ROSSFORD — The future looks bright for careers in solar technology and other forms of renewable energy.
(Photo caption: Joe Rutkowski demonstrates how any blocking a solar panel cuts the efficiently in half.
7/23/09 (Photo: Andrew Weber/Sentinel-Tribune))
It’s the job of the Toledo Electrical Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (JATC) to anticipate
innovation in those fields and then train skilled workers to help meet the demands of a burgeoning green
economy. The training center, at 803 Lime City Road, has been working with the International Brotherhood
of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 8 and the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) to train
apprentices and journeypersons in current and alternative technologies for years through on-the-job work
and classroom instruction.
And while the 32,000-square-foot training center prepares workers for a wide range of electrical
construction jobs, the committee believes renewable energy projects, green power infrastructure and
energy efficient programs are poised to take center stage in the near future.
As part of their curriculum, fifth-year students in one of JATC’s apprenticeship programs will study
solar technology theory in a photovoltaics lab and assemble a 1,250-watt array. A fourth-year class got
an early look at the array during a recent afternoon lecture to learn how to generate the desired amount
of voltage from the panels. About 300 direct current volts coursed through the black mirrored sheet in
the peak afternoon sun.
David Wellington, the center’s training director, explained that installing arrays for residential use
will become more practical as the cost of electrical power increases and the cost of solar technology
decreases. Array installation has already dropped in price from $7 a watt to about $3 a watt, he said.
“We’re trying to train our workers (and) prepare them so that when our customers are prepared to hire our
contractors to install these solar arrays, we’re ready with competent workers that are highly skilled
and can do the best job possible,” he said.
Wellington said the center noticed a shift toward “green” or sustainable energies about two years ago.
Soon after, he and other members of the committee traveled the country to observe other training
programs and generate ideas for teaching alternative energy applications to their own electricians.
The center stays up to date on new markets through regular correspondence with area contractors and
through national union networking.
“We can see two or three years into the future of where we’re going and what we’re going to need to do
and the training that’s going to be required, and then it’s up to each local to provide that training,”
he said.
The program has been helpful to apprentices like Torrey Mossing, a fourth-year inside wiring student, who
was looking for a new career after serving as a logistics specialist in the in the Marine Corps. Mossing
said he and his classmates work a typical 40-hour work week on contract jobs and receive a stipend to
offset work missed during classes every other week.
The union operates essentially as a referral agency for the training center. Contractors who sign
agreements with IBEW can request union journeypersons or they can contact the training center to recruit
apprentices who will receive supervised training while they work on the project site. JATC conducts
apprenticeship programs that are registered with the U.S. Department of Labor and the Bureau of
Apprenticeship and Training. The programs — including teledata communications and inside commercial
wiring — are funded through contributions negotiated between contractors and the union, based on the
number of hours worked per journeyperson.
Russ Zimmerman, executive vice president of signatory contractor Romanoff Electric Company, said the
arrangement removes the burden from contractors of training their own workers. He said even recent
graduates of the five-year program are “the next best thing” to an electrical engineer, and could be
placed on a project by themselves.
“It’s a heck of an advantage for us as a contractor” to work with graduates of the program, he said.
Graduates of the five-year apprenticeship programs earn a journeyman certificate. At the moment, 194
students are in the training program and the union can provide contractors with 2,300 journeymen.
As new technologies begin to emerge, Wellington has seen many older electricians return to the center for
training in those new fields as well as for code updates and safety training.
Even with the potential for future opportunities in alternative energy applications, however, the current
economy has not been easy on the construction industry.
“We can’t train workers without jobs,” Wellington said. “Normally, we would have 40 or 50 first-year
people. We have 26.”
Since JATC is funded by its man-hours, it had to make some cuts when the work slowed down. Wellington
said the center has seen a gradual decline in jobs, but the trend has remained flat for about a year
now.
But he believes more people will seek training as new markets make it more difficult for individuals to
learn new technologies on their own. In the future, he said, the industry will rely on low-voltage
systems delivered on networks.
“You’re always going to have power and lights. … We’re never going to get away from that,” he said.
But, he said, the industry will require a more diverse repertoire of skills and people will still want
to hire one contractor to complete all the work on a particular job.
“As I see it, you’re going to have to have the skills to do everything.”
