President Obama at Hill Air Force Base in Utah.

President Obama at Hill Air Force Base in Utah.

The sun shone bright on a major US military installation in Utah Friday morning as President Barack Obama announced that Hill Air Force Base, which hosts Material Command’s 75th Air Base Wing, would take part in a new “Solar Ready Vets” program. At ten bases, a joint program from the Departments of Energy and Defense will help personnel leaving the military transition to solar careers. It’s part of a major national initiative to train 75,000 workers in solar by 2020.

Project leaders modeled the new program after pilot runs of Solar Ready Vets earlier this year at Camp Pendleton in California, Fort Carson in Colorado, and Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia. The former service members will train to size and install solar panels, connect electricity to the grid, and interpret and comply with local building codes. They may then become installers, sales representatives, and system inspectors, or enter other solar-related careers.

As one of DOE’s 16 Climate Action Champions, Salt Lake City […]

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