FEATURE ARTICLE

A Workshop Of Her Own

Female-oriented training on renewable systems is good for women—and the solar industry.

By Christina Panoska, Valerie Everette and Wendy Parker

Under the brutal Texas sun last June, a crowd of exhausted women cheered as the final connection was made between a new photovoltaic (PV) system and the Texas utility grid. During a five-day workshop, these 31 women installed a 2.7-kilowatt (kW) solar electric system on the Hostelling International Austin (HI-Austin) lodging facility in Austin, Texas.

The women’s Photovoltaic Design and Installation Training Workshop was organized by the Texas Solar Energy Society (TXSES) and its executive director, Kathryn Houser, as part of SOLAR 2003, the annual conference of the American Solar Energy Society (ASES). It was a popular workshop at the ASES SOLAR 2003 conference, attracting women from eight U.S. states and all walks of life: engineers, business owners, students, local homeowners, retirees and educators. In fact, the workshop reached its full registration limits, and some who tried to register at the last minute had to be turned away to keep the class size manageable.

In the six months following the Austin class, 62 percent of participants said they were applying the principles they learned in their jobs, through further installation projects, or by working on systems of their own. CREDIT: SUSAN AUDERER

What made this workshop so popular, and what did it contribute to the women who gave up a week of their summer to attend it? More importantly, why should more women get involved in solar, and what contribution do women have to make to the future growth of the solar energy field?

A Week of Learning by Doing
The workshop began with three days in the classroom covering a variety of topics, including the basics of electricity, electrical wiring, solar site analysis, PV system components, load estimating and safety procedures. This training was followed by two days outside installing the system. Everyone worked together in the Texas heat to haul the solar panels to the roof, attach the PV racks, bend and install conduit, install the charge controller, complete the electrical wiring and connect the system to the grid. Three expert instructors led the class: Marlene Brown and Deborah Tewa with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratory; and Janet Hughes, owner of Austin-based Janet’s Solar Electric.

The hostel was chosen as the workshop site for various reasons, including the hostel’s history as a solar-power generating site until 2002, when a reroofing project resulted in the PV system’s removal. The hostel has always been proactive in its approach to environmental responsibility. Gary Walker, general manager of HI-Austin, reports that since the hostel opened in 1989, it has been certified by the International Youth Hostel Federation as a Sustainable Living Center, meaning that it meets the requirements of an Environmental Charter adopted by the federation. The hostel also purchases clean, Texas-wind-generated energy from Austin Energy’s GreenChoice program—the most successful U.S. green energy program during 2002.

The women’s PV workshop represented the perfect confluence of support and donations needed to get a new PV system onto the roof of the Austin youth hostel. The city’s municipal utility, Austin Energy, donated the PV panels. A renewable energy design and consulting group, CSG Services, provided the engineering services. The 31 women in the workshop could both attend classes and stay at the hostel for the week at low cost, easing transportation and logistics. The instructors and attendees volunteered their labor to get the donated system into place. Finally, the support of local organizations like TXSES was key to making the workshop a success.

HI-Austin now enjoys 2.7 kW of clean power provided from its new PV system, and visitors to the hostel (40 percent of whom are from outside the United States) have the opportunity to see photovoltaic power in action. In addition, the hostel installation is visible from the street, increasing the awareness of PV in Austin.

Besides gaining a new PV system, Walker saw the workshop as an opportunity to strengthen the hostel’s ties with the solar community. In fact, the community of Austin has a goal to become a world leader in renewable energy deployment. Austin has implemented ambitious renewable portfolio standards requiring that 5 percent of the city’s electricity be generated from renewable sources by 2005, and 20 percent by 2020. The electricity generated by the HI-Austin’s new PV system contributes to meeting these goals.

According to TXSES’s Houser, the workshop also garnered significant media interest. Three local TV stations covered the weeklong ASES conference. The local FOX 7 News station included in-depth interviews and video footage of the final hours of the PV installation during its evening news broadcasts. Both segments stressed that the workshop provided an opportunity to help women overcome social, political and economic barriers that might otherwise keep them from becoming PV installers.

Women-Only Aspect Appeals
The idea of providing a supportive training atmosphere to help more women engage in the PV field originated with Solar Energy International (SEI), which has been hosting women-only workshops since 1997. For some of its workshops, SEI has partnered with ASES or the Midwest Renewable Energy Association. Together, SEI and its partners boast over 400 workshop graduates, with plans for many more. Institutions such as the Solar Living Institute have followed suit with similar courses.

