Tuesday, November 03, 2009 at 1:34:54 PM - by Danny Vo

The Department of Energy is providing a grant for solar energy training in a coalition of schools led by the Houston Community College system.

The solar installation curriculum for consortium partners - community colleges and vocational high schools in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas - is designed by Ontility, a provider of green technology training. The grant, funded by the DOE and the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, provides $3.57 million over five years.

"[The company] is proud and excited to be the sole industry partner in the South-Central Consortium," Ontility CEO Tom Pash said. Pash cited the DOE's desire to standardize solar training curricula as a reason for choosing Ontility.

Clean-energy research firm Clean Edge suggests in a CNN article that green tech will be "the greatest opportunity for wealth and job creation since the advent of computers and the Internet." By 2030, the American Solar Energy Society estimates, 40 million American jobs will directly or indirectly involve energy conservation.

In order for that to happen, though, members of the workforce must be educated about green energy technologies. Scaling up the solar energy workforce, says Pash, will help ensure the green future of the economy.