Hello to all here on this forum! First I would like to introduce myself my name is Sabatino Pendolino, I have been in the concrete construction industry for 14 years and I am about to be another casualty of this economic downturn. I have been very blessed up to now on keeping a job however like so many others out here I feel it is time to make a change towards the future. My question to this forum is "What would be a good step in moving into the Solar/PV industry -schooling, certifications? Also, what would be some of the degrees and/or certifications you would suggest in going for? Thank you for your informative post that many of you have posted. Your feedback will be greatly appreciated. Regards, Sabatino

Hey Sam,

I know you posted this question a while ago, and I thought I would try to give you some answers. It's really hard to know what to say without knowing where you are or how much experience you have. If you're just starting out, I would say the first thing to do would be to check out your local community college and take a basic course in solar panel installation or something similar. That'll at least give you a base of knowledge for anything else you learn on top of it by reading online or doing research. Next I would contact some local solar installers. You can see if they're hiring, hiring requirements, and probably some more information. I feel like people will generally help each other if you're sincere about wanting to learn. There are a number of national and local organizations dedicated to PV and green construction. Check out their websites and attend any events they might be hosting. Some of them are ASES, ISES, USGBC, ACORE, and SEIA. See which ones the companies in your area are affiliated with, and try to go to some networking events.

Good luck, and the best advice that I have is to stay ahead of the curve. Once you get the basics of how it works, forget about old produts: focus on the ones that people are installing now, and ones that people will be installing next year. I'm not sure how often concrete changes, but PV technology changes very quickly and it takes constant studying to be up to date.

I realize, most of what I told you was more of networking advice rather than technical solar power stuff. I guess as with any industry, it's not what you know: it's who you know. If you've been in construction before, you have almost all the technical skills already.

Cheers,
Tony