The document provides an overview and agenda for a webinar with Local Training Partners for the Midwest Solar Instructor Training Network program. The program aims to provide solar training to 200 instructors across 6 Midwest states over 2 years. Key items discussed include the program overview and partners, award status, scope of work for the first budget period (including training needs assessments, instructor institutes, and resource development), LTP responsibilities, contracting terms, a tour of the wiki being used to share resources, and timeline. LTPs are asked to participate in the needs assessments, recruitment, resource development, and planning.

1. Midwest Solar Instructor Training Network
Local Training Partners Webinar
Friday, February 12, 2010

2. Agenda
‐ Program overview
‐ Award status
‐ Scope of work for budget period 1
‐ LTP responsibili@es
‐ Contrac@ng terms and condi@ons
‐ MREA Wiki tour
‐ Timeline
‐Ques@ons, comments, concerns

3. Program Overview

4. Program Overview
DOE Team
• Yana Rasulova – Project Manager
• Mark Frickel – Project Manager
MREA Team
• Tehri Parker – Principal Inves@gator
• Nick Hylla – Curriculum and Instruc@on
• Katrina Shankland – Administra@ve Assistant

5. Program Overview
• Illinois – Green Ins@tute, Heartland Community College
(Julie Elzana@)
• Indiana – Purdue University (Bill Hutzel)
• Iowa – Center for Energy and Environmental Educa@on,
University of Northern Iowa (Kamyar Enshayan)
• Michigan – Northwest Michigan College (Bill Queen)
• Minnesota – Minnesota Renewable Energy Society
(Laura Cina)
• Ohio – Green Energy Ohio (Bill Spratley)
• Wisconsin – Midwest Renewable Energy Associa@on

6. Program Overview
Program Goals
1. Provide instruc@on, installa@on, and curriculum development
experiences in applied PV and Solar Thermal technologies to
200 instructors from across the Midwest.
2. Develop instrucDonal materials and hands‐on training capacity
for PV and Solar Thermal in 6 Midwestern states with broad
par@cipa@on of installers, instructors, engineers, educa@on
administrators, and other industry stakeholders
3. Form a Midwest Solar Instructor Training Network to promote
solar training, share resources, expand instruc@onal installa@on
opportuni@es, and advance regional strategic ini@a@ves

7. Award Status
• Current Status
• Expected @meline

8. Scope of Work
Budget Period 1 (Jan 2010 – June 30, 2011)
1. Instructor Applica@on and Database
2. Training Needs Assessment
3. Instructor Ins@tutes
4. Shared Resources
5. Special Topics Courses

9. Scope of Work
Training Needs Assessment
• Develop resource directory (wiki)
• Establish baseline for training capacity
(programs and instructors)
• Define important trends
• Iden@fy and jus@fy state training
priori@es
• Develop state training goals and metrics

10. Scope of Work
WI Training Needs Assessment
• WI Directory (see MREA Wiki)
• Trends ‐ Cer@fica@on, regula@on, training programs,
job market, incen@ves, partnerships
• Priority programs
 Technical colleges (cer@ficates and appren@ceship)
 Professional Associa@ons – IBEW, Pipefibers, etc.
• Priority loca@ons
 Solar ci@es (Milwaukee and Madison)
• WI Goals ‐ TBD

11. Scope of Work
Instructor ApplicaDon and Database
• Develop uniform app for region
• Establish centralized, digital applica@on
process
• Collect baseline data to understand
instructor needs and facilitate ISPQ
instructor cer@fica@on

12. Scope of Work
Instructor InsDtutes
• MREA Renew the Earth Ins@tute, Custer, WI
• PV (July 19‐23, Aug 2‐6)
• ST (July 26‐30, Aug 9‐13)
• Contract Instructors
• Re‐tool syllabus and materials
• Develop evalua@on framework

13. Scope of Work
Training Resources
1. Further develop ‘Teaching Modules’
sec@on on MREA Wiki
2. Priori@ze content and skills with LTPs
3. Outline development process with LTPs
4. Establish open‐use and peer review
guidelines with LTPs

14. Scope of Work
Special Topics
• Iden@fy priority trainings
 Residen@al and Commercial Installa@ons
 Site Assessment
 Training Lab Design
 Developing Solar Training Programs
 Others?
• Establish development process with LTPs

15. LTP ResponsibiliDes
1. Training Needs Assessment
2. Training Recruitment
3. Shared Resource Development
4. Par@cipatory Planning

16. ContracDng Terms and CondiDons
1. There are 24 provisions in the special terms and
condi@ons document the DOE furnished the MREA.
2. All provisions apply to MREA’s subcontracts with local
training partners.
3. All provisions apply to LTPs’ subcontracts with other
partners and par@es.

17. What is a Wiki?
‐a knowledge management system accessible from
anywhere with an Internet connec@on
‐an easily scalable place to host informa@on and share it
with anyone or just a select group
‐a community‐driven site that encourages sharing,
discussion, and collabora@on
‐informa@on on a wiki does not belong to anyone, but
rather everyone. All are responsible for the content and
for revising it and ensuring its accuracy.

18. The Wiki and Local Training Partners
-The Wiki will be used to compile and share all of
our training network’s resources.
-It’s a dynamic place to host information – the info is
updated as things change. As more and more
people add resources to our database, the better
resource we become and the stronger our training
network is.
-As ideas shift and knowledge grows, so does the
content of the Wiki. The Wiki can provide
information on new incentives, new education
programs, etc. Anyone can add more info to keep
the info as current as possible.

19. Who will use the Wiki?
-Every Local Training Partner will have access to the wiki
and can grant access to their staff.
-The MREA will give access to any instructors who come
to the training institute.
-The MREA also has its instructors on the wiki working on
teaching modules and curriculum development.
-The information is organized so that certain sections can
be restricted amongst MREA instructors or LTPs if
necessary.

20. Mediawiki Tour
Two SecDons:
DOE MREA
Network Courses
States Instructors
‐User Page
‐Talk Page
‐Help Page
‐Upload File
‐Special Pages
‐Image Gallery

21. Join the Wiki Community
‐Create a user page
‐Add bio and photo
‐Include your loca@on and organiza@on
‐Go to the discussion page to talk to others about
collabora@ng or sharing resources
‐Find your state under Training Network Resources in
naviga@on toolbar
‐Help compile resources for each sec@on under your state

22. Technical Knowledge
-There is an initial learning curve: wikitext. Wikitext
takes some time to learn but the payoff is great.
-Wikitext is similar to HTML. There is a plain text editor
and a rich text editor.
-It’s helpful to learn both. We’ll review the main things
to know here, then you can spend some time on the
wiki and in the help section learning more.

23. Wiki Help Resources
-MREA Wiki Help Center (navigation toolbar
-> Help -> Basics or Help Center)
-MediaWiki Help Section:
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Contents
-MREA: 715-592-6595 x 106 or
katrina@the-mrea.org

24. Timeline
1. Instructor Applica@on – March 15
2. Training Needs Assessment – April 1
3. Resource Development – March ‐>
4. Energy Fair – June 18‐20
5. Ins@tutes – July 19‐Aug 14

25. Ques@ons