communities as they increase adoption and scale of solar PV.”

RCR is one of the first 100% Native American owned-and-operated renewable companies in the nation. It is located on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.  Their campus includes the Sacred Earth Lodge, which welcomes visitors, and provides ongoing learning related to green building, food sovereignty, and much needed solar furnaces.

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Learn more about the All Points North Foundation
SEI supports EWB solar project to improve water system in orphanage and boarding school Wema Centre in Kenya
Karo Fernandez, SEI Curriculum Developer and Technical Instructor, traveled to the Wema Children’s Centre in Bukembe, Kenya volunteering for Engineers Without Borders Chicagoland Professional Chapter to support improvement efforts for the electrical and water pumping systems. This included solar site assessment and power calculations to shift the existing electrical water pump, currently not operating due to grid failure, to a solar powered system. Additionally, she assessed the site and performed a detailed load analysis with Jorge Marquez, another volunteer, for other potential solar energy back-up systems.

Solar Energy International (SEI), in support of their mission, donated equipment for Karo to take advantage of the opportunity to teach children and young adults about solar energy.

SEI donated a “small charge controller lab” which included a PV module, a SunSaver-10 charge controller, an AGM battery, and several 12 V DC light bulbs.

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