A College Makes History and Students Get Solar Jobs in Coal Country

Yesterday, we announced the completion of a historic solar power system at the leading community college in Southwest Virginia’s coal country.

The solar project at Mountain Empire Community College in Big Stone Gap, VA is the first at any community college in Virginia to be completed under a power purchase agreement.

Most schools and colleges that go solar on site do it through a PPA. It gives them all the benefits of making their own clean power right on campus without having to spend money to buy their own solar panels. We hope that other Virginia community colleges will follow MECC’s example and start making their own solar power at no capital cost to the college and with money savings on energy from the first day through a solar PPA.

Over the life of its solar power system, MECC will save about $2.4 million on their electric bills. That’s money the college can invest into teacher salaries, classroom equipment, and scholarships for deserving students. But money savings is only the start of what makes MECC’s solar project special.

Starting Clean Energy Careers

In Virginia as in other states, while making higher education accessible to all, community colleges play a key role in training local citizens for the careers of today and tomorrow.

That’s why it’s significant that MECC’s solar project included a workforce development program that gave students a chance to get trained as solar installers and then to help install solar panels on their own school.

After a seven-day long intensive course of classroom training at MECC in subjects including industrial safety, introduction to construction, the national electrical code, and solar power installation, students moved on to the hands-on training phase of the program under the supervision of NABCEB-certified solar installers from our construction partner GOT Electric, based in Maryland. 

Secure Solar Futures paid each of the students a $500 stipend for completing the classroom sessions where they earned nine college credits each. The company also covered students’ travel costs and provided students with work boots and a set of tools that will be theirs to keep. During their on-the-job training, students were paid $17 per hour as employees of GOT Electric.

After the project was finished, all five students involved were offered ongoing employment with GOT Electric. And all five students accepted the job offers, thereby launching them on promising careers in solar power, one of the fastest-growing major industries in the US.

“Going solar is an exciting opportunity for our students and for the whole MECC community,” said MECC President Kristen Westover. “While saving money on energy and doing our part to help the environment, getting solar panels on campus is a tangible sign that we are bringing the 21^st-century economy to southwest Virginia.”

Congrats to MECC and thanks for their leadership, along with GOT Electric and all the other partners who made this unique project possible.