The Secretary shall establish in the Office of Solar Energy Technologies a competitive grant program to create and strengthen solar industry workforce training and internship programs in installation, operation, and maintenance of solar energy products. The goal of this program is to ensure a supply of well-trained individuals to support the expansion of the solar energy industry.
Grants may be awarded under this section for up to 3 years. The Secretary shall award grants to ensure sufficient geographic distribution of training programs nationally. Grants shall only be awarded for programs certified by an industry-accepted quality-control certification institution, or for new and growing programs with a credible path to certification. Due consideration shall be given to women, underrepresented minorities, and persons with disabilities.
The Secretary shall make public, on the website of the Department or upon request, information on the name and institution for all grants awarded under this section, including a brief description of the project as well as the grant award amount.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary for carrying out this section $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2008 through 2012.