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Coalfield Development Corporation to Team With Solar Holler

West Edge Solar
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The Coalfield Development Corporation took another step Wednesday in the advancement of a solar institute.

At the West Edge Factory in the Westmoreland neighborhood of Huntington, the Coalfield Development Corporation has a solar training program that teaches former coal miners and others how to install solar panels as a possible career path.

On Wednesday, an award of $150,000 was given by the U.S. Mayors Conference and Wells Fargo to help the program partner with Solar Holler, a company from the Eastern Panhandle looking to make solar panel installation more accessible in the state. 

Solar Holler and the Coalfield Development Corporation hope to expand the solar training program into the Solar Training Institute. Dan Conant is the Founder of Solar Holler. He says this change would make a huge difference.

“It’s going to mean that we can build out our facilities, so that everything they could possibly see out in the real world, they’ll have experienced first, it’s going to speed up the installations because they’ll have seen it before,” Conant said.

Conant said they’ll use Coalfield Development workers on solar panel installations throughout the state.