Mayor's Office

The Engineering Division's GreenPower program at the City of Madison recently met with the the Powerful Teen Leaders (PTL) summer youth employment program. The Teen Leaders learned how to use a sundial and participated in a demonstration of solar panel energy production. They also learned about the materials in a solar panel and discussed careers in solar panel production and installation. The PTL program offers paid summer employment to seven Northside teens with a focus on community leadership, employment skills, financial literacy, green economy jobs, STEM & sustainability pathways. PTL is a program of Sustain Dane and is funded through the City of Madison Community Development Division and National League of Cities.

The GreenPower program prepares participants for employment opportunities in the solar energy and electrical industries while also increasing the City’s generation of renewable energy and decreasing its carbon footprint. Each year the City hires applicants from non-traditional trades backgrounds as trainees to work alongside Engineering Division Electricians to install solar photovoltaic systems on City facilities. Over the course of the program the trainees receive classroom training in basic photovoltaics (PV) and safety along with on-the-job training performing each step of the photovoltaic system installation.

Check out the PTL End of Summer Showcase on Saturday, August 12 from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm at the Warner Park Community Recreation Center.