Carl Squirrel is an electrician for Gonezu Energy, an Indigenous owned company in Fort Providence, NT. He is also one of the latest additions to Iron & Earth’s instructor network and is leading a crew of 3 electrician apprentices who are installing 20 solar panel packages on cabins in the Dehcho area over the summer.

Gonezu Energy received funding to build renewable energy capacity in the community and we were pleased they asked us to join as a training partner in the project. We will be funding our Solar Skills for electricians classroom training and Fall Arrest training. Our Condensed Solar Skills training will be provided to cabin owners, as well as a session for members of the community who are not directly involved in the off-grid portion of the project but who want to learn more.

There are logistical challenges to doing installation work in a remote area, but the effort will pay off with cabin owners being less reliant on diesel generators for power, and as you will hear in in this conversation Carl Squirrel had with freelance broadcaster Don Hill, solar power also brings some peace and quiet.

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This podcast is funded in part by the Government of Canada's Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program.