Solar apprenticeship program heats up in California

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2009/04/10/solar-apprenticeship-program-heats-up-in-california/

To someone choosing a career, the solar industry looks like a gold rush. Solar companies are sprouting up left and right, and hiring installers at good pay.

But that's also the problem with the solar power rush: Businesses that grow overnight may not be around in six months to repair that complicated piece of technology on your roof that fails because a new installer was quickly hired without the proper training.

To deal with that lack of training, the state of California recently approved a solar apprenticeship program at Renewable Power Solutions, a solar energy installer in San Jose, CA, that hopes to make its program an industry standard at a meeting of solar companies in June.

Beyond helping to protect consumers with better installation, the program is a way for workers from the declining construction industry to join a growing field, said Jose Radzinsky, CEO of Renewable Power Solutions.

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But I continue to be puzzled why Obama didn't give people more incentive to go solar in the stimulus package. This is one of the opportunities I think was wasted to encourage the green economy Obama was talking about.