Description

RISE Academy is a premier technical training facility located in Tehachapi, California and is positioned between the Mojave Desert and the Sierra Nevada foothills, in the heart of the state’s renewable energy corridor. The campus includes a fully equipped central inverter lab used for hands-on SMA training, as well as a dedicated transformer lab and additional training bays supporting a wide range of utility-scale solar and battery storage coursework.

In addition to SMA-focused instruction, RISE Academy provides career pathway training across the industry, preparing technicians for real-world roles in preventative maintenance, electrical safety, and system troubleshooting from day one in the field.

More Information

RISE Academy is a purpose-built training facility supporting current and future professionals in the utility-scale solar and battery storage industry. Located in Tehachapi, California, the Academy combines technical classroom instruction with immersive lab environments to provide a complete training experience across multiple disciplines—including hands-on training with SMA central inverter platforms.

The facility’s central inverter lab includes energized training bays that allow for controlled, real-world practice in areas such as component replacement, communications configuration, and fault diagnostics. This environment supports safe and repeatable exercises that reinforce the technical principles taught during SMA-focused maintenance and troubleshooting courses.

In addition to SMA inverter training, RISE Academy features a dedicated transformer lab and comprehensive hands-on training setups for core technician skills such as wire management, module replacement, electrical testing, and job hazard analysis. These labs support a structured career pathway curriculum, preparing new-to-industry workers for field readiness and helping experienced technicians expand their competencies.

By replicating field conditions in a safe, instructor-led environment, the RISE Academy ensures participants gain practical skills they can immediately apply on-site—whether working on SMA equipment or other critical balance-of-plant systems.