Why are these workshops so popular? As both the SEI experience and comments from SOLAR 2003 workshop participants attest, women like the idea of a workshop closed to men. Though several of the 2003 attendees said they would have been just as comfortable in coed classes, the majority of participants reported that they were drawn by the women-only aspect. Brown’s experience teaching several women’s workshops confirms these findings. “Many of the participants in the workshops I’ve helped teach have expressed that they would not have taken the workshop if it had been mixed,” she says. Brown, an electrical engineer at Sandia National Laboratory, donated a significant amount of personal time to put the SOLAR 2003 workshop together.

Laurie Stone, an instructor at SEI and a founder of the women’s workshops, adds, “We’ve had women attend our workshops who don’t know a thing about electricity and have never held a tool. We have also had women electricians and technicians who find it refreshing to be in a women-only environment with other women interested in nontraditional fields.”

Hughes, a practicing electrician, knows from personal experience why some women hesitate to take a technical class with men. “Men have a tendency to take over and direct. I’ve seen that happen.” Brown agrees: “I have taught workshops to mixed-gender groups also and the dynamic is quite different when men and women work together. Women tend to stay in the background and watch rather than participate. In women-only classes, the participants tend to support and encourage each other to do things they may be scared of trying in a different environment.” Many of the participants in the SOLAR 2003 workshop agreed that they were more comfortable asking questions during the class and taking an active role in the installation because there were no men present.

One of the most important results of these women-only workshops is the confidence that participants gain. “I really enjoy watching women learn to work with tools and learn a skill,” Hughes says. “There are so many women who still actually think that it’s out of their realm. And it’s very rewarding to see that excitement when women realize, ‘Oh, I can do this!’” One of the most common comments from the women who participated in the SOLAR 2003 workshop was that their confidence in using tools, climbing on roofs and confronting challenging learning situations was greatly increased by their experience in the class.

Find a Workshop ———————————  For additional information about workshops offered at the upcoming ASES SOLAR 2004 conference, please visit www.ases.org. For more information about Janet Hughes’ next women-only class, visit www.janetssolarelectric.com. To learn about courses taught by Solar Energy International, including women-only workshops, visit www.solarenergy.org. For information about other special courses, contact the Solar Living Institute (www.solarliving.org/index.cfm), Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association (www.glrea.org), Midwest Renewable Energy Association (www.the-mrea.org), North Carolina Solar Center (www.ncsc.ncsu.edu) or the Florida Solar Energy Center (www.fsec.ucf.edu). To learn more about Austin’s renewable energy programs or renewable energy programs in your community, visit www.dsireusa.org.

Participants Gain Know-How, Confidence
The women who attended the Austin workshop left with a knowledge of and respect for the steps that go into planning, designing and installing a PV system. In the six months following the Austin class, 62 percent of the participants reported they were applying the principles they learned in their jobs, through further installation projects, or by working on systems of their own.

Enthusiasm to apply what she learned in the class was strong
for workshop participant Renee Ness, who already owned a PV
system. “Since the workshop, I have been tightening up my off-grid system as well as installing upgrades, including a more efficient charge controller and lightning protection. I also properly grounded my system by driving an eight-foot copper rod into the earth.” Ness says she may even consider full-time work in solar. “I think about PV all the time; perhaps I am ready for a career change.”

Judith Carrico-Kuhn is a workshop participant who already worked in the solar field. As the owner of Imagine Solar International, she presents workshops designed to assist home- and business-owners in making educated decisions about solar. Her company’s principal goal is to increase the market for solar technologies. Carrico-Kuhn developed a case study of her experience in the women’s PV class, which she presents in her own workshops.

Hughes, one of the instructors of the women’s PV workshop, was energized by the participants’ enthusiasm and eagerness to learn. She so enjoyed co-teaching the class that she plans to offer hands-on PV workshops for women starting this spring or summer.

The Solar Field Gains, Too
SEI’s Stone is emphatic when it comes to women’s role in the solar industry. “It is very empowering and you’re helping people while doing something good for the environment.” Hughes echoes Stone’s enthusiasm. She notes that women working in solar are “helping the planet, developing skill levels and getting technically trained.” She and other instructors agree that solar is a good career field for women, giving them the potential to earn a good income while working with both their hands and their minds.

