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Shanna Chastain knows firsthand that selling solar power to a skeptical public depends as much on a wide pool of trained mechanics as it does on affordable technology.

Chastain, who oversees industrial construction and engineering courses at GTCC, said she lived in a solar-powered home in Jamestown several years ago.

She removed the solar hot water system after it broke and she could not find a qualified technician to repair it.

“We just did not understand how it worked,” she said.

So, Chastain wants to make sure homeowners and businesses that buy solar power systems don’t run into that problem. She plans to start a certification course at GTCC that trains students how to install and repair solar photovoltaic panels and hot water systems.

“The more of this technology you see installed on people’s roofs — who is going to fix it?” Chastain said. “It’s up to us and the community colleges to train these technicians.”

In fact, faculty at community colleges across North Carolina are deciding how to prepare workers for an anticipated demand for “green jobs,” a catch-all phrase for work that involves constructing and modifying American buildings and vehicles to operate on less fossil fuel. Those jobs range from weatherizing homes and building wind turbines to producing and distributing biofuels.

Scott Ralls, president of the state’s community college system, recently announced a Code Green Initiative that aims to expand green technology training and increase the number of campus buildings that include energy efficient and environmentally responsible features.

Ralls said the initiative precedes news of the federal economic stimulus plan, which provides money for weatherization, renewable energy research and other projects. College presidents met this past weekend to discuss the initiative, he said.

“This is not something that we just started in the last two months because there’s a stimulus package,” Ralls said. “We really see this as a new economic opportunity for North Carolina. This will be a long-term focus.”

Some colleges have established programs.

For example, Central Carolina Community College attracts students from across the country to study biofuels production and sustainable agriculture.

GTCC has incorporated some green building and alternative energy training into its degree programs. Automotive faculty and students are conducting biofuels research and learning to repair a hybrid vehicle. Construction students at the college also have joined with UNCG’s interior architecture department to build an energy-efficient house for teenaged mothers.

“This is not going to be a flash in the pan,” said Tom Roever, chairman of the carpentry department. “There’s so many people and companies getting into green building now that it’s going to stay here, and we’re going to have to learn how to build it.”

Roever and Chastain hope to get funding to design and build two demonstration homes on land off South Elm-Eugene Street. The college could use those homes to train students how to install solar panels, geothermal heat pumps and rainwater collection cisterns, Chastain said.

She added that the solar energy certification course could start in the spring of 2010 or as early as this fall.

“Where we’re struggling a bit is to get our faculty trained to the point where they can teach these skills to the students,” she said.

Ralls also expects paying for new programs will be a challenge as college employees cope with budget cuts and find ways to spend less despite a growing student population.

“Everybody is taking on more responsibilities with limited amount of time,” he said.

Contact Morgan Josey Glover at 373-7078 or morgan.josey@news-record.com