New North Carolina Solar Training Program

A new solar training program has been added to the prospectus of a North Carolina College due to the local interest in solar power. Danville Community College will offer a solar training and installation class for the spring semester.

“It’s a coming technology,” said Jerry Franklin, director of manufacturing and technical services at the Regional Center for Applied Technology and Training. “We are trying to stay on the leading edge of technologies that are pertinent to this area.”

Business and economic development leaders are helping to grow alternative energy - especially solar energy - in the region, hence the latest solar training initiative. Hopes are Danville might attract a solar farm or a solar manufacturer in the near future.

The solar training class is open to the public and will introduce students to solar energy and how it is installed in a home environment, Franklin said. Solar uses could be from running a pump for a water fountain to actually generating some or all of the power a family needs.

DCC bought three solar trainers with solar panels and associated household components for lab work.

The class won’t qualify someone to install the system on their home, but will empower residents to better understand solar so they know how to contract for a solar system, like knowing what questions to ask.

The three-credit solar training class will cover how to size a home solar system, how to site a solar panel in Danville’s latitude and how to wire the system’s components. The first class meets at RCATT in Room 103 on Jan. 11 next year.

The class meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5 to 8 p.m. and will be taught by Mike Jones.

For more info on this solar training class go to www.dcc.vccs.edu