Beyond doing something to help the environment, advance technology and improve the nation’s energy security situation, women have much to contribute to the solar field. Without generalizing, women and men generally agree that each gender possesses different communication styles and skills. Researchers point out that women’s talents often include empathy, helping others, building webs of connection rather than hierarchies, seeing a need and filling it, preventing problems from occurring in the first place and seeking consensus. These qualities can benefit any workplace.

SOLAR 2003 instructor Debby Tewa’s 20-odd years of installing solar have shown her that women’s goal-oriented communication skills are an asset on solar installation teams. Many of the end-users with whom Tewa has worked on the Hopi Reservation are women. She is able to literally translate information from English into the Hopi language and figuratively translate information about the technology into terms that Hopi women will understand. “I get great satisfaction when people ‘get it,’” Tewa says. “That means I’m doing a good job of translating the technology.”

Hughes concurs. “I have customers that prefer to work with me because I am a woman, and they feel more comfortable with me directing a job that is in their house and on their property.” She notes another general trait that helps women in the field: “Women are really good with details. There are customers that appreciate that.”

Though not speaking specifically to the solar field, William A. Wulf, president of the National Academy of Engineering, believes that increased diversity is critical in any field reliant on
problem-solving and creativity. “It’s not just that it would be nice if we were more diverse,” he stated in a 2002 speech promoting women and minority involvement in the engineering fields.

“In women-only classes, the participants tend to support and encourage each other to do things they may be scared of trying in a different environment.”

—Marlene Brown, Sandia National Laboratory

“The issue is much more important than that. I believe it is an absolute necessity. My argument is essentially that the quality of engineering is affected by diversity (or the lack of it).” Wulf added, “As a consequence of a lack of diversity, we pay an opportunity cost in designs not thought of, in solutions not produced.”

This opportunity for women to bring new approaches is the most important argument for involving more women in the solar field. For every woman who would like to get involved in solar but who does not, whether for lack of training opportunities or lack of encouragement, the field is less than it could be. Christy Herig, an engineer who built her career first at a state utility and then at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, emphasizes the key role women play in achieving the paradigm shift and market restructuring that are vital in the switch from fossil fuels to renewable energies. “Women are major purchasers on a day-to-day basis. The choices and the value system that need to come together to increasingly make PV’s value exceed the costs will take a whole different approach—one where women play a vital role.”

The Power of One ———————————  When Lois Sturm returned home to New York City after participating in the SOLAR 2003 workshop, she decided to take action against the widespread attitude that solar energy is impractical or overly expensive. Sturm contacted other community and energy activists for input. By the end of the first meeting, they had created the Neighborhood Energy Network (NEN). With support from the local Sierra Club chapter, the group presented a full-day Neighborhood Energy Forum January 31 in New York. The forum featured Anthony Pereira, president of the New York Solar Energy Industries Association (NYSEIA), and Dean Zias, the New York City Outreach Coordinator for the New York Energy $mart Communities Program. “I was shocked by the enthusiastic response,” Sturm says. “[Participants] were just waiting for the opportunity to do something positive.” Sturm encourages neighborhoods nationwide to organize as NEN has. Says Sturm, “Why can't there be NEN groups all over the country, educating people about better energy solutions, and then working to make them happen?” For more information, visit www.neighborhoodenergynetwork.org.

The Future of Women in Solar
“Women are represented in solar,” Brown says, “but we are still a minority. We bring a different perspective that should be welcomed and integrated into the shaping of the future of solar.” Women are an important resource for developing solar solutions and the solar market, encouraging the rising generation to embrace renewable technologies and changing entrenched attitudes about energy and electricity.

As Stone observes, “There are a lot of women out there who do want to get involved but haven’t had the opportunity.”

Giving more women the opportunity—by giving them training and support—is what the women-only PV workshops are all about. Involving more women in solar will strengthen the solar field, and may have important benefits for energy production, energy consumption and our world environment for generations to come.

Christina Panoska, program manager at Green Energy Ohio, can be reached at 614.985.6131 or christina@greenenergyohio.org. Valerie Everette, policy analyst at the North Carolina Solar Center, can be reached at 919.515.5690 or valerie_everette@ncsu.edu. Wendy Parker, senior policy coordinator at the Institute for Sustainable Power, can be reached at 303.683.4748 or wparker@ispq.org.