The N.C. Solar Center in Raleigh is offering a 40-hour renewable energy management training course that the organization bills as the only non-degree program of its kind in North America.
And at $1,798 per student, the course is a bargain, according to the organizers.
The Solar Center's Certificate in Renewable Energy Management will require a group project to complete the course and graduate. The course will include online and on-site instruction in the technology, financing and policy of renewable energy.
The course, spanning three months, is limited to 25 students. The dealine to enroll is the first day of class: March 15.
Instructors will come from Duke Energy, Southern Energy Management, N.C. Sustainable Energy Association, Self-Help Credit Union and law firms, among others.
Topics will cover such areas as net metering, interconnections, tax credits, grants and loans, risk assessment, contracts and marketing.
The purpose of the course is to give a thorough overview of the industry to those who may be working in a specific aspect of renewables.
The N.C. Solar Center was created in 1988 as part of the College of Engineering at N.C. State University.
John Murawski has been a full-time newspaper reporter since 1991, with stints at Legal Times and The Chronicle of Philanthropy (both in Washington, DC), The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Palm Beach Post (in South Florida) before arriving at the N&O in December 2004. At the N&O he covers energy (nuclear, coal, renewable, efficiency), hydralic fracturing (or "fracking"), public utilities (both electric and natural gas) and health care. His beat includes Progress Energy, PSNC Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, PowerSecure International, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Biogen Idec and others. You can reach him at 919-829-8932 or