Competencies
An industry-validated competency model is an excellent tool for identifying the skills needed to succeed in a particular job, developing curricula to teach them, and benchmarking their attainment. Particularly valuable in dynamic industries like solar energy, a competency framework is critical to any training program attempting to advance lower-skilled workers into navigable career pathways, or transition higher skilled workers into new industry sectors.
Ideally, each occupation or route in the solar mapping tool would link to a specific competency model. But U.S. education systems have long been organized around credits rather than competencies, and are only gradually shifting to this new and more responsive qualifications framework. The Center for Energy Workforce Development has long been a leader in competency modeling for Energy Generation, Transmission, and Distribution. The USDOL hosts a clearing house for the CEWD and other emerging energy models, including a framework developed in partnership with USDOE, IREC, and others:
