Multimedia Solar Knowledge Library
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CONTROL NUMBER: 1329-1587 Multimedia Solar Knowledge Library Solar Training and Education for Professionals (STEP) DE-FOA-0001329 Last Revised December 18, 2015 Technical Point of Contact: Business Point of Contact: Amit Ronen Shandra S. White Director, GW Solar Institute Office of Sponsored Projects The George Washington University Office of the Vice President for Research 609 22nd Street NW 2121 I St, NW, Ste. 601 Washington, DC 20052 Washington, DC 20052 202.994.7597 202.994.6255 [email protected] [email protected] Team Member Organizations: 1 CONTROL NUMBER: 1329-1587 Project Overview Background The Project Team is a partnership of three organizations with nationally recognized expertise in solar education, multimedia content development, and outreach to a wide range of audiences. The George Washington University (GW) Solar Institute has built a strong reputation as a leading source of objective research and analysis of solar energy trends. Its website serves as a public clearinghouse and archive of solar policy related research, events, jobs, and other timely information. The Institute regularly provides background information to the media, and last year its commentary was quoted in over 30 major news outlets, featured in nearly a dozen video interviews, and placed on the front page of the Los Angeles Times. The Institute is also key member of the larger GW Sustainability Collaborative, which seeks to advance teaching, research, and the practice of sustainability at the George Washington University. The GW Solar Institute is also focused on education and training students, mid-career professionals, and the general public on solar policy issues. As part of the larger George Washington University community, the Institute provides educational opportunities and training to GW’s law, business, engineering, and policy students. Institute staff have organized and participated in numerous solar policy conferences and seminars, briefed Congressional and Executive Branch policymakers, and provided expert testimony before state lawmakers. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is the only federal laboratory exclusively dedicated to the research, development, commercialization, and deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. NREL research and analysis informs policy and investment decisions as renewable energy technologies advance from concept to commercial application to market penetration. NREL has the largest concentration of subject matter experts in solar energy in one location, which will enable the required effort to bridge breadth and depth in the development of learning modules across multiple disciplines. NREL also has a wide-ranging archive of solar education and training related materials --much of which was created using Energy Department funding-- which will be surveyed, catalogued, and repurposed for this project. By leveraging existing NREL content, this project will not only save money but also increase the accessibility and audience size for previously taxpayer funded solar education materials. Planet Forward uses Web, video, social media, television, and events to lead a conversation on our planet’s future. Emmy Award-winning journalist Frank Sesno created Planet Forward to break the mold by using innovative media to convene the greatest experts and innovators to find solutions to the biggest challenges on our changing planet. Planet Forward’s team of experienced journalists, new media experts, and cutting-edge student producers, editors, and reporters have unique insights and experience on how to harness new media platforms, messages, and content to engage a wide range of non-traditional audiences. 2 CONTROL NUMBER: 1329-1587 Project Goal While there is documented demand for high quality content on a range of solar related topics, there are currently very few resources available, particular those that incorporate the cutting edge expertise of a national lab, a premiere academic research institute, and world-class multimedia storytellers to cover a broad range of timely solar topics. The Project Team will build a breakthrough online Solar Knowledge Library, made up of video- based education modules that are highly engaging, entertaining, and memorable, which can be used to train and educate the full spectrum of STEP’s diverse target audiences. The Project Team will use their unique knowledge of solar issues, and connections with solar stakeholders, to produce, categorize, and disseminate a wide range of education and training materials. In addition, the Project Team’s expertise will ensure that the content being provided by STEP awardees is accurate, up-to-date, and standardized. This project will be successful if the resulting education materials are utilized by STEP target audiences who need to learn more about how booming solar deployments impact their job responsibilities but do not have the time, money, patience, or background knowledge to participate in more traditional education and training programs. It is important to emphasize that this proposal is focused primarily on creating the educational modules whose widespread use relies primarily on other STEP awardees building awareness and disseminating the resulting content to the target audiences. The Project Team is excited by the opportunity to build a library of accurate and engaging content on a topic of real interest and national importance. As professionals and institutions dedicated to educating and training the public about solar energy and increasing solar deployment rates, we know there is a growing need for this information and it would serve as a lasting resource for STEP awardees, their target audiences, and the public for many years to come. DOE Impact This project will unify disparate and at times overlapping activities across the Department of Energy, the national laboratories, higher education, and the solar industry to provide high- quality, consistent solar energy information to the community at large. By providing information through a single portal using formats that are easily accessible and usable by professionals in solar related fields, funding this proposal would leverage decades of DOE investment developing solar expertise at NREL in a way that ensures maximum impact and dissemination. The prestige of the SunShot endorsement, combined with the sense of objectivity provided by a national lab and university, will also greatly increase visibility and the likelihood that the diverse group of STEP audiences will utilize the resulting education modules and that other STEP awardees will incorporate this content into their training and outreach activities. 3 CONTROL NUMBER: 1329-1587 Description, Innovation, and Impact Relevance and Outcomes The Project Team will focus on creating content with the qualities that are most likely to engage professionals seeking the credible education materials they need to address solar related transactions or issues related to their job responsibilities. Those qualities include: 1. Trusted materials that are up-to-date and produced by reputable experts; 2. High quality production levels, with an emphasis on online, interactive content; 3. Content tailored to audiences with a variety of educational and professional backgrounds; 4. A single easily navigated website that quickly transmits targeted information to busy professionals. If these criteria are met, the Project Team is confident that this type of resource will be highly valued and heavily used by the various STEP stakeholders and meaningfully contribute to lowering solar soft costs. Feasibility The Project Team provides a unique synergy of the capabilities and enthusiasm needed to generate cutting-edge interactive content with the qualities described above. In fact, creating and disseminating this type of education content supports the missions, goals, and priorities of each project team member: The GW Solar Institute is a sought after source of information and research on many of the topic areas likely to be of most interest to Topic 2 target audiences, particularly state regulators and policymakers with which they interact with regularly. The Institute is also particularly adept and experienced at translating complex solar issues to students, policymakers, the media, and the public. Institute staff has the management experience to lead a complex multiyear effort, and the University has successfully managed hundreds of millions of dollars of federal research funds. NREL has developed a variety of solar tools that are available in the public domain including PVWatts, SAM, SolarDS, SWERA, HOMER, interactive mapping tools, CREST and PV JEDI. Additional solar resources can be found on NREL’s Solar Technical Assistance Team site, NREL’s FEMP program website, and NREL’s YouTube Learning Channel. NREL staff also has extensive experience in teaching in higher education, delivering solar related trainings for key target audiences, and adapting their expertise to meet the needs of wide range of stakeholders. The NREL Communications Department also has core competencies that will contribute to disseminating this information. Planet Forward, which is part of the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs, is a leader in developing multimedia content to promote innovative ideas to address a variety of environmental challenges. With a world-class in-house media production team, Planet Forward has years of experience in translating energy issues to audiences as diverse as policymakers, academia, industry, and