Solar Energy International, a non-profit organization based out of Carbondale, Colorado, has been teaching renewable energy technology workshops since 1991. Workshop topics include solar photovoltaics, wind power, micro-hydro power, and alternative fuels. At first the classes were filled with enthusiastic, mostly young, mostly college graduates, mostly men. One of SEI’s goals was to incorporate more women into renewables. However it took six more years before SEI would offer a Photovoltaic training course specifically for women. Over 85% of the people attending SEI’s Photovoltaic courses over the years were men. Were enough women out there who wanted to learn about solar technology?

SEI finally decided to take the leap, and in 1997, offered a Photovoltaic workshop for women. It was a huge hit. Thus the Women’s Program at Solar Energy International was launched which now also includes a women’s wind class and a women’s carpentry class. Schoolteachers, electricians, homemakers, utility workers, retirees, university students, NASA engineers, and city officials all flock to SEI to learn how to create electricity from the sun. According to Hessel, "womyn are such a small minority in the union electrical trade, our learning needs are not often met. Other than (the SEI workshop), most electrical courses are so heavily laden with men only, teaching, in class, and on the jobsite, that it is wonderful to be in a womon only environment learning electrical theory and practice."

The lack of women in technical fields begins early. While there are more and more programs encouraging young girls to get involved in science, somewhere along the way frustration hits and traditional careers take over. Nationally, the number of women going into and graduating out of the sciences is declining. Women make up only 18% of science and engineering majors in our colleges. We make up only 20% of the graduating chemists, earth scientists, and computer scientists. In the working world, the numbers are even bleaker. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, less than 10 percent of the technical workforce is comprised of women.

In fact, three out of four American workingwomen, including full- and part-time workers, are paid less than $25,000 a year. But women who hold non-traditional jobs — including jobs in the science and engineering sector and the renewable energy sector — earn 150% of the wages of women employed in traditional careers.

To date, SEI has taught over 400 women in this program. This March SEI will hold its 3rd annual Women’s Photovoltaics workshop in Santa Cruz.. While to many this may seem inconsequential, it is slowly helping to change the sexist face of the science field. Over 70% of the women who have attended SEI’s women-only workshops have incorporated renewable energy into their lives, either by installing their own PV systems, obtaining a job in the PV industry, or starting their own businesses.

Graduates from SEI’s California workshops come from varied backgrounds, and bring a wide variety of accomplishments to the solar energy field. Yvonne Webb, Senior Energy Specialist for the City of San Francisco’s Department on the Environment, is now project manager for a community solar project, installing solar water heaters and PV systems, and educating and training residents in solar design and installation, in the Bayview Hunter’s Point community. Lindsay Joye, PV manager for the City of Palo Alto Utilities, recently received the Association of Energy Engineer’s 2003 Environmental Professional of the Year Award for her prolific efforts toward improving environmental conditions through energy efficiency and photovoltaic use in Palo Alto. And Wahila Minshall, an environmental studies graduate, now works with Akeena Solar of Los Gatos.

Hessel, Webb, Joye, Minshall, and the others who have taken part in SEI’s women’s PV workshops, have learned how to design and install a complete solar electric system, from the basics of electricity, to the different components in a system, to actually installing a system in the field.

The evaluation comments at the end of the workshop express how much these courses mean to women. Participants have described how this was the most empowering workshop they have attended, that they would never have signed up if it had been coed, and that "being taught by women in the field inspires confidence in women trying to break into a male dominated field." Comments ranged from "Knowledge is Power!" to "It was so nice not to have to wear make-up all week." And most women agreed on the importance of an all women workshop. 80% of the women attending the courses say that the main reason they attended was the fact that it was a woman-only workshop.

The fact that renewable energy is a male dominated field is one of the most important reasons for having gender specific courses. Even for women already working in technical fields, an all women’s course is beneficial. Many women in the workshops expressed gratitude at meeting other women in fields that are mostly dominated by men. One participant who works as a technician noted that,

"I found it refreshing and much more comfortable to be involved in a workshop that was women only. It is not always pleasant to ‘prove yourself’ every time you go into a new work environment just because of gender - and believe me I have had to do so in every work situation I’ve been in to date . . . it was a great morale booster to know that there are other women who work in technical fields and have to deal with the same issues."

Another woman who has been working as an electrician stated, "it was comforting to meet with other women in similar fields that had experienced the same issues I had on the job, in the classroom, or in life."

Solar Energy International, and the dozens of women who have attended SEI’s workshops, are proving that renewable energy technologies are not only a man’s field. The eleven women’s workshops taught over the last six years have shown that women want to learn about PV technology, and can work in the photovoltaics field, if given the chance. Although women working in the PV field still have many barriers to face and stereotypes to overcome, women specific workshops are offering them the support they need to enter this traditionally male dominated field.

This year SEI is offering a Women’s PV workshop in Santa Cruz, in conjunction with a series of coed solar workshops that SEI is offering throughout California. These workshops include Introduction to Renewable Energy, PV Design & Installation, and Utility-Interactive Photovoltaics.

For information on SEI’s Renewable Energy Workshops contact: Solar Energy International, PO Box 715, Carbondale, CO 81623. tel: 970-963-8855, fax: 970-963-8866, e-mail: sei@solarenergy.org; www.solarenergy.org.

Laurie Guevara-Stone is an instructor, engineer and writer for Solar Energy International in Carbondale, Colorado.

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