Renewable Energy Lab
Makerspace
We hope to cultivate a renewable energy lab and workshop on our campus to educate the community on the benefits of solar energy and battery management for renewable resources. We aspire to engage the community in the renewable energy workforce industry, to align with our mission and center nature-based workforce development.
Our Renewable Energy Lab seeks to provide under and unemployed individuals with training, education, and certification in renewable energy jobs. Whether it is through sustainable construction, energy efficiency, or renewable energy storage practices, REAP aims to address the climate crisis and lower carbon emissions one job at a time.
Our objective is not simply to provide workforce opportunity in a narrow field, but to provide individuals with transferable skills that allow them a multitude of pathways to employment in our rapidly changing world. Central to our mission is environmental justice; providing accessible education and employment pathways to historically marginalized and underrepresented communities is at the forefront of our work.
Our inspiration for cultivating a Renewable Energy Lab was the envisionment of solar panel training that prepares workers to properly design, install, and maintain solar energy panels and systems. According to the 2020 Solar Jobs Census 67% of solar industry jobs are in installation and project management. Solar energy is crucial, not only in combating climate change and reducing the reliance on fossil fuels, but in providing communities an economically sustainable alternative to increase electricity efficiency and lower everyday costs. At REAP, we operate exclusively off of solar energy. This provides us with a base level of resources to educate individuals on solar energy benefits.
Where we are now
In planning our individual offerings within the Renewable Energy Lab, we seek partnership and collaboration. REAP envisions our programs to engage individuals through an active, hands-on format. We welcome like minded organizations to unite and share knowledge under the broad category of promoting workforce development within the industry of Renewable Energy.
