We're in an era when no one can predict the price and availability of the world's oil and natural gas supplies.

On the other hand, it's a pretty safe bet that the sun will rise and shine tomorrow - at least for a while - and the wind may blow occasionally, too. Both the sun and the wind have long been seen as two great untapped power sources, waiting for new technologies that will make their energy cheaper to harness and distribute.

Those new technologies are just about ready for prime time, and the IBEW Local 58 Detroit Electrical JATC Training Center has a curriculum and the hardware in place to teach journeymen and apprentices all they need to know about installing energy generating systems fed by solar and wind turbine power. The training center held an open house on Aug. 24 to showcase its involvement in those alternative energy sources.

"This country is a little behind the curve when it comes to alternative energies," said Training Director Gary Polulak. "But its time will come, and when it does, we want our apprentices and journeymen to be the installers of these technologies in the future."

To get the apprenticeship school ready for the alternative energy sources curriculum, a photo-voltaic array of solar panels was mounted on the roof of the school last year. The panels can create a maximum of 18 kilowatts, but the actual output may be as low as 10 kilowatts due to cloudy days and the low (5 percent) tilt angle of the panels. Apprentices and journeymen involved in the project will be able to tweak the angle of the solar panels and measure that impact on power production as part of the learning process.

A wind turbine, installed in August on the grounds of the Training Center, creates about six kilowatts of power, at peak output when winds are gusty. The systems knock about 20 percent off the Training Center's electrical bill.

With the hardware in place, the Training Center had a number of guests to explain the economics of solar and wind power, the technology, the politics, and how it can all come together.

In a nutshell, guests were told that if the systems are installed in the right place (with the proper amount of sunlight and wind) and if proper state tax credits are created to induce construction of alternative energy sources (Michigan is behind the curve, but so are a lot of other states), and if residential customers and business owners can be convinced that the systems are practical, are aesthetically pleasing and will save money, then the chances of success are enhanced.

George Ingham, the managing director of the National Photo Voltaic Construction Partnership, said costs of materials have come down, and journeymen and apprentices involved in solar power are first urged to install their own systems at home, so they will be goodwill ambassadors for the technology.

The panels, he said, are in very high demand, especially in Sunbelt states. California alone accounts for two-thirds of the nation's entire solar energy production, which amounted to about 1,600 megawatts of power last year. To compare, the Monroe Power Plant, one of the largest coal-burners in the nation, is rated at 3,200 megawatts.

Phil Holdom, president of Alternative Power Supply, told the open house attendees that combining wind power with solar power "is the best of both worlds," and helps both technologies "stand on their own." He said an average 9 mile-per-hour wind is optimal. "There are people today who are living off the (electrical) grid by combining wind, solar and the use of batteries," he said.

He said with its miles of lakeshores, Michigan has "a great capability" for wind power, and is the 14th windiest state. But our state only has 3 wind generators, compared to 107 in nearby Illinois.

"The steps that will lead us to satisfied customers is a good, quality installation," said Todd Stafford, who directs the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee. "If we're successful, these technologies will lead to thousands of new jobs, reduce imports of oil, stop some pollution, and provide an alternative energy source to customers."

EXPLAINING THE WORKINGS of the solar panels on the roof of the Detroit Electrical Joint Apprentice and Training Center is Training Director Gary Polulak, right. Second from left is Assistant Training Director Tom Bowes, who is administering the alternative energy program at the school along with JATC staffers Kathy Devlin and Mark Schwartz, who aren't in the photo.