Illinois IBEW Renewable Energy Fund

2024 wrap up part 1 2024 was the busiest year for The IL IBEW Renewable Energy Fund. With over 1500+ students trained, many students already obtaining their apprentice acceptance letter, multiple career fairs, field trips, 100% of Summer Solar students working in the field, the introduction of the new Summer Evening curriculum, the opening of our new classroom @hire360partners, hearing @pete.Buttigieg & @jbpritzker speak. Amazing solar conferences such as @nabcep & @replusevents . As well as our successful high school partnerships with @prossercte , @benitojuarezhighschool , @leohschicago @chicagoagsciences To our City College programs @richardjdaleycollege & @wright_college . The community college for continued education @tritoncollege & @morainevalley Our community partnerships such as @chicagowomenintrades Multiple road trips dropping off solar training materials to our 18 partnerships with every IBEW in Illinois. Thanks to @midwest.renew with the help of @illuminationsolartrain How does an organization fit an entire year of programs into a 1 minute video? We can’t! So enjoy the highlights over the next week! . And lastly a huge thanks to the small but mighty crew that is the REF staff who have become family this year. Can’t wait to see what 2025 brings! ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

RIP JIMMY CARTER! The first president to put solar panels on the White House, Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States, died at his home in Plains, Ga., on Sunday. He was 100. . Carter’s interest in promoting renewable energy was on display at his January 20, 1977 presidential inauguration. Solar panels were installed to warm the reviewing stand near the White House, where Carter watched the inaugural parade. . The inauguration set the stage for Carter’s four years as President. His environmental legacy has shaped how the country is responding to climate change today. . “At the time that Jimmy Carter was president, his biggest concern was energy security,” says Amy Myers Jaffe, director of the Energy, Climate Justice and Sustainability Lab at New York University. In 1977, the U.S. was importing 8.81 million barrels of petroleum a day, mostly from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, or the OPEC cartel. That made the U.S. vulnerable during the 1973 Arab oil embargo, which led to long lines at gas stations.

As 2024 comes to a close, we can’t help but feeling a little sentimental of The Renewable Energy Fund’s busiest year to date. Here we take a moment to look at our holiday lights on the Renewable Energy Training Facility at Local 134 NECA technical institute. The lights you see here on the wind turbine training tower and solar facility are powered by renewable energy that the building produces. . If you’d like to learn more about Solar electricity and join the solar workforce, please enroll in one of the IL IBEW Renewable Energy Fund’s multiple training programs around the city of Chicago and Illinois. . The IL IBEW Renewable Energy Fund is a Training and Education non-profit organization focusing on workforce development and career pathways in the electrical construction industry. The REF serves historically underserved populations, environmental justice communities, foster care alums, and criminal justice-involved returning citizens. . #IBEW #iberref #renewableenergy #ibewrenewableenergyfund #solar #solarenergy #solarworkforce #solarfaq #solarfuture #solarjobs #ibewsolar #energytransition #workforcedevelopment

Happy holidays to all from the Renewable Energy Fund! Hoping it's a holiday powered by renewable energy and maybe theres some solar in your stocking this year.

DECK THE HALL! Local 134 memorial hall getting into the spirit and wishing everyone a happy holiday.

SOLAR HISTORY 101: Today, on Christmas Eve 76 years ago, a family moves into The Dover house, the world's first fully heated solar home. Created by two women, architect Eleanor Raymond & solar pioneer, Maria Telkes "The Sun Queen". The Dover Sun House emerged as a striking architectural statement, an experiment that changed how we look at solar in a residential lense. Eighteen south-facing 10-foot-tall panels on the second floor took in the solar energy, then processed and sent it to the living quarters downstairs. A series of water tanks served as thermal reservoirs, storing the sun’s warmth for use during colder periods. Telkes’ ingenious heating system employed blackened metal plates to further enhance energy absorption, efficiently converting sunlight into usable heat. Nobody had ever tried living in a residence heated only by the sun, much less through a frigid New England winter. The house was very successful in its first two years of operation and attracted a variety of visitors. Popular Science hailed it as perhaps more important, scientifically, than the atomic bomb. #solarhistory101 . If you'd like to learn more about Solar and join the solar workforce, please enroll in one of IBEW's Renewable Energy Fund's multiple training programs around the city of Chicago and Illinois. . The IBEW's Renewable Energy Fund is a Training and Education non-profit organization focusing on workforce development and career pathways in the electrical construction industry. The REF serves historically underserved populations, environmental justice communities, foster care alums, and criminal justice-involved returning citizens. . #IBEW #solar #solarenergy #solarworkforce #solarfaq #solarfuture #solarjobs

Thanks to the Illinois IBEW Renewable Energy Fund, these Local 309 members are Tier 1 “Illinois Solar For All” qualified workers. Zach and Jared, 4th and 3rd year apprentices-respectively, helped complete a rooftop project on the Union Hall in Collinsville. Thanks to the technology and engineering from Camp Electric and Day and Night Solar, the building can now achieve Net Zero!

Some highlights from the Renewable Energy Fund's trip down to Springfield, Illinois's career fair. Sharing the space with our partners at IBEW Local 193. Educating students about the opportunities in the renewable energy industry to folks about to enter the work force.

First Year Apprentice and Summer Solar 2023 graduate, @malinaventura working in the field with a Journeyman lending a helpful hand. Congrats again on making it into the Apprenticeship Malina! Excited to see where the electrical journey will take you! #electricity #IBEWREF

A reminder that City College Classes are now up for registration. Spots in these classes are going fast! Get in while you can to learn about the Solar industry and a pathway into an electrical apprenticeship! Sign-up link in bio!